Wild Nights with Emily

Last updated

Wild Nights with Emily
Wild Nights with Emily poster.jpg
Directed by Madeleine Olnek
Written byMadeleine Olnek
Produced by
  • Anna Margarita Albelo
  • Casper Andreas
  • Madeleine Olnek
  • Max Rifkind-Barron
Starring
CinematographyAnna Stypko
Edited byTony Clemente Jr.
Lee Eaton
Production
companies
  • P2 Films
  • UnLTD Productions
  • Salem Street Entertainment
  • Embrem Entertainment
Distributed by Greenwich Entertainment
Release dates
  • March 11, 2018 (2018-03-11)(South by Southwest)
  • April 12, 2019 (2019-04-12)(United States)
Running time
84 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$519,487 [1]

Wild Nights with Emily is a 2018 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Madeleine Olnek. It stars Molly Shannon as Emily Dickinson, as well as Amy Seimetz, Susan Ziegler, Brett Gelman, Jackie Monahan, Kevin Seal, Dana Melanie, Sasha Frolova, Lisa Haas and Stella Chesnut. The film is based on the actual events of Emily Dickinson's life, including her process as a writer, her attempts to get published, and her lifelong romantic relationship with another woman. [2]

Contents

It had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 11, 2018, and was released in the US on April 12, 2019, by Greenwich Entertainment.

The film was nominated for the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award at the 35th Independent Spirit Awards. [3]

Plot

In her teens, Emily Dickinson befriends Susan Gilbert during a recitation of the Amherst Shakespeare Society, and during a scene in which they play lovers, a romance blossoms. On a stroll afterward, they kiss. Emily's family leaves for a month long trip, and Susan stays with Emily for the duration. They continue to spend time together, concealing their romantic relationship from others.

Susan gets a teaching job out west, and they write countless love letters to each other's while she is away. When she returns, Emily is surprised to learn that Susan has been betrothed to Emily's brother Austin, which Susan had kept secret from her. Susan apologizes to Emily and explains that it's all part of a greater scheme: Susan cannot financially support herself without getting married, and by marrying Austin they can build a house right next door to Emily and no one will suspect their romance.

Twenty years later, Emily and Susan live next door to each other, and Susan's children deliver their countless notes back and forth between the two houses. Emily shows Susan the poems she has written, some of which are written on scraps of paper and in the margins of recipes, and many of which mention Susan by name. Emily also likes to garden and bake bread for the neighborhood children.

During a period when Susan is too busy to speak to Emily, a recently widowed Kate Scott Turner travels to stay with Susan. But Kate turns out to be more interested in Emily, and ends up staying at her place instead. Kate leaves suddenly, and Emily tells Susan she wishes she'd had a chance to say goodbye and give Kate the pair of garters she sewed for her. Susan is jealous because Emily never made garters for her.

Emily receives the company of Judge Otis Phillips Lords, an old man who confuses the Brontë sisters (describing the book “Wuthering Jane”), falls asleep mid conversation, and calls Emily "plain". While on his way out he stumbles, and as the same moment Emily reaches out to help him, Susan walks in, catching them mid-embrace.

Thomas Wentworth Higginson also visits Emily after she writes about publishing her poems. During their meeting he corrects her on what the meaning of poetry is, describes how women's writing is different than men's writing, and even copy-edits one of her poems right in front of her. He tells her the poems are not ready for publication.

Mabel Todd first comes to Emily's house on an invitation to play the piano for Emily, but is surprised when the maid tells her that she will play alone in the drawing room, and that Emily will remain upstairs to listen to the music while she writes. Mabel meets Austin after moving to Amherst, and they began an affair. They have little shame about it, and frequently appear in public together. They often go to Emily's house to have sex, which Emily avoids by staying in her room. Mabel suggests to Austin that they publish their love letters, but Austin finds that idea too scandalous and tells her to seek for a creative outlet elsewhere.

