History Film / EskimoDay

In the family of modest means from OopNorth Blackburn, Neil Whittle (Benedict Sandiford) is accompanied by his very loving father Bevis (David Ross) and superstitious mother Shani (Creator/MaureenLipman), while Pippa Lloyd (Laura Howard) from the wealthy family from Cheltenham is accompanied by her overbearing narcissistic father Hugh (Creator/TomWilkinson), and downtrodden mother Harriet (Anna Carteret). The two families meet, and share the dramatic realisation that an EmptyNest is forthcoming.

Meanwhile, the parental roles are reversed when Simon (James Fleet), a middle-aged interviewer at Queens' College, is trying to get his elderly father James (Creator/AlecGuinness) into sheltered accommodation. James is a retired professor whose mind is as sharp as ever, and finds the process deeply infantilising, saying "ask me why children turn their parents into children".

In the family of modest means from OopNorth Blackburn, Neil Whittle is accompanied by his very loving father Bevis and superstitious mother Shani, while Pippa Lloyd from the wealthy family from Cheltenham is accompanied by her overbearing narcissistic father Hugh, and downtrodden mother Harriet. The two families meet, and share the dramatic realisation that an EmptyNest is forthcoming.

In a third family, anxious Malcolm travels alone to Cambridge, but his equally anxious mother secretly follows him, and asks local townsfolk to chat to him about how he got on.

Meanwhile, the parental roles are reversed when Simon, a middle-aged interviewer at Queens' College, is trying to get his elderly father James into sheltered accommodation. James is a retired professor whose mind is as sharp as ever, and finds the process deeply infantilising, saying "ask me why children turn their parents into children".

* BittersweetSeventeen: The parents are seeing their children become young adults.

--> '''Malcolm''': No, it's OK thanks. (Walks off in wrong direction)

%* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
%** At the very end, after Hugh's lies have been revealed, Harriet and Pippa get into a taxi. Because he is wandering aimlessly at a distance, they go without him: it is not revealed what happens next, although Harriet is just heard telling Pippa "I've got something to tell you".
%** Just before his interview, Neil's mother gives him his grandmother's wedding ring, to bring him luck. During a scene where he makes a vow with Pippa (see LoveAtFirstSight above), he drops the ring without realising it. Later, Miss Bodley picks up the ring, and puts it on her own finger.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
** At the very end, after Hugh's lies have been revealed, Harriet and Pippa get into a taxi. Because he is wandering aimlessly at a distance, they go without him: it is not revealed what happens next, although Harriet is just heard telling Pippa "I've got something to tell you".
** Just before his interview, Neil's mother gives him his grandmother's wedding ring, to bring him luck. During a scene where he makes a vow with Pippa (see LoveAtFirstSight above), he drops the ring without realising it. Later, Miss Bodley picks up the ring, and puts it on her own finger.

** Shani gives Neil his grandmother's wedding ring, to bring him luck. Near the end, he drops the ring without realising it, and Miss Bodley picks it up, and puts it on her own finger. This has no significance until the sequel, ''Films/ColdEnoughForSnow''.

* UptownGirl: Pippa to Neil. Their home settings are only briefly seen in this film, but there is enough to see that Neil's family is of modest means (small terraced house), while Pippa's family is wealthy (large detached house with sports car outside). Their everyday lives are seen more in the sequel, ''Films/ColdEnoughForSnow''. This wealth difference does not bother Neil and Pippa at all, but it matters to their parents.

Eskimo Day is a 1996 British TV drama by Jack Rosenthal, on the theme of parents reluctantly coming to terms with their children growing up and becoming independent. The film follows various families as their teenage children have their interviews at the prestigious Queens' College at the University of Cambridge. Their parents accompany them to Cambridge, and have difficulty in watching them take those first steps towards independence, and some of them try too hard to ensure their children's success.

A sequel was made in 1997, ''Films/ColdEnoughForSnow'', which followed Neil, Pippa and their parents through their exams, the summer, and their first term at university.

!! Eskimo Day provides examples of:

* YouAllShareMyStory: This film contains many overlapping characters, all in the similar situation of taking interviews. When a scene focuses on one family, some of the other main characters are frequently seen in the background.

--> '''Hugh''': (To Pippa's departing back, before her interview) Word from the wise, just be yourself.
--> '''Pippa''': (turning round, wide-eyed) How?! All of a sudden, how the hell do I do that?! We've never had the practice!!
--> '''Hugh''': (genuinely surprised) What does she mean? Harriet, what did she mean?

