Elizabeth’s Books, in the heart of the Town of Lunenburg’s bookselling district, boasts a rental library of more than five thousand DVDs. The shop usually opens around 6 p.m. each evening, never closing earlier than 10 p.m. Each month, proprietor Chris Webb recommends films for your consideration.
Summer brings thousands of tourists to Lunenburg for many reasons – recreation on the ocean, our UNESCO World Heritage Site, some of the best dining on the East Coast. Then, new visitors realise – “Hey, where have I seen this place before?” The answer is often Haven or another production where our town stands in for a seaside village in Maine. For the month of August, Chris recommends you check out the local films section featuring movies filmed from Lunenburg to Halifax.
- Dolores Claiborne (1995)
- Two If By Sea (1996)
- Simon Birch (1998)
- The Event (2003)
- Whole New Thing (2005)
- Young Triffie’s Been Made Away With (2006)
- Sea Wolf (Miniseries, 2009)
- Moby Dick (2010)
Simon Birch (1998) is a comedy-drama about the smallest boy in Gravestown, Maine – actually Lunenburg – facing his challenges and dreams. The film’s opening shot features Lunenburg’s most notable historian, Basil Brownless, playing the bells at St. John’s Anglican Church. The late Brownless compiled a book of over 200 melodies for the church’s carillon bells that, kept inside the same bell tower, miraculously survived the fire that nearly completely destroyed the structure in 2001. He was the author of Lunenburg’s Most Historic Church: The 250-Year History of St John’s Anglican Church which served as a fundraising tool in the reconstruction. Now, Simon Birch is a popular film you can even find on Disney+ (but you should rent it from Elizabeth’s) that preserves a snapshot of our heritage and prominently features a pre-reconstruction St. John’s Anglican Church.