Emily suddenly becomes ill and passes away. Her sister Lavinia asks Susan to wash the body for burial. After her death, Mabel discovers a chest full of Emily's poems and letters, but she realizes that many of the best ones are addressed to Susan. She enlists the help of Austin to erase all the instances of "Susan" and replace them with men's names instead.

Years later after Emily's work has become successful, Mabel gives a talk to a large group of society women. She tells them that because Emily was such an eccentric recluse, she only saw her face once: in the casket of her funeral. She explains that her poems must have been directed to Judge Otis, and that she added titles to all the poems so that audiences would know exactly what they were about. Emily's niece also gives a lecture about how her aunt and mother were secret lovers, but only three people attend.

The film ends with titles explaining that recent technology has revealed Mabel's erasures and shown that the love letters were indeed written to Susan.

Cast

Production

Wild Nights with Emily was originally performed as a play at New York's WOW Café in 1999, [5] and was also produced by Chicago's Caffeine Theatre in 2010 [6] [7] as well as in Boston and Alaska. [8] When she was in college, Olnek used to say that she aspired to be "the Emily Dickinson of comedy" because of the conception at the time that Dickinson had been miserable, but she later found out Dickinson was actually really funny. [9] Olnek was inspired to write Wild Nights with Emily when she read an article [10] in The New York Times Magazine about how new advances in science were changing perceptions of historical figures, and which described how Dickinson's correspondence was altered to conceal her lifelong relationship with another woman. This was contrary to the popular conceptions of Dickinson's life and personality. [11] Research of the film had support from Harvard University Press and the Guggenheim Foundation. [12] Olnek used quotes from Dickinson's letters and poems in Wild Nights with Emily, as to tell the story of this lifelong romantic relationship in Dickinson's own words. The quotes that are used in the film are sometimes spoken and sometimes displayed on the screen. [13]

Olnek knew many of the actors in the film from working with them in the past. [14] She attended NYU with Molly Shannon, and had directed a performance with Shannon for which she first created the character Mary Katherine Gallagher. [15] : 1:12  All these years, Olnek decided to wait to work with Shannon again until she had a story with enough "depth and scale", [9] and Shannon was surprised to be asked because Emily Dickinson is not the type of role that Hollywood would typically offer her. [15] Olnek originally met Amy Seimetz at various film festivals and had always wanted to work with her, and Brett Gelman was recommended by Shannon. [14]

A rough cut of the film won the "US in Progress" award at the Champs-Élysées Film Festival, including a prize of €50,000 for post production and promotion. [16]

Olnek has credited Drunk History as an inspiration for the tone of the film. [15] She thought it was important to include comedy because she has noticed that "some people don't like to be lectured about feminism". [14] : 15:20 

Release and reception

The film premiered at the SXSW film festival. [17] [18] [19] [11] Greenwich Entertainment acquired the distribution rights in November 2018, [12] and it was released in theaters on April 12, 2019. [20] The film was rated PG-13 for "sexual content" by the Motion Picture Association of America, which was given to the film due to a scene in which Austin and Mabel make moaning noises, according to Olnek. [21]

The film holds an 89% rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with 81 reviews counted, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Silly yet deceptively smart, Wild Nights with Emily approaches its oft-investigated subject from a unique -- and utterly entertaining -- vantage point." [22] After getting initial reviews about rewriting history, Olnek put together a 40-page "historical packet" to explain the research that supports the film. [23]

"The Emily of Olnek's film is not a melancholic recluse, but the heroine of a romantic comedy" according to the New York Times, Wild Nights With Emily "wrestles with serious themes, dramatizes fully realized relationships, and poses pointed questions about how legacies are devised and maintained." [24]

Natalie Goldberg, author of the all-time best-selling writers handbook, [25] "Writing Down The Bones," says, "Wild Nights With Emily is a wonderful film to show in schools, for students young and old! I loved this film- it's essential viewing for all students of literature." [26] Critic Alissa Wilkinson included it on her "21 Best Films of 2019" list on VOX, declaring, "Move over, Dickinson. The best, funniest, most affecting on-screen Emily Dickinson of 2019 arrived via Wild Nights with Emily." [27]

It became available on DVD and digital streaming beginning February 11, 2020, [28] including on Kanopy for schools and educational purposes. [29]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Dickinson</span> American poet (1830–1886)

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, into a prominent family with strong ties to its community. After studying at the Amherst Academy for seven years in her youth, she briefly attended the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before returning to her family's home in Amherst. Evidence suggests that Dickinson lived much of her life in isolation. Considered an eccentric by locals, she developed a penchant for white clothing and was known for her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, even to leave her bedroom. Dickinson never married, and most of her friendships were based entirely upon correspondence.

Mary Katherine Gallagher is a fictional character invented and portrayed by Saturday Night Live cast member Molly Shannon from 1995 to 2001. She was considered the first breakout character from the new 1995 cast and a significant marker of the increased influence of women writers on the show in the 1990s. Shannon portrayed the character in a 1999 film, Superstar, and she also reprised the role when she hosted Saturday Night Live in 2007. Shannon first created an early version of the character when she was in school at NYU, during a comedy show directed by Madeleine Olnek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mabel Loomis Todd</span> American novelist (1858–1932)

Mabel Loomis Todd or Mabel Loomis was an American editor and writer. She is remembered as the editor of posthumously published editions of Emily Dickinson's poetry and letters and also wrote several novels and books about her travels with her husband, astronomer David Peck Todd, as well as co-authoring a textbook on astronomy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lavinia Norcross Dickinson</span> Younger sister of American poet Emily Dickinson

Lavinia "Vinnie" Norcross Dickinson was the younger sister of American poet Emily Dickinson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Because I could not stop for Death</span> Poem by Emily Dickinson

"Because I could not stop for Death" is a lyrical poem by Emily Dickinson first published posthumously in Poems: Series 1 in 1890. Dickinson's work was never authorized to be published, so it is unknown whether "Because I could not stop for Death" was completed or "abandoned". The speaker of Dickinson's poem meets personified Death. Death is a gentleman who is riding in the horse carriage that picks up the speaker in the poem and takes the speaker on her journey to the afterlife. According to Thomas H. Johnson's variorum edition of 1955 the number of this poem is "712".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I taste a liquor never brewed</span> Poem by Emily Dickinson

"I taste a liquor never brewed" is a lyrical poem written by Emily Dickinson first published in the Springfield Daily Republican on May 4, 1861, from a now lost copy. Although titled "The May-Wine" by the Republican, Dickinson never titled the poem so it is commonly referred to by its first line.

Margaret Maher was an Irish-American long-term domestic worker in the household of American poet Emily Dickinson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Seimetz</span> American actress, writer, director (active 2003-)

Amy Seimetz is an American actress and filmmaker. She has appeared in several productions, including AMC's The Killing, HBO's Family Tree, and films like Upstream Color, Alien: Covenant, Pet Sematary, and No Sudden Move.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Huntington Gilbert Dickinson</span> American writer, poet, traveler, and editor

Susan Huntington Gilbert Dickinson was an American writer, poet, traveler, and editor. She was a lifelong friend and sister-in-law of poet Emily Dickinson.

<i>Addicted to Fresno</i> 2015 film by Jamie Babbit

Addicted to Fresno is a 2015 American dark comedy film directed by Jamie Babbit and written by Karey Dornetto. The film stars Natasha Lyonne and Judy Greer as two sisters that find themselves in trouble after housekeeper Shannon Jackson (Greer) accidentally kills a guest at the hotel employing her and younger sister Martha (Lyonne). The film had its world premiere on March 14, 2015, at South by Southwest. It was released in the United States on September 1, 2015, through video on demand, and was given a limited theatrical release on October 2, 2015, by Gravitas Ventures.

