Housekeeping (film)

Last updated
Housekeeping
Housekeeping 1988 Poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Bill Forsyth
Screenplay byBill Forsyth
Based on Housekeeping
by Marilynne Robinson
Produced by Robert F. Colesberry
Starring
Cinematography Michael Coulter
Edited byMichael Ellis
Music by Michael Gibbs
Production
company
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • November 25, 1987 (1987-11-25)(USA)
Running time
116 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$5 million [1]
Box office$1,083,282 [2]

Housekeeping is a 1987 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Bill Forsyth, starring Christine Lahti, Sara Walker, and Andrea Burchill. Based on Marilynne Robinson's 1980 novel Housekeeping , it is about two young sisters growing up in Idaho in the 1950s. After being abandoned by their mother and raised by elderly relatives, the sisters are looked after by their eccentric aunt whose unconventional and unpredictable ways affect their lives. It was filmed on location in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. It won two awards at the 1987 Tokyo International Film Festival. [3]

Contents

Plot

The film Housekeeping follows two sisters, Ruth and Lucille, who are left in the care of various relatives in the remote town of Fingerbone after being abandoned by their mother. Following their mother's death, the sisters are eventually taken in by their Aunt Sylvie, an eccentric and reclusive drifter with little regard for the norms of domestic life. Sylvie's unconventional behavior, which includes hoarding newspapers, allowing stray animals into the house, and spending long hours outdoors, initially captivates the sisters. However, as time passes, Lucille begins to feel ashamed of Sylvie's odd habits and grows increasingly determined to fit in with her peers.

The contrasting desires of the sisters drive a wedge between them. Lucille, eager for a more conventional life, starts to distance herself from Sylvie and Ruth, seeking the stability she craves by moving in with a local family. Ruth, however, is drawn to Sylvie’s free-spirited nature and begins to adopt her aunt's way of life, deepening their bond. As Sylvie’s unusual parenting style and disregard for social norms attract the attention of town authorities, they question her fitness as a guardian and pressure her to conform. Facing the threat of separation, Sylvie and Ruth decide to leave Fingerbone, ultimately choosing a life on the road, free from societal expectations. The film explores themes of family, belonging, and the conflict between individuality and conformity in a small, judgmental community.

Cast

Production

Housekeeping was the first North American film by writer and director Bill Forsyth, whose previous films— That Sinking Feeling (1979), Gregory's Girl (1981), Local Hero (1983), and Comfort and Joy (1984)—were produced in Scotland. [4] The prospect of creating a film based on Marilynne Robinson's 1980 novel brought Forsyth to America. He later described his film as "a commercial to get people to read the novel". [5]

When an actress friend sent Forsyth the book, he loved it. "There is in it that generational haunting that affects most of us," he said, "those familial burdens we all carry: the grandfather in the story they never knew but who seems to be there all the time." [1]

He bought the screen rights and took two years to finance the picture. "We took it to studios who had expressed interest in it; we didn't just send it out wildly. I didn't get anywhere. I tried to work out various co-productions. At one point it was going to be a Canadian-Norwegian co-production, but that fell apart. I had some English money, but not enough." [1]

When Diane Keaton agreed to star, Cannon Films agreed to finance. But Keaton pulled out six weeks before shooting, so Cannon withdrew as well. "That was one horrendous week," Forsyth said. [1]

He succeeded in raising finance from David Puttnam, who produced Local Hero and who had become Columbia Pictures' head of production. Christine Lahti was signed for the lead. [1]

Forsyth said, "I had always written the story and the script before, and therefore I was the expert on the characters. But these characters, this strange woman and those two unpredictable young girls, were up for grabs. I began to look forward to that half-hour each morning when we discussed the characters and what the day's scenes meant." [1]

Shooting

Housekeeping was filmed in Castlegar and Nelson, British Columbia, Canada. [6] Principal photography began September 22, 1986 and ended in December 1986. [7]

