Have you seen The Continuing Story? Do you consider it a brave epic or a cinematic travesty? The debate, like Anne herself, is eternal.
Release the name "The Continuing Story" in any Anne fan group, and you will witness a civil war. Here are the two entrenched positions.
For millions of readers and viewers worldwide, Anne Shirley is a fixed star in the literary cosmos. She is the red-headed, freckled orphan with a torrent of words and a spirit that cannot be broken. From the moment she smashed her slate over Gilbert Blythe’s head, to the quiet triumph of earning her teaching license and the tender heartbreak of Anne of Avonlea , the story seemed preordained. The narrative arc was comfortingly predictable: Anne would marry Gilbert, raise a family in the "house of dreams," and perhaps, eventually, watch her own children get into scrapes. Anne of Green Gables- The Continuing Story
The score, for example, is haunting. Don Gillis replaced Hagood Hardy, and the music shifts from Celtic fiddle tunes to mournful cello dirges. The cinematography is grey and desaturated, a far cry from the golden-hued Avonlea. In short, everything about the film looks and sounds wrong for Anne, because it was designed to be wrong. It is the record scratch in the middle of a waltz.
Yes. You read that correctly.
The film opens with a sense of stasis. Anne (Megan Follows) is in New York, pursuing a writing career, while Gilbert (Jonathan Crombie) is working at a hospital. The film’s first act, set against the backdrop of pre-war New York society, offers a glimpse of Anne as a modern career woman. She is no longer the "little girl" of Green Gables; she is a professional navigating a complex world.
However, the narrative engine of the film is the outbreak of World War I. When war is declared, the boys of Avonlea—Felix, Gus, and Gilbert—enlist. This marks the tonal shift that defines the movie. The cozy warmth of Avonlea is replaced by the uncertainty of the European front. Have you seen The Continuing Story
One of the most discussed aspects of The Continuing Story is the treatment of the central romance. In the previous film, Anne of Avonlea , the relationship between Anne and Gil was solidified with a proposal. Fans expected The Continuing Story to be a domestic bliss narrative.