BY ADRIAN SMITH
Wynne Kinch (Jenny Agutter) was adopted. She had been
raised by her mother, but at some stage prior to seven, still old enough to
know about what was happening, she was put up for adoption and taken into a
loving family with two considerably older brothers. Of the brothers, George
(Bryan Marshall) is her favourite, and now, at the age of fourteen, Wynne's
familial love is turning into lust and obsession. Denying that it is incest
because she was adopted, Wynne feels completely justified in having these
unrequited feelings towards her thirty-two year old brother.
The family live in a new high-rise block in Bracknell, Berkshire. Everything
around her is either white or concrete, and all of it new, yet she still yearns
to spend time in their old home: a large, crumbling farmhouse on the other side
of the park. It is condemned and marked for demolition, like all of the other
Victorian property we see in the area. Anything not brand new, it seems, is
unwanted. Wynne’s mother exclaims to her husband, “This place is a palace
compared to where we used to live.†“Oh yes?†he replies, “and you name me a
palace where the doorknobs keep falling off!†There is something rotten at the
heart of this new brutalist utopia.
This crumbling facade not only represents the forbidden
love at the centre of the family, but the possibility that George may be a
killer of young women. Bodies have been found in the park, and the police are
seemingly without a lead. When Wynne spots scratch marks on George's back, and
finds his jumper covered in blood, she begins to suspect that maybe he is the
culprit. Far from putting her off, this causes her love for him to grow
stronger, feeling a need to protect him. Only she truly understands him and can
help him. She fantasises about George kissing her, or walking in on her in the
bath. Wynne confesses her sinful thoughts to a Catholic priest during the day,
and caresses herself in bed at night.
I Start Counting! is adapted from Audrey Erskine Lindop's
novel from 1966, and the plot feels similar to the popular, although far more
graphic, schoolgirl-based Italian crime films of Massimo Dallamano: What
Have You Done to Solange? (1972, Italy/ West Germany) and What Have
They Done to Your Daughters? (1974, Italy). Perhaps Dallamano was familiar
with this film, as What Have You Done to Solange? is also set in
Britain, and features the murder of a schoolgirl in a park. There are also
similarities to the British thriller Assault (1971, Sidney Hayers,
UK), which again features schoolgirls being murdered in parks. This was clearly
a theme which needed exploring in the early 1970s.
I Start Counting! was directed by David Greene, who
had previously directed, amongst others, The Shuttered Room (1967,
UK) and The Strange Affair (1968, UK), the latter also featuring an
underage relationship, this time between a schoolgirl and a policeman. David
Greene had a varied and fascinating career, working in both film and TV between
Hollywood and the UK. Monthly Film Bulletin praised his direction of
this film, stating it was, “a coherent and accomplished piece of filmmaking.â€
I Start Counting! is a compelling and well-constructed film which was also
hugely significant in the career of Jenny Agutter, coming out just a month
before The Railway Children (1970, Lionel Jeffries, UK). Monthly
Film Bulletin describes her performance here as “something of a remarkable
balance, poised between naïveté and delicacy to suggest a perfectly
natural innocent.†Unfortunately, it did not make much of a splash at the box
office either in the UK or America, and it quickly disappeared, never to
receive any kind of legitimate home video release.
Thankfully I Start Counting! has been rescued from its
ill-deserved obscurity by the new boutique Blu-ray label Fun City Editions, who
have presented a new restoration of the film in both a limited-edition version
with embossed slip cover and a standard edition. Alongside the restored film is
a fascinating interview with Jenny Agutter herself who is full of praise for
David Greene and the cast that she worked with. Only being sixteen at the time,
and with no professional acting training (her background was in ballet), she
felt very comfortable and supported throughout the film. She also discusses the
significance of the film in this early part of her career, coming as it did
just before The Railway Children (1970, Lionel Jeffries, UK) and Walkabout
(1971, Nic Roeg, UK/ Australia). Also included on the disc are a fascinating
feature commentary from film historian Samm Deighan and a well-written video
essay on the coming of age themes explored in I Start Counting!
If you have any interest in British cinema of the
1960s, I Start Counting! is well worth your attention and this new
release has been long in demand by film fans. And just what is it that Wynne
Kinch is counting? Watch the film and see if you can work it out for yourself.
Fun City Editions are clearly a Blu-ray label to watch,
and we at Cinema Retro await news of future releases with anticipation.