Movie Review: Glenn Close Stars in a ‘Beach Read’ That Could Cure Insomnia – ‘The Summer Book’

“The Summer Book” is a picturesque historical piece based on a novel written by Tove Jannson and inspired by her own experiences on an island in the Gulf of Finland. It is “lyrical” and “meditative” in nature as it tells the story of a little girl and her father as they deal with or avoid the grief of the loss of the child’s mother.

But if the distributors were cheeky enough to make their own book “based on the film,” it would be nothing but pretty pictures. It is characterized by dry, scenic emptiness, a pinch of melodrama and a Glenn Close Achievement of pointillist perfection.

Not much happens and not too much is experienced either.

Sophie, her father, an illustrator, and her clever grandmother set off for the deserted island where their family has spent summers for decades. The child (newcomer Emily Matthews) is about six years old and she can’t articulate or process whatever happened to her mother. dad (Anders Danielsen lie) has memories of this place that probably haunt him, so he throws himself into his work and brings a cottonwood tree he planted back to life – perhaps with his wife or in her honor the year before.

Grandma (Close) beams and stumbles with the infirmities of old age but with the confidence of someone who knows every rock by the sea, every corner of the tiny forest there. She has an idea of ​​what these two are going through, but can’t offer much comforting or wise words.

The child can be a chatterbox, and Grandma has limited patience for the constant observations and questions like “Are there ants in the sky?”

“Life is long, Sophia.”

They’ll spend the summer hiking the archipelago, boating around and planning the Midsomer bonfire they’ve always celebrated here.

Dad sets up a tent, another tradition, and Grandma introduces Sophia to the wonders of nature and wood carving while Dad virtually disappears from the scene.

Thank heavens someone brings Sophia a cat to adopt. Too bad it’s a cat.

“The more I love him, the less he loves me!”

But the child experiences this world and this life in the formative memories of his future. Perhaps as an adult she will come to the conclusion that this was the time when she realized what a loss was (which is not likely). But she’ll probably realize how crazy it sounded to say that to her grandma, who told her and us that she helped found the Girl Scouts of Finland.

“I came to tell you what it’s like to sleep in a tent. I thought you would like to know.”

Too much of the film is an experience of reading between the lines and filling your own holes – quiet idyll, grandma looks out at the sea, the bay, the hut and the trees, as if this might be the last time, I spoil Sophia , as she really “gets” the place for the first time.

At one point, Grandma runs naked through the trees, a scene that isn’t framed as “something we did as kids.” This is merely hinted at. Or maybe Grandma is doing it naturally. Or something mild.

The findings about the fragility of moss are consistent with the superstitions of Grandma’s people.

“We will put seven leaves under your pillow and you will dream of the man you will marry.”

Sophia decides to test her newfound interest in the Almighty with a prayer: “Dear God, I’m bored. Let SOMETHING happen.” Because “even a STORM” would be a change from the boredom.

In fact, that’s exactly what happens, something that was served up in six thousand two hundred and seventy-two melodramas that preceded “The Summer Book.”

Whatever the novel’s meditative, “inspirational” virtues, veteran British television writer Robert Jones and director of “The One I Love” nepo baby Charlie McDowell (son of Mary Steenbergen and Malcolm McDowell) find no cinematic equivalents in this adaptation.

But Glenn Close, America’s Judi Dench (Give her an honorary Oscar, for loving Mike.), makes the film worth watching with another spot-on performance. Every look at the horizon, every movement, every gesture seems just right, calculated, as natural as the next deep breath.

Although the script doesn’t move us through this character, Close almost does so with just a look, a sigh, or the final wistful gesture of an old woman with her Scandinavian ponytails.

Rating: Unrated, nudity

Cast: Glenn Close, Anders Danielsen Lie and Emily Matthews

Credits: Director: Charlie McDowell, Screenplay: Robert Jones, based on a novel by Tove Jansson. A Charades release.

Running time: 1:35