|
84 Charing Cross Road [1986] | ![84 Charing Cross Road [1986]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VDG8GBEFL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: David Jones
Actors: Anne Bancroft, Jean De Baer, Daniel Gerroll, Anthony Hopkins, Eleanor David
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: £19.99
Buy New: £3.78
You Save: £16.21 (81%)
New (13) Used (1) from £3.50
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 3472
Format: Dubbed, Pal, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), Arabic (Subtitled), Bulgarian (Subtitled), Czech (Subtitled), Danish (Subtitled), Dutch (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Finnish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), German (Subtitled), Greek (Subtitled), Hebrew (Subtitled), Hindi (Subtitled), Hungarian (Subtitled), Icelandic (Subtitled), Italian (Subtitled), Norwegian (Subtitled), Polish (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Swedish (Subtitled), Turkish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), German (Dubbed), Italian (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: Universal, suitable for all
Region: 2
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 95 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5035822111134
ASIN: B00005UWUL
Theatrical Release Date: 1986
Release Date: May 20, 2002
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
| |
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
Helene Hanff (Anne Bancroft) and Frank Doel (Anthony Hopkins) are lifelong friends who never meet in 84 Charing Cross Road, a unique comedy-drama based on a true story. Hanff and Doel are separated by 3,000 miles of ocean and joined by a passion for old books. Their relationship begins when New- Yorker Hanff orders a copy of Pepys' diary. Doel, as polite and soft-spoken as Hanff is loud and overbearing, fields the request from the titular book shop in London. For the next two decades they correspond without ever actually sitting down for tea and crumpets. Director David Jones (Betrayal) does a reasonably good job of goosing a movie about something as un-cinematic as letter-writing, and the stars have fun chewing scenery on both sides of the Atlantic. The model for this kind of bittersweet relationship is David Lean's Brief Encounter, which, not coincidentally, is glimpsed here when Hanff steps out for a rainy-day matinee. --Glenn Lovell, Amazon.com
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
Distant Cares for Book Lovers March 3, 2008
Donald Mitchell (Boston)
Authors are fond of saying that the written word can take people anywhere, thinking no doubt of the intense relationship that a reader can have with an engaging author's writing. 84 Charing Cross Road explores a different dimension of how the written word travels: the role of correspondence, a virtually lost art today. The movie deftly displays how you can share your heart with someone you've never met.
The movie is based on 20 years of actual correspondence between New York author Helene Hanff and Frank Doel, the manager of a small London book store. Hanff's in-your-face New York energy and candor are what make the exchange meaningful to viewers. Hanff is a $40 a week script reader as the movie begins but has an affection for British nonfiction that leaves her frustrated with a lack of out-of-print titles in New York. Seeing a small advertisement in The Saturday Review, she writes to Marks & Co. in London (located at 84 Charing Cross Road) asking with trepidation for used books that cost less than $5 each and requesting specific titles.
The movie handles this distance relationship by alternating between receiving and sending correspondence and revealing little bits of the daily lives of those involved. At the core, however, is always a shared passion for books and good writing. The two styles of communicating could not be more different: Hanff doesn't edit her inner thoughts when writing, and Doel is proper and reticent.
The correspondence and relationship take an unexpected turn when Hanff learns how little fresh food English people are allowed during post-war rationing but how cheap it is to send some from Denmark. With a good heart, she sends off a first package . . . and then fears she may offend by having sent a ham to people who keep kosher.
A film like this obviously depends on some pretty special acting. Anne Bancroft does a wonderful job of being breezy, but intense, in her performance. I loved the scenes where a cigarette dangles precariously from her mouth as she pounds away with two fingers on an old manual typewriter. The role of the reserved Doel is more of a challenge, but Anthony Hopkins manages to capture the interest and delight that a reserved man might enjoy in lighthearted correspondence. Judi Dench plays Doel's wife in a role that shows versatility from the roles that you know her better for.
Unlike many films, this one has a heart. The actors are turned loose to play their roles in extreme ways (especially Bancroft) and the sentimentality works. Some of the most fun moments are when she turns to the camera and addresses the audience with a sparkle in her eyes.
As I watched the film, I was reminded of the idea that relationships are more important than issues. Even when Hanff was angry about something, she would still be solicitous about the people at 84 Charing Cross Road she cared for.
It's Only Words, And Yes, Words ARE Enough February 4, 2008
b4-its-2-l8 (London)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
I read this book many years ago and found the simplicity of the story charming and quite heart-warming whilst the subtlety of the emotional undertones beautifully conveyed a genuine mutual respect and love. These self-same sentiments shine through in this 'page to screen' adaptation and I'm pleased to say none its charm has been lost in the process.
The story principley entails the real life correspondence that occurred in the 1940s-1960's between Helene Hanff, an American scriptwriter living in New York with a passion for second-hand books, and Frank Doel a knowledgeable bookseller living in London, working at an antiquarian bookshop at 84 Charing Cross Road.
Frustrated at her inability to get the sort of books she wants (at the price she's willing to pay) in New York she tries her luck by writing to a firm in London. The reply she receives inspires her and leads to a witty and touching correspondence spanning 20 years. Although she's making business enquiries, Helene's style of communication through her letters with the bookstore is conversational and warm and this encourages different members of the bookstore to correspond with her in like fashion.
This film is a delight to watch, perfect for those quieter, more contemplative moods. The humour is mild and the humanity rich and at times genuinely touching as the letter writing relationship (note, they are not 'pen friends') between the principle characters deepens and matures.
Overall, a very gentle yet satisfying movie where the strongest 'character' is perhaps the words of the letters themselves. I watched this film with a friend and we were both so engrossed we hardly spoke a word to each other throughout!
If the 95 minutes run time is not enough for you, you could watch again but it in any of the 4 dubbed languages; French, German, Italian, and Spanish as well as a whole host of subtitled languages.
Great Movie, Great Actress! September 3, 2007
bagoas (Portugal)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is one of my favourite movies ever. Very literary and warm-hearted, it tells the story of two people that share the same love for books. One an American writer, passionate and wild, the other an English bookseller, meticulous and reserved, they couldn't be more apart. And yet they become pen-palls, and then real friends. Yes, this is a movie about books, but it is also a movie about friendship, and a movie about cities. And haw we can love and befriend someone that we never met and that leaves in a city we can only imagine.
Both actors are superb, but the Oscar goes to the great, late and much missed Anne Bancroft. What an actress, what a lady!
just as good as the book March 20, 2006
10 out of 13 found this review helpful
It's been years when I saw it the fist time on TV and it truly touched me and years after that I have read the german translation of the book but the stroy seemed to be familiar well I went on the internet there it was the film so I bought it and wachted it right after I read the book and guess what not even a minute was boring for once! a fantasic book which has been brought to the big picture right !!
A heartwarming tale of long-distance friendship March 11, 2006
Christine (Manila, Philippines)
15 out of 18 found this review helpful
Anne Bancroft's character is a that of a writer. She is an avid collector of first edition books. Anthony Hopkin's character is a buyer/seller of antique books. The story spans many years and the movie audience is allowed to peek into the lives of these 2 central characters as they exchange correspondence. How refreshing it was when people still wrote letters rather than sending emails. Anne Bancroft is witty and rather irreverent; while Anthony Hopkin's plays his role as a staid, boring Englishman to the hilt. How Anne Bancroft "loosens up" this stuff shirt of an antique books' seller is what makes this such a charming film. This has neither today's requisite of sex and violence...I wish they made more films like this today.
|
|
|
www.pcprotech.co.uk | |