Release

The film was shown at the London Film Festival on November 24, 1987 and then released in the United States on November 25, 1987. [3] [8] [9] By that time, Puttnam had already been fired from Columbia, and without his support the studio gave Housekeeping minimal promotion due to its ties to the studio's ousted chairman. "People really go and see what they're told to go and see through advertising," said Forsyth in 1989, "and [Columbia] didn't spend any money advertising [Housekeeping] or promoting it because David had left by that time." [10] [11] When revisiting the film over 20 years later, Forsyth joked "I don't think it was released. It escaped for a bit." [12]

The film was eventually released on VHS video in the United States on July 8, 1988. [7] It has never been distributed in North American retail stores on either DVD or Blu-ray, but it was finally given a dual-format release in the UK by Powerhouse Films in 2017. [13]

Critical response

Despite the lack of financial success, Housekeeping did find critical acclaim and its reputation has continued to grow despite its limited availability. [12]

Critic Jonathan Rosenbaum rated it as a "masterpiece" for the Chicago Reader , writing that he was most impressed by Forsyth's fluidity and grace as a storyteller. Describing the story as "a kind of feminist version of Huckleberry Finn ," he also praised all three of the film's main actresses and suggested that it "may have taken a Scotsman to show us the contemporary importance, the depths and radiance, of Robinson's novel." [14]

Dave Kehr of the Chicago Tribune wrote that Forsyth had "intentionally undermined his usual whimsical style by burrowing down to the deepest assumptions and implications of its nonconformism" and applauded him for making such an "audacious departure." Similarly, Kehr also praised Lahti for delivering an "arresting performance" that was unlike the roles she had already been known for. [15]

In his review for The New York Times , Vincent Canby described the film as a "haunting comedy about impossible attachments and doomed affection in a world divided between two kinds of people" (those who embrace random existence, and those who try to impose reason and order on random existence). [16] Canby noted that Forsyth was able to "make us care equally" for both sisters, [16] and called Lahti's performance "spellbinding" and "role of her film career".

In his review for the Chicago Sun-Times , Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars, calling it "one of the strangest and best films of the year". [17] He felt Lahti was the perfect choice for the central role of Sylvie.

Decades later, Ebert would host a special screening of Housekeeping at his annual film festival where Forsyth and Lahti participated in a post-screening discussion. When Lahti was asked about the work she was most proud of in her career, she responded "I might be most proud of [Housekeeping], I just love it so much." [12]

On the AllMovie website, Housekeeping has an editorial rating of four and a half out of five stars. [18] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 93% from 14 reviews. [19]

Awards and nominations

AwardCategoryNomineeResult
New York Film Critics Circle Awards, 1987Best ActressChristine LahtiNominated
Tokyo International Film Festival, 1987Best Screenplay AwardBill ForsythWon
Special Jury PrizeBill ForsythWon
Tokyo Grand PrixBill ForsythNominated
USC Scripter Award, 1989USC Scripter AwardBill Forsyth, Marilynne RobinsonNominated

Related Research Articles

<i>Howards End</i> (film) 1992 film

Howards End is a 1992 historical romantic drama film directed by James Ivory, from a screenplay written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala based on the 1910 novel by E. M. Forster. Marking Merchant Ivory Productions' third adaptation of a Forster novel, it was the first film to be released by Sony Pictures Classics. The film's narrative explores class relations in turn-of-the-20th-century Britain, through events in the lives of the Schlegel sisters. The film starred Emma Thompson, Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter and Vanessa Redgrave, with James Wilby, Samuel West, Jemma Redgrave and Prunella Scales in supporting roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Puttnam</span> British film producer (born 1941)

David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, HonFRSA, HonFRPS, MRIA, is a British-Irish film producer, educator, environmentalist and former member of the House of Lords. His productions include Chariots of Fire, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, The Mission, The Killing Fields, Local Hero, Midnight Express and Memphis Belle. In 1982, he received the BAFTA for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema, and in 2006 he was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Forsyth</span> Scottish film director and writer

