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Film celebrates influential American poet

The Vernon Film Society screens A Quiet Passion Sept. 25 at the Vernon Towne Cinema
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The Vernon Film Society will bring A Quiet Passion to Vernon audiences Sept. 25 at the Vernon Towne Cinema. (Hurricane Films/Courtesy of Music Box Films Image)

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The Vernon Film Society will bring A Quiet Passion to Vernon audiences Sept. 25 at the Vernon Towne Cinema.

It’s the story of Emily Dickinson, the 19th century poet who was virtually unknown in her lifetime, with fewer than a dozen of her nearly 1,800 poems published. Dickinson is now recognized as a genius who committed to paper some of the most important verses in American literature.

Dickinson (Cynthia Nixon) led a deeply introverted existence and eventually boarded herself up in her bedroom. Yet it is her time with her mother, father and sister that structure the film. These moments are sensitively rendered but it is the seamless manner in which director Terence Davies manages to integrate Dickinson’s poetry into the narrative that is the central joy of the film.

Along with stunning photography, the film’s beauty is also evident in the respect and love it brings to its subject. Davies has created an extraordinarily moving account of Dickinson’s particular genius.

“Given its theme and the tragic circumstances of Dickinson’s life, Passion is a refreshingly humorous work. Its firecracker dialogue is invigorating; the assured, measured compositions are equally compelling. And in its sensitivity to intersecting conflicts related to womanhood and class, it is quietly masterful,” wrote Michael Pattison of Indiewire.

A Quiet Passion will screen Sept. 25 at the Vernon Towne Cinema at the regular times of 5:15 and 7:45 p.m. Tickets are available one week ahead at the theatre and the Bean Scene Coffee House for $7. Cash only. Rated PG.