| Mouthpiece | |
|---|---|
| |
| Directed by | Patricia Rozema |
| Written by | Patricia Rozema Amy Nostbakken Norah Sadava |
| Produced by | Christina Piovesan Jennifer Shin |
| Starring | Amy Nostbakken Norah Sadava |
| Cinematography | Catherine Lutes |
| Edited by | Lara Johnston |
| Music by | Amy Nostbakken |
Production company | First Generation Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 91 minutes [1] |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
Mouthpiece is a 2018 Canadian drama film directed by Patricia Rozema, from a screenplay by Rozema, Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava, [2] and based on the theatrical play by Nostbakken and Sadava. [3] The film centres on Cassandra, a woman who is making arrangements for her mother's funeral. Cassandra is played by both Nostbakken and Sadava, as a dramatization of her inner conflict. [2]
It premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. [4]
This section's plot summary needs to be improved.(August 2024) |
A young writer, Cassandra, struggles to write a eulogy for her late mother, Elaine, who gave up her career to raise her children.
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 91% based on 32 reviews, and an average rating of 7.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Mouthpiece interrogates gender norms with wit and ingenuity, portraying its main character's inner conflict through a pair of separate performances." [6]
Glenn Sumi of Now gave the film a 4/5 rating, writing, "[Patricia] Rozema's version of Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava's award-winning stage play does more than just open the work up; it fills in key bits of information, shows us Cassandra out and about in Toronto and gives everything an affecting emotional resonance." [7] Scott Tobias of Variety called it "a thoughtful interrogation of modern womanhood, leavened by gallows humor." [8] Pamela Hutchinson of Sight & Sound wrote: "While the script's cleverness and wordplay betray its stage origins, it's bracingly sharp, and explicitly a feminist text." [9]
In December 2018, the Toronto International Film Festival named the film to its annual year-end Canada's Top Ten list. [10]