What's your favorite food? Mine is the hot fudge sundae. I don't eat one every day. I don't remember the last one. Was it in the nineties? No idea. What I can remember was my first sundae at Ferrell's in Phoenix in 1973. I remember the many sundaes I had with my family as a kid, and some of the restaurants where we had them. That's because the combination of ice cream, whipped cream and hot fudge are just so darn good it's a sensation that stays with you ( except for that last one apparently).
I bring this up to make a point. Favorite and best are not always the same thing. No one over the age of fourteen or fifteen is likely to claim that hot fudge sundaes are excellent food. They are not fine cuisine. They're not even healthy.
I got to see a lot of films during the film festival last week. The best of the bunch was Graduation . The film was set in Romania with a great story to tell, a tremendous cast, and brilliant direction and editing. I loved it, but it was not my favorite of the festival.
Favorite goes to Maudie. It lacked some of the polish of many of the other films this year. Acting talent didn't extend very far down its cast list. It was the hot fudge sundae among the many gourmet meals on offer. But this sundae was one of the rare ones that is actually good for you, and it was the film I'll remember most.
Maud Dowley was born in Nova Scotia in 1903. She suffered from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis from an early age. Throughout her sixty seven years it progressively twisted and destroyed her body causing near constant pain, but it did not have the power to destroy her spirit. Maud loved to paint. She painted the simple rural world of Nova Scotia's Annapolis valley in a simple charming style that would make her famous, becoming Canada's most beloved folk artist. The movie "Maudie" covers her adult years as she leaves the stifling influence of her family to begin a new life with the village's least eligible bachelor, the fish peddler, Everett Lewis. Everett has issues. He was not the easiest fellow to get along with. The community had good reason to avoid him. Maud sees someone else in him, though it takes most of the rest of her life to bring out this slightly better version of Everett.
That's the story, and I'll admit it's a good one but "Maudie" has more than just a good story going for it. There's a secret weapon. Her name is Sally Hawkins. Sally, who plays Maud ,in my opinion, is the most remarkable actor of her generation. If you saw her in Mike Lee's "Happy go Lucky" when it played at an earlier Telluride Film festival, or the brilliant realization of Jane Austen's "Persuasion" made for BBC television in which she starred, you have some idea what I'm talking about. You don't see her on screen all that often, she carefully chooses her roles, but when you do , there's a thrill in store watching her hitting performance notes you scarcely knew existed. To strain my operatic analogy a little further, she is the coloratura among fellow singers who learned everything they know about music listening to pop tunes. She's the Bartoli in comparison to contestants of a reality show talent contest. I guess I'm trying to say she stands out.
There's a danger in watching movies like Maudie, or reading books about people similarly challenged. It's certainly jarring ,and maybe a little depressing, to realise that people without your advantages have gone so far while you're holding in place. Overcoming obstacles becomes habit for some. Avoiding them becomes habit for others. I know that seems obvious. So why did I have to dope slap myself while coming out of this movie, as I was reminded of these simple facts for the ninehundredth ever forgettable time?
Maud's life is testament to the power of perseverance, also of love. Her love for life itself was evident, also her love of painting, and her love for Everett, undeserving as he was. She really had nothing going for her. A realist would have just crawled into a corner and wait for the sweet release of death. That she made life sweet instead, for herself, for her husband, and for anyone touched by her art, is some kind of miracle. It's the sort of miracle that ought to shake you right down to your most basic assumptions. Can you ask much more of a movie than that?
I bring this up to make a point. Favorite and best are not always the same thing. No one over the age of fourteen or fifteen is likely to claim that hot fudge sundaes are excellent food. They are not fine cuisine. They're not even healthy.
I got to see a lot of films during the film festival last week. The best of the bunch was Graduation . The film was set in Romania with a great story to tell, a tremendous cast, and brilliant direction and editing. I loved it, but it was not my favorite of the festival.
Favorite goes to Maudie. It lacked some of the polish of many of the other films this year. Acting talent didn't extend very far down its cast list. It was the hot fudge sundae among the many gourmet meals on offer. But this sundae was one of the rare ones that is actually good for you, and it was the film I'll remember most.
Maud Dowley was born in Nova Scotia in 1903. She suffered from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis from an early age. Throughout her sixty seven years it progressively twisted and destroyed her body causing near constant pain, but it did not have the power to destroy her spirit. Maud loved to paint. She painted the simple rural world of Nova Scotia's Annapolis valley in a simple charming style that would make her famous, becoming Canada's most beloved folk artist. The movie "Maudie" covers her adult years as she leaves the stifling influence of her family to begin a new life with the village's least eligible bachelor, the fish peddler, Everett Lewis. Everett has issues. He was not the easiest fellow to get along with. The community had good reason to avoid him. Maud sees someone else in him, though it takes most of the rest of her life to bring out this slightly better version of Everett.
That's the story, and I'll admit it's a good one but "Maudie" has more than just a good story going for it. There's a secret weapon. Her name is Sally Hawkins. Sally, who plays Maud ,in my opinion, is the most remarkable actor of her generation. If you saw her in Mike Lee's "Happy go Lucky" when it played at an earlier Telluride Film festival, or the brilliant realization of Jane Austen's "Persuasion" made for BBC television in which she starred, you have some idea what I'm talking about. You don't see her on screen all that often, she carefully chooses her roles, but when you do , there's a thrill in store watching her hitting performance notes you scarcely knew existed. To strain my operatic analogy a little further, she is the coloratura among fellow singers who learned everything they know about music listening to pop tunes. She's the Bartoli in comparison to contestants of a reality show talent contest. I guess I'm trying to say she stands out.
There's a danger in watching movies like Maudie, or reading books about people similarly challenged. It's certainly jarring ,and maybe a little depressing, to realise that people without your advantages have gone so far while you're holding in place. Overcoming obstacles becomes habit for some. Avoiding them becomes habit for others. I know that seems obvious. So why did I have to dope slap myself while coming out of this movie, as I was reminded of these simple facts for the ninehundredth ever forgettable time?
Maud's life is testament to the power of perseverance, also of love. Her love for life itself was evident, also her love of painting, and her love for Everett, undeserving as he was. She really had nothing going for her. A realist would have just crawled into a corner and wait for the sweet release of death. That she made life sweet instead, for herself, for her husband, and for anyone touched by her art, is some kind of miracle. It's the sort of miracle that ought to shake you right down to your most basic assumptions. Can you ask much more of a movie than that?
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