Move over, Harry
MISS POTTER Cert. PG Director: Chris Noonan
A hundred years on from the first time that Peter Rabbit, Mrs Tiggywinkle and Jemima Puddleduck were introduced to the world, this film tells the story of their creator, Beatrix Potter.
This is, no doubt, a romanticised account but it is most charmingly told, with a touching performance from Renée Zellweger as the heroine. The tale cleverly alludes to many hot issues of the 20th and 21st centuries: the lot of females in a male-dominated world; the plight of the single woman; the divisions of class in society and the need to conserve the landscape. But supremely this is a story of the power of story, even quirky and childish stories about rabbits who wear coats and very stupid ducks.
Story supersedes the barriers of class and generations and even of time itself as the durability of Potter’s stories has shown. A critical scene in the film is of Beatrix mesmerising a group of titled ladies and gentlemen with a snippet of a story.
