Next Friday Afternoon Movie at Bernardsville Library: "Fences"

Bernardsville Public Library continues its monthly series of Friday afternoon movies on Friday, October 27 at 2:00 pm with a free showing of "Fences" (2017), the movie adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by August Wilson. Starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, the movie is set in 1950s Pittsburgh and takes a passionate look at former Negro-league baseball player Troy Maxson (Washington) as he fights to provide for those he loves in a world that threatens to push him down.

Film critic Roger Ebert wrote that the movie’s “timeframe does not date the material. Its universal themes supersede any of its societal details…[It] is a film about how our environment shapes us, and how, no matter how noble their intentions, our parents can’t help but mess us up in some fashion, just as their parents had done for them. This is our legacy as humans." Some people build fences to keep people out — and other people build fences to keep people in.

This movie series is funded by gifts to the Friends of the Bernardsville Library. Future films in the Friday afternoon series range from documentaries to comedies to classics and drama and are be shown on the fourth Friday of the month at 2:00 pm. They are selected for cultural enrichment and for appeal to a wide variety of tastes and interests in the community. Ed English, a long-time filmmaker, heads the Friends' movie committee. He hopes that viewers will linger after the films to discuss them. Books and other supporting materials are recommended during the discussions. After a break for the holiday season, the movie series will resume in January 2018 with a showing of "The Time Traveler's Wife" on Friday, January 26 at 2:00 pm.

There is no charge to attend the movies; advance sign-up is requested, but not required. To register online go to www.bernardsvillelibrary.org and follow the link from Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up.