A film based on Tove Jansson’s 1972 novel The Summer Book has premiered in London.
The film, which shown for the first time at the London Film Festival on Saturday, stars Glenn Close, 77, in the role of the grandmother. In a screen career lasting more than four decades, the American actor has won several Emmy, Golden Globe and Bafta awards, along with several Oscar nominations. In 2020, she played vice-presidential candidate JD Vance‘s grandmother in the film version of his memoir Hillbilly Elegy.
Emily Matthews plays nine-year-old Sophia, who comes to spend the summer with her grandmother on a small island off Finland’s southeast coast, while Norwegian actor Anders Danielsen Lie plays Sophia's father.
American director Charlie McDowell says he was inspired by re-reading Jansson's book during the pandemic.
"I thought it was such a beautiful depiction of people's place in nature and their connection to each other, as well as... their surroundings," he told AFP before the premiere on Saturday.
"So I wanted to make a film that was a reminder of what's in front of you, when you look up from your tablets and your screens, and just remind people what's out there if you seek it," added McDowell.
Archipelago locations in Kotka, Porvoo and Espoo
The movie was filmed in the summer of 2023 in Finland, including archipelago locations in Kotka, Porvoo and Espoo, according to the official Moomin website, which also offers the first clip from the film to be released.
Initial reviews of the film have been generally positive, with AFP praising Close’s "standout performance" and the Hollywood Reporter calling it "affecting" and "appealing… a delicate reflection on the cycles of life and death".
The film premieres in Finland on 31 January.
Jansson family "tremendously happy" about adaptation
The Summer Book is one of 10 novels and short story collections for adults written by Jansson, who is best known for the Moomin series. Jansson was the subject of the award-winning 2020 biopic Tove.
Jansson, who died in 2001, spent many summers with her partner, graphic artist Tuulikki Pietilä, on Klovharu, a tiny rocky island near Porvoo similar to the one in the book and film. The girl’s character was partly inspired by the author’s niece, Sophia Jansson.
She is now chair of Moomin Characters, which oversees her aunt’s creative legacy.
Sophia Jansson advised McDowell and screenwriter Robert Jones on the adaptation and says the family is "tremendously happy" about the film project.
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