Beatrix Potter was born on July 28th 1866 in London. At the time, the British were feudal-minded, people did not respect females even they were talented. Beatrix did not get marry at young age like other females to house themselves, instead she stuck on to her dream, created popular characters and published, such as the famous Peter Rabbit.
The Potters was a typical Victorian family, lived in a large house with several servants. The mother had overprotected her two little kids – Beatrix and Bertram. She never let them made friends because "the village kids have germs". Brother Bertram could go to boarding school however, Beatrix was educated at home under governesses, and made friends with her pets. Since 1882, the Potters spent their summers at Lake District where Bertram studied insects while Beatrix painted the landscape and animals with water color, and created stories for self entertainment. The Lake District and her animal friends had inspired the tales of Peter and Benjamin, and other characters later came out.
* Beatrix Potter at age 15, with her family pet Spot the spanielAt a later age, Beatrix had defeated some real estate developers in several auctions, and bought over 4,000 acres of farmland with her huge fortune from selling her books, which had saved the nature from devastation. She had devoted her love to the nature. She had bred the rare and threatened Herdwick Sheep indigenous to the Lake District, and became the first woman to be selected President of the Herdwick Sheepbreeders' Association; she also showed her passion to farming, to ensure the traditional farming methods would be preserved. When she died, she passed all her farmlands, cottages, etc., to National Trust, to preserve a beautiful nature for future generations. Otherwise, people now would not be able to enjoy the gift of the Lake District.
Back to the movie. When Mrs Potter did not approve Beatrix's marriage to Norman, the determined Beatrix accepted her mother's advise to have a "calm down" summer at the Lake District, to prove that her love with Norman was true. Unfortunately, this separation was for ever. Norman was cough to death so suddenly. Why Norman died so quickly? I was so curious to know if he was died of pneumonia or galloping consumption.
The fact is neither of them. I searched some websites and found out the truth: he was died of pemicious anaemia within a few weeks.
More than that, again, this movie has digested the history to make Beatrix younger, also re-arranged the sequence:
1. The Warne brothers did not decided to publish The Tale of Peter Rabbit until Miss Potter had successfully printed and sold several books herself.
2. The Tale of Two Bad Mice was inspired from the dollhouse Norman made for his niece, but not of her own in childhood.
3. Jemima Puddle-duck was a real duck that kept hiding her eggs at Hilltop Farm, and the story was written after Norman's death.
4. William Heelis was neither a groundskeeper nor a childhood friend of Beatrix, in fact, she was older than he.
5. The publication sequence has been changed in the movie. Though Peter Rabbit was the first book published, the second published Jemima Puddle-duck in the movie was in fact the twelfth book published in real life.
This story moves smoothly. In between there are lovely animated Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-duck take part which make the story more lively; the Lake District and the natural landscape are beautiful and fresh which colorized the movie. "A place propitious for giving birth to great men", it is no wonder to have million inspirations when one is having such a comfortable and tranquil live there.
The performance of Renee is fair. Her acting has not much improved indeed. She tries to imitate the accent of British upper class ladies but gives a strange feeling; on the contrary, Ewan McGregor is much competent to be Norman and delivers Romance. However, the length of the movie cannot be longer, so is not enough to tell more about their romance. (At least I feel not enough)
Although this movie has been criticized, Gertie-Yunis thinks it worth watching as it depicts the life story of Peter Rabbit's author, along with the beautiful scenery of England. Even my momi, who does not like watching movie, has sat down quietly to watch it. See? It is quite a good movie.
Director: Chris Noonan
Casts: Renee Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, Emily Watson
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