The Bookshop (DVD) [2018]

This is a quiet film that somebody would find boring if they didn't enjoy character studies. Opening a book store with the most sincere of desires to bring literature and the love of reading to a remote little country village was all this quiet nonintrusive lady asks for. She has a lovely disposition with a quiet sense of fun that comes out with the interaction she has with her child assistant. It shows again when the village recluse invites her to tea. There isn't going to be passion, adrenaline, lust or intrigue. This is superbly acted with all the nuances of real life; it's not meant to be be "Poldark" with its never-ending drama. If there's doubt that this kind of village exists, rest assured it does. I grew up in one and could hardly wait to move away. One poster was aghast at the very idea of Lolita being "promoted" in the movie. What a sad hyped comment. This is a period film and when Lolita first came out, it would do well to remember the book was sold as fast as it was stocked. That's because of the Harper-Valley mentality where hypocritical shock is a cover for equal or worse offenses in private lives. Reader's Digest----that family-oriented, best selling magazine for many years----even published the condensed version. Years later, Pretty Baby reaped Academy Awards, thrust Brooke Shields' name into every household and into instant fame. I'm as abhorred as the next person over child poronography and prostitution, but this isn't even what the movie is about. The town had already shunned the poor woman before she had pulled a single book out of a box. As her struggling bookstore isn't yet making a profit, when she receives a shipment of Lolita, the subject of whether or not to put it in the store was handled with delicacy, intelligence and honesty. In the name of freedom of choice, should she display it for those view it with a more open, studious mind? Or should she choose "for" her customers what they be allowed to read. She felt the book was morally wrong, but the recluse had a more studious reflective reaction to the book and felt she should at least try it. He didn't find it "enjoyable" so much as interesting and well-written. Again, that isn't the reason the bookshop failed. It was small-town politics and the nasty gossiping mind of people who have nothing better to do. She could have been selling donuts with the same outcome in the end.

I am not normally a fan of movies like "The Bookshop."Truth to tell, I find most of them to be either syrupy sweet or so depressing that I struggle to watch them to the final credits.I was, however, pleasantly surprised by this film. It was sensitive without being overwrought; funny at times but not a comedy. In short, I thought it gave viewers a fairly accurate portrayal of life in a small town when two powerful women clash over an idea.The narrative begins in 1959 in a small UK community when a war widow buys an old, abandoned house with the aim of starting a bookshop. Unfortunately, for her, the town's most powerful woman - the wife of a retired general - has long had the idea that "The Old House" as its known, should be an arts center. When she cannot convince the widow to abandon the idea of opening her bookshop, she sets upon a long campaign to harass and discredit the new business and its owner. The owner, however, has a powerful ally of her own - a wealthy, reclusive older man who spends his days reading in a drafty old mansion, which just happens to be the oldest residence in the town. The bookshop owner and he strike up an unlikely friendship when she sends him some Ray Bradbury novels to read.I won't go deeply into the plot because that would spoil the movie for those that have not seen it. I will say that it has an unusual twist at the end, one that I actually found very satisfying.The movie features very fine performances by Emily Mortimer as the widow who wants to open a bookshop, Patricia Clarkson as the general's wife, and Bill Nighy as the recluse. All three are seasoned performers and they bring their characters to life with polished performances. I was also very impressed by the performance of Honor Kneafsey as the young girl who goes to work at the bookshop even though she flatly tells Mortimer's character that she doesn't much like reading.The film was written and directed by Isabel Coixet, who also did a lot of the principal cinematography and anyone familiar with her work will recognize its unique style. She uses her camera almost as though it was another character in the film, allowing it to tell the story as a silent narrator.I know many people didn't like this film, though I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because there were no explosions and four-letter words. Whatever their reasons, I have to respectfully disagree because this is, indeed, an excellent movie.

