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Set in a tiny farm in Northern Germany, a stodgy German farmer becomes a belatedly caring husband as he hides the fact that the world is ending in two days from his wife who putters about noting his behavior is unusual. When the electricity is cut off they attempt to grill a pork-loin outdoors, only to be drenched by an increasing rainfall. The fiery destruction of his model train layout symbolizes the devastation they will soon undergo. Or will they? He resignedly makes two cups of valerian-laced tea to put himself to sleep & lies down beside her, only to awake to a sunny morning. Was it only a nightmare? I watched it before dawn on KQED (S.F. PBS) on Columbus Day & was terrified from beginning to end.

Massey's older brother was Vincent Massey, the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada. Raymond served in the Canadian Army in both WW1&2 (wounded in both); determined to portray Lincoln as well as John Brown as often as he could, once he was an American citizen he only dabbled once in (civilian) politics, appearing in a television endorsement in 1964 in support of conservative Republican presidential nominee Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-AZ.) In it, Massey denounced the Vietnam War, saying Goldwater also opposed it, ending by quoting the famous Goldwater campaign slogan: "You know he's right!" It can be seen on YouTube.

(I'm watching it on broadcast digital-TV as I write this.) My father emigrated to Boston from Glasgow as a boy early in WW1. I crave Scottish voices & this film supplies them subtly. I could listen to it for hours, so for me it's altogether too short. The magical water-horse domesticates Scottish lore/legend without being unduly hokey. The extended action sequence of Angus (as a boy) riding Crusoe (the mature Water-Horse) on the lake joyously should delight any child & the child within us. The contrast of the accepting Scottish family vs the strutting British Army artillery unit billeted on them illustrates their profound cultural difference: the Scots' beloved pet is the Water-Horse Crusoe, the army's are Churchill, a scruffy bulldog & Victoria, their long-distance cannon. Nothing more need be said, other than: Up Alba! (Think of this as a child's LOCAL HERO.)