* UptownGirl: Pippa to Neil. Their home settings are only briefly seen in this film, but there is enough to see that Neil's family is of modest means (small terraced house), while Pippa's family is wealthy (large detached house with sports car outside). Their everyday lives are seen more in the sequel, ''Film/ColdEnoughForSnow''. This wealth difference does not bother Neil and Pippa at all, but it matters to their parents.

** At the very end, after Hugh's lies have been revealed, Harriet and Pippa get into a taxi. Because he is wandering aimlessly at a distance, they go without him: it is not revealed what happens next.
** Just before his interview, Neil's mother gives him his grandmother's wedding ring, to bring him luck. During a scene where he makes a vow with Pippa (see LoveAtFirstSight above), he drops the ring without realising it. Later, Miss Bodley picks up the ring, and puts it on her own finger.

* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: Bevis from OopNorth tries to put on a posh voice in Cambridge, and would be most "beholden" if a passing woman could indicate the whereabouts of a car park (which is right in front of him).
--> '''Neil''': Dad, I don't think every person in Cambridge has got a degree in talking with a plum up their bum! Why are talking like that? "Beholden." You've never said "beholden" in your life! Particularly in an accent unknown in the English-speaking world.
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: To some extent, Pippa, who has a lifetime's practice at refuting her father's narcissistic ways. Presumably she is well-read, as she is applying to study English literature at Cambridge.

* DitzyGenius: Only the brightest students need apply to Queen's college; this film makes comedy of the fact that some of them are hopelessly impractically minded. The porter at Queen's college sympathetically dismisses an interviewee who has come a week early, and many of the locals in Cambridge know that it is "interview week", and the city will be full of wandering interviewees, possibly travelling a long way from home by themselves for the first time. This is shown in a scene when middle-class Malcolm debates with a pair of working-class cabbies whether to take a taxi.

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: During Miss Bodley's interview, Simon tortures his watch by stretching very hard between his hands, reflecting the tension in the room, and his own concerns about his father James.

Eskimo Day is a 1996 British TV drama by Jack Rosenthal, on the theme of parents reluctantly coming to terms with their children growing up and becoming independent. The film follows various families as their teenage children have their interviews at the prestigious Queen's College at the University of Cambridge. Their parents accompany them to Cambridge, and have difficulty in watching them take those first steps towards independence, and some of them try too hard to ensure their children's success.

Meanwhile, the parental roles are reversed when Simon, a middle-aged interviewer at Queen's College, is trying to get his elderly father James into sheltered accommodation. James is a retired professor whose mind is as sharp as ever, and finds the process deeply infantilising, saying "ask me why children turn their parents into children".

--> '''Hugh''': Ten A's in her GCSE's, head girl, edits the school magazine, fencing champion; Queen's material, through and through.

** Malcolm has a lengthy debate with two cabbies about whether to walk to Queen's, or take a taxi (see DitzyGenius). When he returns, he meets one of the cabbies again, and starts telling the bemused cabby how he got on in his usual NonAnswer fashion, as several people have asked him how he did.

--> '''Malcolm''': Queen's college.

* FriendlyRivalry: As both Neil and Pippa are applying for English literature at Queen's College, their families are rivals. Hugh and Bevis indulge in competitive boasting about their children's supposed achievements.

* {{Leitmotif}}: When Queen's College in Cambridge is seen, rousing brass music is heard, to reflect its grandeur. Also EtherealChoir music is played in the latter part of the film, especially during the scenes when the parents realise that EmptyNest is forthcoming, and during the ending credits.

---> '''Neil''': Convince me that Queen's wouldn't be wasting a place by offering you one.

--> '''Hugh''': (Almost imitating Pippa's tone) No madam, because my teachers recommended me to. (Beat) Then, you pause and shrug as if they had wheedled it out of you, and you say: actually, my father was at Queen's.

* TrackingShot: Often used between scenes. Shortly before the main characters (Malcolm, Pippa, Neil) arrive in Cambridge, a succession of tracking shots follow Malcolm's bus, Pippa's train, and Neil's family car; as it turns off the motorway, the camera lingers on a road sign saying Cambridge. When characters walk from one location to another, other main characters are seen passing: Neil and Pippa walk past a door at Queen's, just as Malcolm comes out.