I had not heard about this film until I happened upon
this review on Valentine's Day, which mentioned four of my favorite things: banned books, libraries, supernatural beings, and Emma Thompson. My husband and I know better than to go out on V-day,
opting instead for a romantic evening at home, so we made plans to see it on Friday. I was pleased when libraries were mentioned in the opening scene, but started to worry when I didn't actually see any until about mid way through, and when one of the main characters Macon (Jeremy Irons) kept saying things like "you can look it up on Google" - the mantra of those who think libraries don't matter - I really grew concerned. The anticipation was worth it though! What a library scene we were finally treated to - a majestic place hidden beneath the unassuming Gaitlin (South Carolina) Public Library and guarded by super-supernatural librarian, Amma (Viola Davis). There is a special irony in the fact that the Public Library, which has a dearth of books thanks to the fundamentalist town censors, sits atop such a wealth of magic knowledge. And, it turns out, our Macon was among the heaviest users of the magical library. You can't just Google deep magic. That only comes from books!
A fabulous library movie. I guess I will have to read the book now.
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