The Hanging Garden (film)

Last updated
The Hanging Garden
The Hanging Garden movie poster.jpg
Promotional poster
Directed by Thom Fitzgerald
Written byThom Fitzgerald
Produced byThom Fitzgerald
Louise Garfield
Arnie Gelbart
Starring Chris Leavins
Troy Veinotte
Sarah Polley
Peter MacNeill
Seana McKenna
Cinematography Daniel Jobin
Edited by Susan Shanks
Music by John Roby
Distributed by Alliance Communications (Canada)
Momentum Pictures (United Kingdom)
Release date
  • September 5, 1997 (1997-09-05)(TIFF)
Running time
91 minutes
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,500,000 CAD

The Hanging Garden is a British-Canadian drama film, written and directed by Thom Fitzgerald and released in 1997. [1] Fitzgerald's feature debut, the film was shot in Nova Scotia.

Contents

Plot

The film's central character is Sweet William, as both a thin adult and a fat teenager. Its plot hinges on a fateful incident from his teenage years, when his grandmother caught him attempting to have sex with his bisexual friend Fletcher, involuntarily outing him to his dysfunctional family as gay.

As a consequence of the ensuing rejection, particularly by his alcoholic father Whiskey Mac, Sweet William faced the difficult decision of whether to run away to live in a big city far away from his family, or to commit suicide by hanging himself from a tree in the family garden. The film's themes about the duality of life and death, and the way seemingly very different choices in life can lead to similar outcomes, are portrayed through magic realism in the film's depiction of a complex merged reality in which William appears to have successfully made both choices at the same time. [2]

The film is told as a triptych. In the first segment, set in the present, the adult Sweet William has returned home to rural Nova Scotia for the first time since leaving ten years earlier, to attend the wedding of his sister Rosemary to Fletcher. However, upon his return, he makes two unexpected discoveries: he can still see his younger selves living there and walking around the house, and he also has a new young pre-teen sister named Violet, whom he has never met because she was born after he left. The second segment, set in the past, tells the story of Sweet William's teenage years leading up to the critical decision, including his bond with Rosemary and their mother Iris's struggles to protect her children from Whiskey Mac's abuse, as well as revealing the truth of Violet's origins, before ending with Sweet William's suicide. Returning to the present, the final segment features both the living adult and dead teenage Sweet William present in the same reality –and the dead body is not just in his imagination, because the rest of his family can also see it still hanging from the tree. [3]

According to Fitzgerald, "To every event in the film there are two interpretations. He left home and now he's back and his memory is haunting them. Or he did commit suicide when young and his homecoming is a fantasy?" [4]

Cast

Critical reception

Roger Ebert favourably reviewed the film, writing that "It may be magic realism, but isn't it also the simple truth? Don't the ghosts of our former selves attend family events right along with our current manifestations? Don't parents still sometimes relate to us as if we were children, don't siblings still carry old resentments, aren't old friends still stuck on who we used to be? And don't we sometimes resurrect old personas and dust them off for a return engagement? Aren't all of those selves stored away inside somewhere?" [5]

For Variety , Brendan Kelly wrote that "'The Hanging Garden' is often in danger of seeming overly pretentious, but Fitzgerald wisely undercuts the formal artiness with strong, emotional storytelling. In many ways, this is a simple yarn of a son dealing with the usual family demons and, on that level, is an affecting piece of filmmaking. Beyond that, the mix of film-school formalism and down-to-earth drama makes the pic a unique offering." [3]

In 2001, an industry poll conducted by Playback named it the 11th best Canadian film of the preceding 15 years. [6]

Awards

The film premiered at the 1997 Toronto International Film Festival, [7] where it won the People's Choice Award and was cowinner with Atom Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter of the juried award for Best Canadian Film. [8] It was only the second film in the history of the festival, following Denys Arcand's The Decline of the American Empire in 1986, to win both awards. [1]

It subsequently screened at the Atlantic Film Festival, [9] where it won the Audience Award, the Best Canadian Film Award, the Best Atlantic Film Award, Best Writing and Best Direction nods for Fitzgerald, Best Actor for Veinotte and Best Actress for Orenstein. [10] It also won the awards for Best Canadian Film at the Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, [11] and at the Vancouver International Film Festival. [12]

The film received 11 Genie Award nominations at the 18th Genie Awards, for Best Picture, Best Director (Fitzgerald), Best Supporting Actor (MacNeill), Best Supporting Actress (3: McKenna, Fox, Orenstein), Best Screenplay (Fitzgerald), Best Art Direction/Production Design (Taavo Soodor and Darlene Shiels), Best Costume Design (James A. Worthen), Best Overall Sound (Peter Harper, Phillipe Espantoso, George Hannan) and Best Editing (Susan Shanks). [13] MacNeill and McKenna won the awards for Supporting Actor and Actress; Fitzgerald won for Best Screenplay, as well as winning the juried Claude Jutra Award for best first feature film. [14]