Ce film très britannique dans le sens le plus noble du terme a pourtant une réalisatrice espagnole Isabel Coixet (le film est également une production espagnole). Il est tiré du roman de Penelope Fitzgerald.L'action se déroule en 1959 dans une bourgade paisible située au bord de la mer dans le Nord de l'Angleterre.Florence Green (formidable Emily Mortimer laquelle sous des dehors les plus doux cache une passion et une volonté de fer) , veuve de guerre depuis 16 ans, décide d'acheter une vieille bâtisse et de la restaurer afin d'ouvrir une librairie. Cela ne plaît pas à tout le monde et notamment aux notables et tout particulièrement à Violet Gamart, une riche sexagénaire qui a le bras long et se considère comme la châtelaine du pays, orgueilleuse et perverse qui va faire tout pour chasser 'l'intruse" (dans le rôle Patricia Clarkson est parfaitement odieuse et on a à tout moment envie de l'étrangler).Lorsque Florence va décider de mettre en vente le sulfureux "Lolita" de Nabokov toute la communauté va se dresser contre elle avec une férocité insoupçonnable.Florence a cependant deux personnes qui la soutiennent: Edmund Brendish (Bill Nighy plus que jamais excellent dans ce rôle), un vieil homme qui vit reclus dans un manoir isolé et la toute jeune Christine (interprétée avec brio par Honor Kneafsey). Mais sera-ce suffisant pour qu'elle puisse continuer à tenir sa librairie.Les images sont magnifiques, le scénario superbement écrit et la tension maintenue tout au long de ce film qui nous parle non seulement d'amour des livres et de la lecture mais avant tout d'amour tout court. Vous serez du reste sans nul doute surpris par l'épilogue de ce drame intimiste et humain à la portée universelle.A signaler que c'est Julie Christie qui assure le commentaire du récit en voix-off.Un grand et beau film à ne surtout pas manquer.

