Last night I saw The Bookshop, starring Emily Mortimer and Patricia Clarkson.
Florence (Mortimer) is a British widow who decides to take back her life after grieving her husband's death. She makes her dream of opening an independent bookshop a reality in the small village of Hardborough.
The town reacts positively to the shop, visiting in droves to buy forbidden titles such as Lolita. Florence also develops a friendship with a wealthy recluse (played by the always-great Bill Nighy) who has her send him as many Ray Bradbury titles as she can find.
Trouble brews when the town powerhouse, Mrs. Gamart (Clarkson), wants to use the building Florence opened the shop in for an arts center. Florence must decide whether or not it's worth it to deplete her resources and take on the legal battle, or let it be and move on.
Though the pace of the film is incredibly uneven, there are many enjoyable aspects to it. Watching Clarkson as a villainess is fun, as is seeing Nighy in a more understated role. Perhaps the most compelling touch is the fact the film's story is told like a book, complete with voiceover narrations and actors who behave like caricatures.
More importantly it's an assessment of the toxicity that can surface in communities when gossip and abuse of power rule.
See it for the performances, the ambiance and the satisfying twist ending.
~~~
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
The Girl Who Played with Fire
Yesterday I saw The Girl Who Played with Fire, starring Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist.
Anyone who has read the novel this film was based on cannot help but compare the two, so I'll start by saying the filmmakers again did a good job of paring down the author's too-wordy text into simpler dialog, but I wish they hadn't changed certain details for the screen.
To explain them would be to spoil plot points for those who haven't yet seen the film, so I won't go into detail, but I will say that unless they payoff their changes in the third installment, I don't understand why they did it.
I also thought Lisbeth (Rapace) appeared less intelligent in this film, and that's something that could've easily been fixed by letting the camera linger on her smirks or having other characters reference her brilliance (as they do many times in the book).
My final complaint would be that Zala (Georgi Staykov) wasn't menacing enough for the monster that he is supposed to be. I was neither afraid nor repelled by his film version and felt that I should've been. Perhaps the director could've treated us to a few flashbacks with Liseth's mom?
On the good side: the casting again is superb. There isn't one person who doesn't fit the image of their literary likeness and act with conviction.
I also enjoyed the chemistry between Liseth and her girfriend Mimmi (Yasmine Garbi) and the tension between Blomkvist (Nyqvist) and Berger (Lena Andre).
In addition, as someone who is admittedly squeamish, I appreciated that the bloody scenes were not at all gratuitous and the violence true-to-life instead of ridiculous.
All in all, a satisfying middle to this thrilling trilogy.
~~~
Anyone who has read the novel this film was based on cannot help but compare the two, so I'll start by saying the filmmakers again did a good job of paring down the author's too-wordy text into simpler dialog, but I wish they hadn't changed certain details for the screen.
To explain them would be to spoil plot points for those who haven't yet seen the film, so I won't go into detail, but I will say that unless they payoff their changes in the third installment, I don't understand why they did it.
I also thought Lisbeth (Rapace) appeared less intelligent in this film, and that's something that could've easily been fixed by letting the camera linger on her smirks or having other characters reference her brilliance (as they do many times in the book).
My final complaint would be that Zala (Georgi Staykov) wasn't menacing enough for the monster that he is supposed to be. I was neither afraid nor repelled by his film version and felt that I should've been. Perhaps the director could've treated us to a few flashbacks with Liseth's mom?
On the good side: the casting again is superb. There isn't one person who doesn't fit the image of their literary likeness and act with conviction.
I also enjoyed the chemistry between Liseth and her girfriend Mimmi (Yasmine Garbi) and the tension between Blomkvist (Nyqvist) and Berger (Lena Andre).
In addition, as someone who is admittedly squeamish, I appreciated that the bloody scenes were not at all gratuitous and the violence true-to-life instead of ridiculous.
All in all, a satisfying middle to this thrilling trilogy.
~~~
Monday, October 15, 2007
The Jane Austen Book Club
Tonight I saw Jane Austen Book Club, starring Maria Bello and Kathy Baker.
This is one of those I don't want to like, but I sort of can't help myself.
There are all the typical components of a shameless chick flick:
• Cheating husband
• Scorned wife
• Token lesbian
• Convenient free spirit
• Bitter spinster
• Obligatory nice guy
All of that, plus Starbucks, wine and literature, and I still lasted through the credits.
The buried delight of this film is that they are taking feasible situations and treating them in a more charming than realistic way, which actually makes it more digestible. Sort of like cough syrup chased with Coca-Cola or a caramel macchiato.
And what's more, the cute guy is truly very cute.
My main problems with the film were that men (with the exception of Mr. Very Cute) were portrayed as clueless oafs and women were only a superior emotionally unstable improvement.
And metaphorically, all of the characters' lives mirrored those of the books they were reading, but the interpretation was so literal, it was much less clever than it could have been.
But in the spirit of Austen, who really did tie everything up in a nice pretty bow at the end, the movie makes a decent attempt.
This is one of those I don't want to like, but I sort of can't help myself.
There are all the typical components of a shameless chick flick:
• Cheating husband
• Scorned wife
• Token lesbian
• Convenient free spirit
• Bitter spinster
• Obligatory nice guy
All of that, plus Starbucks, wine and literature, and I still lasted through the credits.
The buried delight of this film is that they are taking feasible situations and treating them in a more charming than realistic way, which actually makes it more digestible. Sort of like cough syrup chased with Coca-Cola or a caramel macchiato.
And what's more, the cute guy is truly very cute.
My main problems with the film were that men (with the exception of Mr. Very Cute) were portrayed as clueless oafs and women were only a superior emotionally unstable improvement.
And metaphorically, all of the characters' lives mirrored those of the books they were reading, but the interpretation was so literal, it was much less clever than it could have been.
But in the spirit of Austen, who really did tie everything up in a nice pretty bow at the end, the movie makes a decent attempt.
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