Miss Potter

By: Art

Director: Chris Noonan Cast: Renee Zellweger, Ewan McGRegor, Emily Watson Rating: 4 out of 5

Miss Potter is a delicious movie that is perfectly appropriate for a dreary Sunday afternoon. Renee Zellweger stars as the slightly eccentric upper class author whose only friends are the animal characters she has drawn since childhood. The film explores Beatrix’s journey towards self-awareness, exemplified through her growing relationship with Norman Warne (Ewan McGregor).

Trawling through the same feisty female suppression narrative as the much-loved Jane Austen novels, Miss Potter demonstrates that the ‘chick flick’ isn’t always sweetness and light. In a similar vein to the recent Becoming Jane, this film focuses not so much on Beatrix’s work (although there are some colourful childhood favourites that pop in for a visit). Rather it centres on her relationships with her repressive social climbing parents, the handsome yet bumbling Mr Warne and his sister Millie (Emily Watson), the early feminist stalwart who, like Beatrix, resolved never to marry. Beatrix’s relatively quiet life becomes muddled with the introduction of the brother and sister pair who assist her to publish her book and find her own path as she grows in fame.

It was intriguing to witness the separation of Beatrix’s world from today’s society. At the turn of 20th century, a lawyer or a publisher is deemed unsuitable to marry because they are of ‘a trade’ and women are considered to be ‘on the shelf’ if they are not married by the age of 20. Beatrix struggles against these wayward notions and, as a surprise to herself, becomes an advocate of love. Visually arresting with the depiction of the English countryside and the imaginary characters of which it spawned, Miss Potter is a film for the many that grew up with Beatrix’s tales of silly ducks and naughty rabbits and who love stories of those who can find something fabulous in the ordinary. So yes, it’s a ‘chick flick’, and you probably couldn’t get a man to sit still for five minutes to watch it, but it sure is a good teary DVD for a rainy day, even if it just reminds you that there was a time in your life when you believed in rabbits in waistcoats with brass buttons.

Extras: Making of a ‘real life fairytale’ documentary, special commentary with director Chris Noonan, Photo Gallery, Music Video by Katie Melua.