A film gentle on the surface, vicious beneath. Where does the gentleness come from? From Florence Green, the bookshop owner and protagonist of the tale, a kind, serene, generous person. And the viciousness? From petty, narrow, parochial people who dislike in others the following: independence, autonomy, creativity.“The nail that sticks up will be hammered down.”This brutal aphorism is Japanese in origin and applies forcefully in Japan. I see it regularly, as I live on these tainted, sceptred isles. I’m a foreign nail that can’t help sticking up. They notice but wouldn’t dare. Thus I’m exempt from the hammer blows, left alone to be myself.But Florence is no foreigner. She’s as English as an English rose, which aesthetically she is. She’s quiet, modest, accepting. She was married once and loved her husband. He loved her too. They met in the poetry section of a bookshop in London. They loved words and books. They loved the music and sentiment in them. You couldn’t bluff this love. You had to love the music to speak lovingly of it. They did. They loved the sound they heard in it and loved each other. Words and books made them fall in love.But he died. He didn’t mean to but he did. He left her bereft. Yet the love that brought them together lived on through books, and lives on now through a bookshop she has opened in Hardborough, a village in East Anglia near the sea. A shop, yes, a physical entity, but something more, something ethereal and spiritual, a shrine perhaps, a place of devotion and remembrance. Here she keeps herself near him. The books he touched she touches too, and the love they had for them she shares with others. This is true love — broad, generous, inclusive love. So the bookshop is both sanctuary and dream come true.But there’s a problem. As you’ve noticed, there are always problems. Not many locals possess the imagination and sympathy to understand ethereal things. No bookshop is needed. Hence Florence is met with suspicion and resistance. People don’t like her idea, especially the so-called important people in the village. One is Violet Gamart, an aristocratic matriarch of the place. She has her own ideas. She wants the Old House (which becomes the bookshop) turned into an arts centre. Why? For status, influence, ego. Violet has no interest in art beyond the sparkle it can lend to her social prestige and pedigree. She is artifice, not substance, whereas Florence is the opposite. Yet authenticity always looks like weakness to the shallow and selfish. Florence is a pushover. Violet and others think so. She will capitulate when the pressure for her to quit her venture is ratcheted up. But they miscalculate because they do not know her, only their own ignorance.Plus Florence is not entirely alone. She has Christine, a young schoolgirl assistant. Christine is not a book lover but she’s bright. She loves maths and geography. Even so, the magic of books and Florence’s love of them will eventually affect Christine. As she grows and matures she will see how books and the world are one.“The world is a book and those who have not travelled read only one page.”So said St. Augustine.Christine will learn to read and love many pages, and through them travel to many places imaginatively. She is in fact the Greek chorus in this drama, the person providing the voiceover. She looks back to that time of innocence in 1959, a time when she was so young, ignorant and inexperienced. What Florence did for her then is not forgotten. In fact, it’s remembered every day in a contemporary sanctuary of her own — her bookshop on a high street in some English town.Florence also has an ally in Edmund Brundish. He’s a homebody, hermit, avid reader. An elderly widower, he lives alone in a large, old, draughty mansion on a hill outside the village. He has washed his hands of the world, or at least the one made up by the people of this village. He’s seen and had enough of them. They aren’t readers, thinkers, dreamers. He can’t stand them.Gossip of course is rife in the village, the life blood of conversation. Edmund has heard or overheard of Florence and her venture. He himself doesn’t go to the shop, but he sends word through a boy runner that he’s interested in acquiring any books that Florence might recommend. There was no internet in 1959, no one-click settings. The boy is his lifeline to the world — to Florence, books and ideas.The intuition of Florence is good. What might Edmund enjoy? How about “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury? Yes, he devours the novel, loves it, then sends word that Florence should send him any other novels or short stories written by Bradbury. She sends along “The Martian Chronicles”, which Edmund also enjoys.A crisis of conscience and marketing occurs. Vladimir Nabokov’s “Lolita” has just been published to great scandal and controversy in America, most critics praising it as brilliant, but many shrill prudes denouncing it as perverse. But you know what they say about Americans: prudes in public, perverts in private. True or not, the novel sells and will make Lolita and Nabokov household names.Florence wants to know Edmund’s opinion. Despite its contents, is the novel good? Is the critical praise justified? Edmund is literate and intelligent, so he says what most literate and intelligent people say on the subject. “Lolita” is not just good; it’s brilliant, a 20th century masterpiece. Like Flaubert’s “Madame Bovary”, it’s one long tribute to the ideals and illusions of romantic love. But “Lolita” is also joke and satire. You need a sense of humour to appreciate its ironies, to read between its lines. Intelligent Americans could do so, but the literal-minded among them could not. Hence the scandal, which delighted Nabokov and his publisher, America the perfect place to publish such a book.On Edmund’s favourable advice, Florence orders 250 hardback copies of “Lolita” for her shop, displaying some of the copies proudly in its windows. Some of those who pass by gawk, unsure as such what they’re looking at, but, having read nasty things about it in The Daily Mail or other semi-literate rags, they’re prepared to condemn it and do. They’ve been told it’s poisonous, harmful. It could damage the mind and morals, assuming some people have these things.Florence is an aesthete, not a business person. She knows she’s going into the red for the sake of Nabokov and his wonderful creation. But she believes quality will win out. Actually, it will. But it often takes so much time and involves so many tears. Her timing is poor. Hardborough — like America — is not ready for “Lolita”. The teenage girl in knickers is too shocking, the whole situation too contemptible. Humbert is a professor of literature and should know better, behave better. But this, naturally, would make a caricature of human complexity. Nabokov knew and understood better. He held up a mirror to people and they reeled at what they saw — their hypocrisies mirrored back at them.The story here is quiet and sad, the story of a modest and devoted dream crushed: memories trampled, love sundered, crassness and viciousness winning out. At least for a spell. Florence is maltreated but redemption will come with Christine’s coming of age. In her bookshop toward the end of the film we see “Lolita” prominently displayed. This is right and good, a sort of kiss through time, a tender act honouring a long-lost platonic love.Moral takeaways? Quite clear and simple for me.Small minds will always try to make yours small like theirs. That’s what they do. That’s how they operate. They hammer you down, or try to. They can’t imagine what imagination is. Creativity is a foreign menace to them, a thing they’ve never felt and experienced. And when they sense that others have and feel it they don’t like it. They’re jealous and spiteful.There’s another ominous Japanese expression that’s dreadful and hateful. It’s this:“Mura hachibu”It means exile, non-existence, expulsion from the village, the non-conformist sent packing. The last we see of Florence she is “mura hachibu”, standing alone on the deck of a ferry taking her to God knows where. She tried and failed. But the love she had for words and for her dear lost husband will not die this side of the grave. In the end the books win, which is heartening, a dream to believe in.

Very well produced the true color the photography a visual delight good storyline well acted highly recommend.

I liked the movie, but had to watch it twice to keep track of it. Perhaps I was just tired the first time. Lovely scenery in the location. Small town people and small town attitudes must be the same the world over. Loved her determination to follow her dream despite opposition. I'll watch it a lot more times, especially on cold winter nights with a glass of wine and the fireplace blazing.

Quaint period piece set in England, nice acting and easy to watch.