Memoirs Of A Survivor (1981)

In an unspecified future, England has been decimated by war. The streets are littered with garbage, food is scarce (dogs and horses are eaten if they can be found), bands of homeless adolescents roam the streets, people huddle frightened in their homes. A woman (Julie Christie) is given a ward (Leonie Mellinger, minimally talented) by the government to take in. The woman also has the ability to walk through a wall in her home to another dimension or reality. I've not read the Doris Lessing novel this film is based on but I have to surmise it was more successful in combining the sci-fi aspects of the story. The film is oblique and dense with some obvious symbolism (eggs) that seems heavy handed. We're shown scenes from the past but they seem to be from the Victorian era, too far back to be someone's memory. Is what we're seeing Christie's fantasies or reality? One can only wonder what drew Julie Christie to the project as her talent is barely tapped and her character seems to drift aimlessly through out the film. Directed by David Gladwell. With Nigel Hawthorne and Christopher Guard.