One of two highly acclaimed films, 'Walter' and 'Walter and June', about the misfortunes and brief joys of a mentally handicapped man over a period of 20 years. Although the story is undeniably a harrowing one, with many graphic incidents that are not for the squeamish, Ian McKellen has rightly been praised for his brilliant interpretation of Walter, bewildered when his mother dies and, in the second half of the story, dragged into a doomed affair by a manic depressive woman, hypnotically rendered by Sarah Miles. If you can stay the course, it will undoubtedly give you a greater sympathy for, and understanding of the unfortunate people it portrays with such unrelenting perception.

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