The Wonderful Garden of Bella Brown - DVD

Film: The life of Bella Brown (Jessica Brown Findlay) is beautiful and harmonious when it follows her order exactly. And when nature doesn't get in her way. Because Bella and nature - they don't mix. Too bad her grumpy neighbor Alfie (Tom Wilkinson) loves plants and can't stand to see Bella let her garden go to seed. Without further ado, he reports her to the property management and Bella has only one month to turn this chaotic something into a blooming oasis. But how is she supposed to pull this off? Especially since she's had a hard time focusing on anything since meeting charming inventor Billy (Jeremy Irvine) while working in a library. And so the beautiful order that Bella Brown has painstakingly built up since she was a child is thrown into serious disarray - with unexpected consequences.

It may not sound tremendously positive to say about a movie that it's nice or sweet. But those exact words hit it perfectly with The Marvelous Garden of Bella Brown. And that is in no way to say that this little comedy is inconsequential or not necessarily worth watching. It rather means that the movie without any real rough edges manages one thing in the first place: That you feel really well entertained as a viewer, that you can escape from your everyday life for 90 minutes and that you are also allowed to pine a little bit. The characters are quirky, dysfunctional or grumpy - and yet they are all lovable at heart. The story isn't overflowing with originality, yet it's engaging enough that you're happy to get lost in it.

director Simon Aboud wrote the screenplay for his second feature back in 2009. The fact that he was able to make the film seven years later can certainly be considered a blessing, as it allowed him to cast Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey) in the lead role, who is simply perfect for the role of the somewhat spleenful Bella Brown. But Adam Scott, known as the Sherlock villain for once in an extremely sympathetic role, Tom Wilkinson as a militant gardening enthusiast and Jeremy Irvine as a pissed off inventor are also really wonderfully cast.

The film relies on quiet humour, dreamy imagery and plenty of heartfelt moments. Cynicism is as out of place here as the gloomy worldview prevalent in very many right now. The wonderful garden of Bella Brown says yes to life and yes to love in an almost childlike, playful way. And even though this may not be particularly profound and even a little banal in places, it is a refreshing change from the many heavy and depressing things one is confronted with day after day in the news, but also in many areas of art and culture. So if you like to enjoy 90 minutes of pure everyday escape and remain a hopeless romantic at heart, you should definitely pay a visit to the wonderful Bella Brown garden. Absolutely worth a visit!

Image + Sound: The DVD's clean image pleases with decent overall sharpness and very powerful colors, nicely emphasizing the film's playful fairy-tale nature. Overall, the visuals leave a consistently positive impression. The sound remains largely restrained, dominated by the dialogue and the soundtrack. However, there are definitely moments, such as a literally stormy scene, where the surround range of the home theater system is well utilized.

Extras: As a bonus, in addition to the trailer, the DVD has some extensive promo interviews with director Simon Aboud (approx. 12:19 mins), Jessica Brown Findlay (approx. 6:02 mins), Tom Wilkinson (approx. 5:05 mins), Andrew Scott (approx. 4:37 mins) and Jeremy Irvine (approx. 5:25 mins). Not really mind-blowing, but the director's interview in particular is not uninteresting.

Conclusion: The Wonderful Garden of Bella Brown is a charming comedy, with wonderfully quirky characters and playful humor that has an almost fairy-tale feel. A simply beautiful film, perfect for a cosy home cinema afternoon on the sofa. The DVD presents the film in good picture and sound quality. The bonus material consists of some promo interviews, but some of them are not really uninteresting. All in all, there is for the DVD a clear: Recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp