YOUR MOVIE
JAMES Burgess is 27-year-old performance, drama and theatre graduate. The former Fallibroome High School pupil has attended the BAFTA Film Awards in London every year since 2009. James lives in Macclesfield. Visit his website at jabfilm reviews.blogspot.com. The Guernsey, Literary And Potato Peel-Pie Society: StudioCanal, cert 12A, 124 mins
Flashing backwards and forwards between World War Two and present-day 1946, it follows our protagonist, touring author Juliet Ashton (another impressive performance from Cinderella and Darkest Hour’s Lily James), who’s written a letter by a member of the secret society of the title. It’s a secret, because this small population are living under the unrelenting grip of German occupation, and form the club as a way to seek solace in reading – away from the horror of war.
Their story of triumph over adversity strikes a chord with reporter Juliet, who wants to write an article about them. As she delves deeper, she discovers tragic secrets which no one must ever know as well as passions of her own.
Originally, Kenneth Branagh was set to direct this adaptation, with Kate Winslet cast in the lead role. However, this never materialised, after that version of the production stalled.
Mike Newell was hired, the veteran director behind such eclectic hits as Four Weddings, Johnny Depp gangster thriller Donnie Brasco and one of the best Harry Potter films – The Goblet Of Fire.
Some artistic liberties have been made.
The letter-writing format of the novel remains only partially intact – the film it’s most reminiscent of is Their Finest (2017) starring Gemma Arterton, another wartime-set moralbooster with a similar mixture of warmth, courage and the art of correspondence – with a strong female at its centre.
There are moments of humour, but this isn’t strictly a comedy. Although World War Two is only cursorily shown in favour of foregrounding cosiness, some moments are very moving.
This is thanks to an outstanding performance from Penelope Wilton as a frosty but heartbroken widow Amelia. There’s strong support from Tom Courtenay, and Scream Queens’ Glen Powell as an American fiancé, too.
Fans of the source material should enjoy it, preferably without a slice of apparently revolting potato peel-pie!