''Tortoise in Love'' is a 2012 British

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film. The story follows a

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...

turned

stately home 300px, Oxfordshire.html" ;"title="Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire">Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a To ...

gardener A gardener is someone who practices gardening, either professionally or as a hobby. Description A gardener is any person involved in gardening, arguably the oldest occupation, from the hobbyist in a residential garden, the home-owner suppleme ...

who enlists the help of his village in an attempt to woo a Polish

au pair An au pair (; : au pairs) is a person working for, and living as part of, a homestay, host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family’s responsibility for child care as well as some homemaking, housework, and receive a monetary ...

he has fallen in love with. First shown at the

2011 Cannes Film Festival The 64th Cannes Film Festival took place from 11 to 22 May 2011. American actor Robert De Niro served as the president of the jury for the main competition. American filmmaker Terrence Malick won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for t ...

, the film received its world premiere at

Odeon West End The Odeon Luxe West End is a two-screen cinema on the south side of Leicester Square, London. It has historically been used for smaller film premieres and hosting the annual BFI London Film Festival. The site is on an adjacent side of the squa ...

Leicester Square Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised town square, square in the West End of London, England, and is the centre of London's entertainment district. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leice ...

, the first film to premiere at Leicester Square since its official re-opening. The film made headlines as a result of having its funding entirely crowd sourced from the village of

Kingston Bagpuize Kingston Bagpuize () is a village in the civil parish of Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor, in the Vale of White Horse district, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is about west of Abingdon. It was part of Berkshire, until the 1974 bou ...

and the neighbouring village of

Southmoor Southmoor is a village in the civil parish of Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor, about west of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Historically part of Berkshire, the 1974 boundary changes transferred local government to Oxfordshire. Southmoor village is ...

Premise

Tom, a gardener at Kingston Bagpuize House, falls in love with Anya, a Polish au pair. He is agonisingly slow at making a move to win the heart of Anya, so the whole village comes together to help speed things up.

Production

After failing to secure backing for a previous project, Browning came upon the idea of seeking funding for ''Tortoise in Love'' from his local village. He presented his idea to produce a

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

with a full

theatrical release An art release is the premiere of an artistic production and its presentation and marketing to the public. Film A film release is the authorization by the owner of a completed film to a public exhibition of the film. The exhibition may be in thea ...

during a village meeting in summer 2009. In the end, 800 residents from the village invested between £10 and £1,000 each, along with a £10,000 grant from Defra's Rural Development Programme for England towards the total budget of £250,000 in cash. In addition, the residents provided another £250,000 in services rendered. In return, they received shares in the film, with any profits going towards village improvement projects. Filmed and set in the village of Kingston Bagpuize, the filming took place over a six-week period with Kingston Bagpuize House and the local pub serving as

backlot A backlot is an area behind or adjoining a movie studio containing permanent exterior buildings for outdoor scenes in filmmaking or television productions, or space for temporary set construction. Uses Some movie studios build a wide variety of ...

. While the main cast and key members of the production crew are professionals, the rest of the cast and crew were all provided for by the village residents and businesses. The local

Women's Institutes The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organization for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being the ...

provided the catering, hair salon provided the hair and make up, and a local composer Geoff Cottrell the

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

, which won Best Original Score at the Idyllwild Film Festival in 2013. All of the non-local based personnel were housed in local homes.

Reception

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gives the film a 45% approval rating based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 4.75/10.

References

External links

* * * {{rotten-tomatoes, id=tortoise_in_love_2012, title=Tortoise In Love
Kingston Bagpuize House
* Behind the scenes film a
YouTube
2011 romantic comedy films 2011 films British romantic comedy films 2010s English-language films 2010s British films English-language romantic comedy films