Directed by Mike Newell. Reviewed by Paul Sorrell

I approached this film with interest, as I had previously read the book of the same name and I was keen to see how the filmmakers would translate the novel, which takes the form of a series of letters, into visual terms. Abandoning the epistolary format, director Mike Newell has created an equally compelling story by cutting back and forth between London and Guernsey, the two locales, and between 1946 — which acts as an anchor point for the action — and the earlier wartime years.

At first, I thought this might be a glossy, superficial film, with its immaculate period recreation of wartime London, finely detailed interiors and sweeping vistas of Guernsey. The prospect of a beautiful (and slightly ditzy) young protagonist (Lily James) and a complex romantic entanglement did nothing to counter my expectations.

But the film is saved by the many good things it contains — a sobering tale of heroism, cruelty and betrayal in Nazi-occupied Guernsey, well-observed contrasts between metropolitan culture and island life and, most of all, the well-drawn characters that populate the film. In London, there is the trio of up-and-coming writer Juliet Ashton, her publisher, Sidney Stark, and her relentless American suitor. The Guernsey cast are equally firmly drawn, especially the literary society members. Juliet’s landlady on the island, the priggish and judgmental Charlotte Stimple, provides a foil to these generous-hearted folk.

When Juliet receives a letter out of the blue from Guernsey pig farmer Dawsey Adams, wanting to source a copy of Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare, it sets off a chain of events that leads her to the island, still recovering from the privations and barbarity of the Nazi occupation. What she discovers there is a heartbreaking secret that this traumatised community is scarcely ready to deal with, let alone disclose to outsiders.

Like any crisis, especially in wartime, the occupation has revealed the best and worst in people, and Juliet is instantly pulled into the islanders’ story, shaking her loose from her London moorings. Alongside these events runs the parallel tale of the two men vying for Juliet’s favour. Her American suitor, an army officer stationed in the capital, is kind-hearted and attentive, but sees her as a trophy, much like the oversized engagement ring he gives her. His rival, by contrast, is so wary of revealing his feelings that he almost leaves his bid too late.

And then there is the love of books and reading that runs through the film like a golden thread. Perhaps books are the real, enduring link between Juliet and her new island family. And hopefully with the audience, too.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 228, July 2018: 29.