<i>A Quiet Passion</i> 2016 British film

A Quiet Passion is a 2016 British biographical film written and directed by Terence Davies about the life of American poet Emily Dickinson. The film stars Cynthia Nixon as the reclusive poet. It co-stars Emma Bell as young Dickinson, Jennifer Ehle, Duncan Duff, and Keith Carradine. The film premiered at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2016 and was released in the United Kingdom on 7 April 2017. It won the Grand Prix at Film Fest Gent in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Scott Turner</span> American poet (1831–1917)

Kate Scott Turner was an American poet and a friend of poet Emily Dickinson. She was also known as Kate Anthon.

<i>Private Life</i> (2018 film) 2018 film by Tamara Jenkins

Private Life is a 2018 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Tamara Jenkins and starring Paul Giamatti and Kathryn Hahn, with Kayli Carter, Molly Shannon, John Carroll Lynch, Desmin Borges, and Denis O'Hare in supporting roles. The film focuses on Richard and Rachel, a middle-aged married couple of New York City creatives, who are desperately trying to have a child by any means possible.

<i>Dickinson</i> (TV series) American comedy television series

Dickinson is an American comedy-drama television series about Emily Dickinson, created by Alena Smith and produced for Apple TV+. Starring Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Dickinson, the series aired for 30 episodes over three seasons from November 1, 2019, to December 24, 2021.

Juliana Hall is an American composer of art songs, monodramas, and vocal chamber music. She has been described by the NATS Journal of Singing as "one of our country’s most able and prolific art song composers for almost three decades" and, in discussing her 1989 song cycle Syllables of Velvet, Sentences of Plush, the Journal went on to assert that "Even at this very early stage in her life and career, Hall knew something about crafting music whose beauty could enhance the text at hand without drawing attention away from that text. This is masterful writing in every respect."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madeleine Olnek</span> Director and playwright

Madeleine Olnek is an American independent film director, producer, screenwriter, and playwright. She has written 24 plays and three feature films, including Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same, The Foxy Merkins, and Wild Nights with Emily. Her feature films have been described as "madcap comedies with absurdist leanings" and are all centered around queer characters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">"Hope" is the thing with feathers</span> Lyric poem by Emily Dickinson

"Hope' is the thing with feathers" is a lyric poem in ballad meter written by American poet Emily Dickinson. The manuscript of this poem appears in Fascicle 13, which Dickinson compiled around 1861. It is one of 19 poems included in the collection, in addition to the poem "There's a certain Slant of light." With the discovery of Fascicle 13 after Dickinson's death by her sister, Lavinia Dickinson, "'Hope' is the thing with feathers" was subsequently published in 1891 in a collection of her works under the title Poems, which was edited and published by Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd.

Anna Margarita Albelo is a Cuban-American filmmaker, based in Los Angeles, USA and Paris, France. Her work is known for containing subject matter pertaining to post-modern conceptualizations of identity, namely feminist womanhood and sexuality. She was nominated for the John Cassavetes Spirit Awards in 2020 for producing "Wild Nights with Emily" by Madeleine Olnek, starring Molly Shannon.

<i>She Dies Tomorrow</i> 2020 American arthouse film

She Dies Tomorrow is a 2020 American psychological thriller horror film written, directed, and produced by Amy Seimetz. It stars Kate Lyn Sheil, Jane Adams, Kentucker Audley, Katie Aselton, Chris Messina, Tunde Adebimpe, Jennifer Kim, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Michelle Rodriguez, Josh Lucas and Adam Wingard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wild Nights – Wild Nights!</span> Poem by Emily Dickinson

"Wild Nights – Wild Nights!" is an 1861 poem by Emily Dickinson. It was included in her posthumous collection of Poems, Second Series, published November 9, 1891.