William David Forsyth, known as Bill Forsyth, is a Scottish film director and writer known for his films Gregory's Girl (1981), Local Hero (1983) and Comfort and Joy (1984) as well as his adaptation of the Marilynne Robinson novel Housekeeping (1987).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marilynne Robinson</span> American novelist and essayist (born 1943)

Marilynne Summers Robinson is an American novelist and essayist. Across her writing career, Robinson has received numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2005, National Humanities Medal in 2012, and the 2016 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. In 2016, Robinson was named in Time magazine's list of 100 most influential people. Robinson began teaching at the Iowa Writers' Workshop in 1991 and retired in the spring of 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theresa Russell</span> American actress

Theresa Lynn Russell is an American actress whose career spans over four decades. Her filmography includes over 50 feature films, ranging from mainstream to independent and experimental films.

<i>Moonlighting</i> (film) 1982 British film

Moonlighting is a 1982 British drama film written and directed by Jerzy Skolimowski. It is set in the early 1980s at the time of the Solidarity protests in Poland. It stars Jeremy Irons as Nowak, a Polish builder leading a team working illegally in London.

Emily Alice Lloyd-Pack, known as Emily Lloyd, is a British actress. At the age of 16, she starred in her debut and breakthrough role in the 1987 film Wish You Were Here, for which she received critical acclaim and Best Actress awards from the National Society of Film Critics and the Evening Standard British Film Awards. She subsequently relocated to Manhattan at 17, received numerous film offers, and starred in the 1989 films Cookie and In Country.

<i>Salaam Bombay!</i> 1988 Indian film by Mira Nair

Salaam Bombay! is a 1988 Indian Hindi-language drama film, directed, co-written and co-produced by Mira Nair. The screenwriter was Nair's creative collaborator Sooni Taraporevala. This was the first feature film directed by Nair. The film depicts the daily lives of children living in slums in Bombay, India's largest city. It stars Shafiq Syed, Raghuvir Yadav, Anita Kanwar, Nana Patekar, Hansa Vithal and Chanda Sharma.

<i>Radio Days</i> 1987 film by Woody Allen

Radio Days is a 1987 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. It is a nostalgic look at the golden age of radio during the late 1930s and 1940s, focusing on a working-class family living in Rockaway Beach, New York. The film weaves together various vignettes, blending the lives of the family members with the radio programs they listen to daily. It also features an ensemble cast.

<i>Housekeeping</i> (novel) 1980 novel by Marilynne Robinson

Housekeeping is a 1980 novel by Marilynne Robinson. The novel was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and awarded the PEN/Hemingway Award for best first novel.

<i>The Big Easy</i> (film) 1986 film by Jim McBride

The Big Easy is a 1986 American neo-noir romantic thriller film directed by Jim McBride and written by Daniel Petrie Jr. The film stars Dennis Quaid, Ellen Barkin, John Goodman, and Ned Beatty. The film was both set and shot on location in New Orleans, Louisiana.

<i>Splitting Heirs</i> 1993 film by Robert Young

Splitting Heirs is a 1993 British black comedy film directed by Robert Young and starring Eric Idle, Rick Moranis, Barbara Hershey, Catherine Zeta-Jones, John Cleese and Sadie Frost. It features music by Michael Kamen. It was entered in the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.

<i>Shy People</i> 1987 film by Andrei Konchalovsky

Shy People is a 1987 American drama film directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, from a script by Konchalovsky, Marjorie David and Gérard Brach. It stars Barbara Hershey, Jill Clayburgh, and Martha Plimpton, and features music by the German electronic music group Tangerine Dream. The film is about the culture clash that takes place between Diana, a Manhattan writer, her wayward teenage daughter Grace, and their long-distant relatives in the bayous of Louisiana.

<i>Someone to Watch Over Me</i> (film) 1987 American film

Someone to Watch Over Me is a 1987 American neo-noir romantic thriller film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Howard Franklin. It stars Tom Berenger as a police detective who has to protect a wealthy woman, who is a key witness in a murder trial. The film's soundtrack includes the George and Ira Gershwin song from which the film takes its title, recorded by Sting, and Vangelis' "Memories of Green", originally from Scott's Blade Runner (1982).