The film was runner-up for the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award at the 1997 Toronto Film Critics Association Awards. [15]

It premiered in the United States at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, [16] before going into wider theatrical release. It received a GLAAD Media Award nomination for Outstanding Film - Limited Release in 1999. [17]

Soundtrack

A soundtrack album was released in 1997 on Virgin Music Canada. [18]

  1. Ani DiFranco, "The Million You Never Made"
  2. Ashley MacIsaac, "Ashley's Reels"
  3. Mae Moore, "Deep Water"
  4. Spirit of the West, "Kiss and Tell"
  5. Jane Siberry, "When Spring Comes"
  6. Holly Cole, "Petals in a Stream"
  7. The Rankin Family, "Sir James Baird"
  8. Meryn Cadell and Mary Margaret O'Hara, "Wash Down"
  9. Mary Jane Lamond, "Ba Ba Mo Leanabh"
  10. Lori Yates, "The Future is Here"
  11. Deb Montgomery, "The Tale"
  12. Aether, "Half Light"
  13. Laurel MacDonald, "Oran na h'eala"
  14. John Roby, "Theme from The Hanging Garden"
  15. Leahy, "Colm Quigley"
  16. Wyrd Sisters, "If it Ain't Here"

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atom Egoyan</span> Canadian filmmaker (born 1960)

Atom Egoyan is a Canadian filmmaker. Emerging in the 1980s as part of the Toronto New Wave, he made his career breakthrough with Exotica (1994), a film set in a strip club. Egoyan's most critically acclaimed film is the drama The Sweet Hereafter (1997), for which he received two Academy Award nominations. His biggest commercial success is the erotic thriller Chloe (2009).

<i>Exotica</i> (film) 1994 film by Atom Egoyan

Exotica is a 1994 Canadian film written and directed by Atom Egoyan, and starring Bruce Greenwood, Mia Kirshner, Don McKellar, Arsinée Khanjian, and Elias Koteas. Set primarily in the fictional Exotica strip club in Toronto, the film concerns a father grieving over the loss of a child and his obsession with a young stripper. It was inspired by Egoyan's curiosity about the role strip clubs play in sex-obsessed societies. Exotica was filmed in Toronto in 1993.

<i>Margarets Museum</i> 1995 film by Mort Ransen

Margaret's Museum is a 1995 Canadian-British drama film directed by Mort Ransen and based on Sheldon Currie's novel The Glace Bay Miners' Museum. It stars Helena Bonham Carter, Clive Russell, and Kate Nelligan. The film won six Genie Awards, including acting awards for Bonham Carter and Nelligan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan Orenstein</span> Canadian actress (1923–2009)

Joan Orenstein was a British-born Canadian actress, primarily on stage, although she performed in other media. One of her best-known roles was in the 1997 film The Hanging Garden as the dotty old grandmother, Grace.

<i>Felicias Journey</i> (film) 1999 film by Atom Egoyan

Felicia's Journey is a 1999 psychological thriller film written and directed by Atom Egoyan and starring Elaine Cassidy and Bob Hoskins. It is based on the prize-winning 1994 novel of the same name by William Trevor. It was entered into the 1999 Cannes Film Festival and won four Genie Awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter MacNeill</span> Canadian actor

Peter MacNeill is a Canadian film and television actor and voice-over artist who has starred in numerous television series and films.

The 18th Genie Awards were held on 14 December 1997 to honour Canadian films released that year. to honour the best Canadian films of 1997. The ceremony's hosts were film critics Geoff Pevere and Cameron Bailey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thom Fitzgerald</span> American film director

Thomas "Thom" Fitzgerald is an American-Canadian film and theatre director, screenwriter, playwright and producer.

The Atlantic International Film Festival is a major international film festival held annually in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada since 1980. AIFF is the largest Canadian film festival east of Montreal, regularly premiering the region's top films of the year, while bringing the best films of the fall festival circuit to Atlantic Canada.

<i>Beefcake</i> (film) 1999 Canada / United Kingdom / France film

Beefcake (1999) is a docudrama homage to the muscle magazines of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s—in particular, Physique Pictorial magazine, published quarterly by Bob Mizer of the Athletic Model Guild. It was inspired by a picture book by F. Valentine Hooven III and was directed by Thom Fitzgerald.

<i>The Event</i> (2003 film) 2003 Canadian film

The Event is a 2003 drama film directed by Thom Fitzgerald. It tells the story of Matt Shapiro who has died in Manhattan, resulting in an aborted 9-1-1 call. Attorney Nick DeVivo interviews Matt's friends and family to piece together a portrait of Matt's life and finally his death.

