Hello, Bookstore

Matt Tannenbaum owns and operates an indy bookshop in Lenox, Massachusetts named simply "The Bookstore". This documentary is an amiable and rather free-form tour of daily life in the store during and after the pandemic. It's kind of like an extended 'interview' with Matt (except that the camera simply watches what's happening while Matt interacts with his local customers, works with books, orders books, talks about books, recommends books, and sometimes just quietly ruminates on life the universe and everything). It's all very enjoyable in a low-key way.

The director (A. B. Zax, whom I know nothing about -- is this a pseudonym?) must have shot a lot of film and then lots of editing down and selecting how to put scenes in some kind of order. The result is little or no order at all. The effect is to encourage you to just sit back and let things flow past. If there's a greater message, I guess it's just that Matt stands in for any long-time self-employed business person who loves what he's doing so much that he just can't imagine doing anything else. And his devoted local customers obviously feel the same way.

Fun film. Nothing major, but personable and captivating.

This is a documentary with huge heart and charm. I was surprised by how much I liked it and how quickly and deeply engaging it was. While it feels quite unstructured, being raphsodic in footage from before, during and after pandemic lock-downs and following the owner's mercurial prosaic verbal flights from book to book and subject to subject, this is a huge part of the warmth and sense of connection it conveys. This very natural, almost raw style of the footage works to immerse the viewer into the little book shop and into the interactions between the owner, customers, staff and family. I sense the director has a deep love of books, book shops (maybe a connection to this particular bookstore?) and the love shines through the film. For a documentary filmed entirely within a very small spatial confine - and budget, resource and then pandemic confines - it has quite an expansive feel, and a big message of connection and humanity, kindness and patience. Thoroughly recommend this as a relaxing, uplifting, thoughtful tonic especially but not exclusively for book lovers.