"The Bookshop" Film Opens
The books-to-film genre amps up its bookishness with "The Bookshop," a new drama directed by Isabel Coixet and starring Emily Mortimer, Bill Nighy, and Patricia Clarkson. Based on Penelope Fitzgerald's slim but affecting 1978 novel, the film is a period piece set in a small, coastal English town in 1959. A young widow named Florence Green decides to open a bookshop there, much to the consternation (and later condemnation) of residents.
"This quiet woman, in a quiet village, in very quiet post-war England, is a call to everyone to grow up and claim responsibility for making life better for us all. This is an allegory for the underdog before there was someone there to root for them or make them believe in themselves," the director commented in a release.
Green comes to understand that this town may not be ready for a cultural awakening. One of her only allies, it seems, is Mr. Brundish, a reclusive bibliophile.
Of special note is the attention to detail in bookshop scenery. A New York Post article from last week reveals how the director "found tons of vintage rare books" to use in the film. For example, she needed 250 copies of the first edition of Lolita. Fascinating!
Having just read and enjoyed Fitzgerald's novel first the first time earlier this year, I'm on the lookout for showtimes near me (it is now playing in NYC & LA, and wider distribution begins on August 31). Until then, the trailer must suffice:
