Beatrix Potter & Mrs Tiggy Winkle

On my first visit to England - almost too many decades ago, it seems - I met the memory of Beatrix Potter. Meandering in the Lake District, I happened upon "Hilltop," near Sawrey, the first property she bought when she decided to live away from her wealthy family's home in London.

It was a grey rainy day when I visited, and because it was late in the afternoon, I was the only one in the house, about which I don't recall much. But I do remember - vividly - my amazement at the luminous quality of her watercolors. Unlike the reproductions in her books of that time, these pictures just jumped off the page into your heart without so much as a by-your-leave.

On my way back to the car, I asked one of the older women on duty if any of the Royal Ballet film "Peter Rabbit," had been shot near the premises.

"Yes," she said. "As I was coming to work in the coach (bus), I looked out the window and across the road, Frederick Ashton, who was a very tall man, came bounding down the hill as Mrs Tiggy Winkle. I said to the coach driver, "Oh, look, there's Mrs Tiggy Winkle. He seemed quite surprised to see a six foot plus badger in an apron carrying a basket, surrounded by a film crew."

She paused, then added with a laugh in her voice, "You know that man has never looked at me the same way since."

I suppose the books about Peter Rabbit and all his friends were read to me when I was very young - I simply don't remember. But I have never forgot that brief exchange in the Lake District.

That experience returned in a rush recently when I sat down to watch "Miss Potter, a movie with Renée Zellweger in the lead. I had been impressed, but not overwhelmingly, in her portrayals of Bridget Jones. She was nearly convincing, I thought in wrestling the English accent to the ground, so I was not especially sanguine about this attempt.

I have long been a great admirer of small films, especially from the UK, where the rhythms of story telling require of the audience more patience and an open heart, as well as - truth be told - a modest grasp of the history and zeitgeist of the time in which the story is told.

I forgot about Ms Zellweger's accent in about ninety seconds - the same length of time it took Helen Mirren to disappear completely in her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II. Zellweger is marvelous and is surrounded by a first rate cast.

The conflict in the film between daughter and mother, mediated to a degree by Beatrix's father, and her lifelong commitment to drawing animals and making up stories about them were sufficient to keep my interest, and Zellweger's portrayal of an independent woman struggling to free herself of the Victorian era is compelling.

No robots, no loud explosions, no guns, no violence, and no profanity - quiet enough for you to respond to the story. And if you don't like the story, then just wait for the shots of the landscapes in Scotland and the Lake District.

In its own way, Miss Potter reminded me of "Sweet Land," another quiet film, made here in Minnesota. Both are great ways to spend an evening, especially if you have a ready supply of popcorn. (And if you missed "Calendar Girls," put that on your video rental list too.)

Oh, and don't forget the Kleenex.