References

  1. ↑ "Wild Nights with Emily (2019)". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved July 5, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Opinion | Readers critique The Post: Don't deceive us on the sixth great wave of extinction". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  3. ↑ "35th Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations Announced". PR Newswire. February 8, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  4. ↑ DeFore, John (March 12, 2018). "'Wild Nights With Emily': Film Review; SXSW 2018". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Circus Catch". Village Voice . June 15, 1999. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  6. ↑ Fuller, Graham (June 26, 2017). "The Latest Emily Dickinson Movie Is a Lesbian Romance". Culture Trip. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  7. ↑ Sullivan, Catey (March 13, 2010). "REVIEW: Wild Nights with Emily (Caffeine Theatre)". Chicago Theater Beat. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  8. ↑ Hughes, Holly; Tropicana, Carmelita; Dolan, Jill (November 30, 2015). Memories of the Revolution: The First Ten Years of the WOW Café Theater. University of Michigan Press. p. 96. ISBN   978-0472068630 . Retrieved February 2, 2019– via GoogleBooks.
  9. 1 2 Wild Nights with Emily - Deadline Studio at SXSW 2018 (video). Deadline Hollywood. March 11, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  10. ↑ Weiss, Philip (November 29, 1998). "Beethoven's Hair Tells All!". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  11. 1 2 Grobar, Matt (March 11, 2018). "'Wild Nights With Emily's Molly Shannon Shows A Side To Emily Dickinson The World Doesn't Know — SXSW". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  12. 1 2 N'Duka, Amanda (November 26, 2018). "Emily Dickinson SXSW Comedy 'Wild Nights With Emily' Set At Greenwich". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  13. ↑ Kleinmann, James (April 15, 2019). "Exclusive Interview: Director Madeleine Olnek on her Wild Nights With Emily Starring Molly Shannon as Emily Dickinson". HeyUGuys. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  14. 1 2 3 Madeleine Olnek and Cast - Wild Nights With Emily Red Carpet and Q&A - SXSW 2018 (video). SXSW. September 5, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  15. 1 2 3 2018 Outfest Film Festival Q&A's - Wild Nights With Emily (video). Outfest. March 26, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  16. ↑ Goodfellow, Melanie (June 23, 2017). "Emily Dickinson drama wins at Champs-Elysées fest's US in Progress". ScreenDaily. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  17. ↑ Nicholson, Amy (March 15, 2018). "SXSW Film Review: 'Wild Nights With Emily'". Variety . Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  18. ↑ Mokry, Natalie (March 14, 2018). "'WILD NIGHTS WITH EMILY' REVIEW: NOT SUCH A RECLUSE AFTER ALL". Film School Rejects . Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  19. ↑ Dry, Jude (March 11, 2018). "'Wild Nights With Emily' Review: Molly Shannon Is Emily Dickinson in the Best Lesbian Comedy in Years — SXSW". IndieWire . Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  20. ↑ "Greenwich Entertainment" . Retrieved March 8, 2021. Wild Nights with Emily. Directed by Madeleine Olnek. See In Theaters April 12.
  21. ↑ Esposito, Cameron (May 5, 2019). "Episode 85: Madeleine Olnek". Queery with Cameron Esposito (podcast). Event occurs at 14:52. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  22. ↑ "Wild Nights With Emily". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango . Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  23. ↑ Esposito, Cameron (May 5, 2019). "Episode 85: Madeleine Olnek". Queery with Cameron Esposito (podcast). Event occurs at 8:03. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  24. ↑ Bailey, Jason (July 24, 2020). "10 Streaming Movies to Keep Your Summer Interesting". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  25. ↑ "Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg: 9781611803082 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  26. ↑ "Wild Nights With Emily | Kanopy". www.kanopy.com. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  27. ↑ "Alissa Wilkinson: The 21 Best Films of 2019". www.yearendlists.com. December 5, 2019. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  28. ↑ "Homepage". Wild Nights with Emily Official Website. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  29. ↑ "Wild Nights With Emily | Kanopy". www.kanopy.com. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
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.