<i>The Adjuster</i> 1991 Canadian drama film by Atom Egoyan

The Adjuster is a 1991 Canadian drama film directed by Atom Egoyan, his fourth feature film and the first to achieve international acclaim. The film won five awards, as well as two other nominations upon its initial release.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean-Claude Lauzon</span> Canadian filmmaker and screenwriter

Jean-Claude Lauzon was a Canadian filmmaker and screenwriter. Born to a working class family in Montreal, Quebec, Lauzon dropped out of high school and worked various jobs before studying film at the Université du Québec à Montréal. His two feature-length films, Night Zoo (1987) and Léolo (1992), established him as one of the most important Canadian directors of his generation. American film critic Roger Ebert wrote that "Lauzon is so motivated by his resentments and desires that everything he creates is pressed into the cause and filled with passion."

The Canadian Screen Award for Best Live Action Short Drama is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian live action short film. Formerly part of the Genie Awards, since 2012 it has been presented as part of the Canadian Screen Awards.

<i>The Sweet Hereafter</i> (film) 1997 film

The Sweet Hereafter is a 1997 Canadian drama film written and directed by Atom Egoyan, adapted from the 1991 novel by Russell Banks. It tells the story of a school bus accident in a small town that kills 14 children. A class-action lawsuit ensues, proving divisive in the community and becoming tied with personal and family issues. It stars an ensemble cast featuring Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, Maury Chaykin, Bruce Greenwood, Tom McCamus, Gabrielle Rose, Arsinée Khanjian and Alberta Watson.

Louise Garfield is a Canadian performance artist, choreographer, film and television producer and arts administrator. Her work as a producer includes the films Zero Patience in which she has a cameo role playing a virus, and The Hanging Garden, for which she received a Genie Award nomination for Best Motion Picture. She began her career in the arts as a choreographer and as a member of the feminist performance art trio The Clichettes. She later served as executive director of Arts Etobicoke in Toronto from 2004 to 2018.

Camelia Frieberg is a Canadian film producer and director. She is a two-time winner of the Genie Award for Best Picture, as producer of Atom Egoyan's films Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter.

<i>Splinters</i> (2018 film) 2018 Canadian film

Splinters is a 2018 Canadian drama film written and directed by Thom Fitzgerald. An adaptation of the theatrical play by Lee-Anne Poole, the film stars Sofia Banzhaf as Belle, a woman whose relationship with her mother Nancy has been strained since she came out as lesbian, but who now faces the prospect of coming out all over again as she now identifies as bisexual and is dating Rob.

Zie 37 Stagen is a Canadian short comedy film, directed by Sylvain Guy and released in 1997. The film centres on an assassin who enters an elevator with a military general with the intention of killing him, only for the elevator trip to be more wild and fantastical than anybody but the elevator operator had imagined.

bp: pushing the boundaries is a Canadian short documentary film, directed by Brian Nash and released in 1997. The film is a portrait of the life and career of Canadian experimental poet bpNichol.

References

  1. 1 2 Wyndham Wise, "The Hanging Garden". The Canadian Encyclopedia , October 8, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Magical Garden: Thom Fitzgerald used creative thinking to nurture debut feature that opens Perspective Canada series". Toronto Star , September 5, 1997.
  3. 1 2 "The Hanging Garden". Variety , September 12, 1997.
  4. ↑ "Filmmaker's money problems may end with new movie". Canadian Press, September 7, 1997.
  5. ↑ Roger Ebert, The Hanging Garden. RogerEbert.com, May 29, 1998.
  6. ↑ Michael Posner, "Egoyan tops film poll". The Globe and Mail , November 25, 2001.
  7. ↑ "Festival gets Maritimes perspective Nova Scotia director Thom Fitzgerald's first feature kicks off Toronto film event's special series". The Globe and Mail , July 30, 1997.
  8. ↑ "Hanging Garden wins two awards". The Globe and Mail , September 15, 1997.
  9. ↑ "Garden lives up to the buzz: Fitzgerald's film brave story of love, redemption, rescue". Halifax Daily News , September 19, 1997.
  10. ↑ "Hanging Garden tops at awards". Waterloo Region Record , September 30, 1997.
  11. ↑ "Journal". Playback , November 3, 1997.
  12. ↑ "The Hanging Garden provocative, realistic and darkly comic". Waterloo Region Record , November 13, 1997.
  13. ↑ "Egoyan film leads nominations". Victoria Times-Colonist , November 5, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Sweet Hereafter wins 8 Genies". Waterloo Region Record , December 15, 1997.
  15. ↑ Liam Lacey, "Egoyan film top pick". The Globe and Mail , January 15, 1998.
  16. ↑ "Hanging Gardens director off to Sundance: Four years ago, Thom Fitzgerald quit his day job and began to write a screenplay. Next week, his acclaimed feature film opens at North America's premiere indie film festival". Montreal Gazette , January 17, 1998.
  17. ↑ "GLAAD bows media noms". Variety , January 19, 1999.
  18. ↑ "Album captures spirit of award-winning film". Halifax Daily News , November 14, 1997.
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.