<i>Beyond Therapy</i> (film) 1987 film by Robert Altman

Beyond Therapy is a 1987 American comedy film written and directed by Robert Altman, based on the 1981 play of the same name by Christopher Durang. It stars Julie Hagerty, Jeff Goldblum, Glenda Jackson, Tom Conti, and Christopher Guest.

<i>Betrayal</i> (1983 film) 1983 British film

Betrayal is a 1983 British drama film adaptation of Harold Pinter's 1978 play. With a semi-autobiographical screenplay by Pinter, the film was produced by Sam Spiegel and directed by David Jones. It was critically well received. Distributed by 20th Century Fox International Classics in the United States, it was first screened in movie theaters in New York in February 1983.

<i>Tough Guys Dont Dance</i> (film) 1987 film by Norman Mailer

Tough Guys Don't Dance is a 1987 crime mystery comedy-drama film written and directed by Norman Mailer based on his novel of the same name. It is a murder mystery/film noir piece. It was screened out of competition at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.

<i>Breaking In</i> (1989 film) 1989 film by Bill Forsyth

Breaking In is a 1989 American crime comedy film directed by Bill Forsyth, written by John Sayles, and starring Burt Reynolds, Casey Siemaszko and Lorraine Toussaint. The film follows professional small-time criminals as they live and practice their trades.

<i>The Second Awakening of Christa Klages</i> 1978 West Germany film

The Second Awakening of Christa Klages is a 1978 West German drama film directed by Margarethe von Trotta, her debut solo film.

<i>Hard Choices</i> (film) 1985 American film

Hard Choices is a 1985 American crime film starring Margaret Klenck, John Sayles, John Seitz, J. T. Walsh, John Snyder, Martin Donovan, and Spalding Gray. It was directed and written by Rick King from a story written by Robert Mickelson.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Film Maker Tends to His `Housekeeping': [Home Edition] Champlin, Charles. Los Angeles Times 10 Nov 1987: 1.
  2. ↑ "Housekeeping (1987) - Box Office Mojo". www.boxofficemojo.com.
  3. 1 2 Hal Erickson (2014). "Housekeeping (1988)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Archived from the original on March 4, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  4. ↑ Meir, Christopher (October 2004). "Bill Forsyth". Senses of Cinema. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  5. ↑ Hunter, Allan (August 1994). "Being Human". Sight and Sound: 24–28.
  6. ↑ "Housekeeping Original Print Information". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  7. 1 2 "Housekeeping Miscellaneous Notes". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Regus London Film Festival: 31st". BFI. Archived from the original on January 14, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Festival Diary". Evening Standard . 11 November 1987. p. 22.
  10. ↑ Kempley, Rita (15 October 1989). "Everyday of Bill Forsyth". Washington Post . Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  11. ↑ Masters, Kim (27 June 2016). "Kim Masters Reveals How the Notorious Firing of Columbia CEO David Puttnam Launched Her Own Career". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  12. 1 2 3 Phillips, Michael (2 May 2008). "Away too long, Forsyth resurfaces with a lost gem". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  13. ↑ Fish, Rory (27 June 2017). "Powerhouse Films' Indicator Series Brings Us Another Great Blu-Ray Presentation With "Housekeeping"". Top 10 Films. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  14. ↑ Rosenbaum, Jonathan (21 January 1988). "Huckleberry Fem". Chicago Reader . Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  15. ↑ Kehr, Dave (22 January 1988). "Housekeeping a fine weave of mirth, madness". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  16. 1 2 Canby, Vincent (November 25, 1987). "Housekeeping (1987)". The New York Times. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  17. ↑ Ebert, Roger (January 22, 1988). "Housekeeping". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  18. ↑ Erikson, Hal. "Housekeeping (1987)". AllMovie. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  19. ↑ "Housekeeping". Rotten Tomatoes .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.