At the end of the year, I finally figured out that what I like more is this movie, if compared with the equally moving book, even though the latter came first, the book was still bought at the lovely "One Way Street"!
It is hard to imagine that buying books by international mail can exist for decades. One often travels by long-distance bus to find the owner of the castle who may be in despair, finds books for the bookstore, and also finds books for her on the other side of the ocean; one knows the other side. Because of the food shortage caused by the war, and during the food control, when I was not financially rich, I bought some food from time to time and sent them to them: all the clerks shared it together. It warms my heart to see the shop assistants take it home solemnly and share it with their relatives in a very ceremonial way. Although they regret not seeing each other in the end.
Hailian cannot be regarded as a successful writer, but she used her actions to write the best book in her life. This magical friendship really happened in real life, bringing a halo of chatting to books and movies. Because of this, this movie is probably the most difficult to turn into a movie in the world.
The director's most successful first was to find two very good actors: Anthony Hopkins, whom I knew well, and Anne Bancroft, whom I met for the first time. One is good at interpreting the British introverted style, or is one of the best representatives of the British in everyone's mind, and the other is a lively performance of a writer, and his speech is direct and funny. The combination of movement and stillness brings vivid interaction to the film.
The second admiration for the director is that Hailian directly interprets the content of the letter to the camera in the way of confession. Annie uses her own understanding of the letter to perform a lively, playful and loyal Hailian.
Frank's performance is more of a silence, even the silence at lunch with his wife, which brings a little bit of ambiguity to the film. The audience can easily feel that Frank and Hailian may have more resonance at the level of literary soul. Because there is also Hailian in the screenwriter, there is a possibility that this brain hole exists. Undoubtedly it brings more imagination to the film. Hailian herself did not go to the bookstore before Frank's death, but her elegant and beautiful friend did. The director let Frank's deep eyes fall on her better figure, and gave such a breath! I have to say that the director wisely used the gossip heart that all humans have (sorry Frank's wife)!
It's almost the end of the year, I've watched this movie for a long time, and the warmth still lingers in my heart, leaving a footprint... Thank you Hailian, Frank, Anthony, Annie and director David!
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