Grand Tour

Rangoon, Burma, 1917. A British civil servant, Edward (Gonçalo Waddington) is due to be married to his fiancée Molly (Crista Alfaiate), who has arrived from London for the wedding. But Edward panics before the nuptials and flees to Singapore. So begins his grand tour of Asia – whizzing through Bangkok, Manila, Saigon, Osaka and Shanghai. Molly is not easily dissuaded, however; determined to be married, she’s even rather amused by Edward’s cowardly skittishness. She sets off in pursuit, often narrowly missing her betrothed and sending telegrams notifying him of her progress. The word “stop” in her telegrams is both punctuation and an order. And while on the trail, Molly, with her boisterous laugh, is not short of admirers. With hilarious voiceover narration, and the dazzlingly beautiful and meticulous period scenes intercut with vibrant contemporary footage, Gomes has once again made a film that is funny, unique and beguiling.