DVD review: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
In terms of films, this was the highlight of my festive season.
DVD: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society
Reviewed by: Samantha Keogh
Review made possible by: Empire Entertainment
In terms of films, this was the highlight of my festive season.
In 1941, on the island of Guernsey, four friends are stopped by soldiers for breaching curfew during the German occupation.
When asked for their reason, they say they were returning from their book club, hastily named “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society”, to avoid arrest.
Five years later, Juliet, a charismatic and free-spirited London-based writer, receives a letter from a member of a mysterious literary club started in Nazi-occupied Guernsey.
Her curiosity piqued and having traded both letters and books with one of the members, Juliet decides to visit the island.
There she meets the delightfully eccentric members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, including Dawsey, the rugged and intriguing farmer who wrote her the letter.
As the secrets from their wartime past unfold, Juliet’s growing attachment to the island, the book club and her affection for Dawsey will change the course of her life forever.
What starts out as a quest to write about the society for The Times Literary Supplement turns into a love affair between Juliet and Dawsey, as well as strong friendships with the rest of the group.
And what about the pie?
Apparently, with potato and peelings as the two ingredients – it’s awful!
When Juliet visits the island, the war has ended but the island still contains reminds of the occupation which sets the mood for a romance set against a backdrop which seamlessly interweaves the facts of the war with the fiction of the book club.
The mood of post-war Guernsey adds to the various threads of the story, offering the viewer so much more than your average romance.
Lily James, who takes the role of Juliet, really flexed her acting muscles in 2018, releasing two great movies in quick succession.
And, just like her performance in Mama Mia: Here We Go Again, she offers another superb performance in this film.
The rest of the cast are, mostly, unknown, but each brings a depth to the film which makes this layered movie a treat to watch.
It’s a wonderful movie for young and old, man or woman and should definitely be added to your movie collection.
