The Turn of the Screw is a British television film based on Henry James's 1898 ghost story of the same name. Commissioned and produced by the BBC, it was first broadcast on 30 December 2009, on BBC One. The novella was adapted for the screen by Sandy Welch, and the film was directed by Tim Fywell. Although generally true to the tone and story of James's work, the film is set in the 1920s instead of the 1840s. The story is told in flashbacks during consultations between the institutionalised Ann, played by Michelle Dockery (pictured), and a psychiatrist, Dr Fisher (Dan Stevens). Ann tells how she was hired by an aristocrat (Mark Umbers) to care for the orphans Miles (Josef Lindsay) and Flora (Eva Sayer) at their home, Bly House. Ann soon begins to see unknown figures around the manor, and seeks an explanation. Though the film generally received a positive response, critics disagreed over whether it retained the novella's much-discussed ambiguity.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Turn_of_the_Screw_%282009_film%29

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1702:

Queen Anne's War: James Moore, the British colonial governor of Carolina, abandoned a siege against St. Augustine in Spanish Florida, retreating to Charles Town in disgrace. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_St._Augustine_%281702%29

1903:

In the deadliest single-building fire in United States history, the Iroquois Theatre fire in Chicago claimed over 600 lives. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois_Theatre_fire

1954:

The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation was established to consolidate criminal investigation and intelligence into a single agency. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Bureau_of_Investigation_%28Finland%29

2009:

Pro-government counter-demonstrators held rallies in several Iranian cities in response to recent anti-government protests held on the holy day of Ashura. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_30,_2009_Iranian_pro-government_rallies

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

hyperthymesia: (neuroscience) A rare condition in which an individual possesses a superior autobiographical memory and is able to recall the vast majority of personal events and experiences in life. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hyperthymesia

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The emperor needs all the headmasters he can get. If a quarter of his people were headmasters he would be perfectly happy. But more than two poets would tear his kingdom apart.   --Alasdair Gray https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alasdair_Gray