- Crimes of the Heart (film)
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Crimes of the Heart 
Original posterDirected by Bruce Beresford Produced by Freddie Fields Written by Beth Henley Starring Jessica Lange
Sissy Spacek
Diane Keaton
Sam Shepard
Tess HarperMusic by Georges Delerue Cinematography Dante Spinotti Editing by Anne Goursaud Distributed by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group Release date(s) December 12, 1986 Running time 105 minutes Country United States Language English Crimes of the Heart is a 1986 American black comedy film directed by Bruce Beresford. The screenplay by Beth Henley is adapted from her Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name.
Contents
Plot
The story focuses on the Magrath sisters - Meg, Babe, and Lenny - who reunite at the family home in Hazlehurst, Mississippi after Babe shoots her abusive husband. The three were raised by Old Granddaddy after their mother hanged herself and the family cat and have been eccentric ever since. Lenny is a wallflower who bemoans her shriveled ovary. Egocentric Meg is a singer whose Hollywood career ended abruptly when she suffered a nervous breakdown. Unruly and impulsive Babe shocks her sisters with stories about her affair with a teenaged black boy. Past resentments bubble to the surface as the women are forced to deal with assorted relatives and previous relationships while coping with the latest incident that has disrupted their dysfunctional lives.
Cast
- Diane Keaton as Lenny Magrath
- Jessica Lange as Meg Magrath
- Sissy Spacek as Babe Magrath Botrelle
- Sam Shepard as Doc Porter
- Tess Harper as Chick Boyle
- Hurd Hatfield as Old Granddaddy
- Beeson Carroll as Zackery Botrelle
Production
The film was shot in various North Carolina locations, including Caswell Beach, Southport, Wilmington, and Winnabow.
The film opened on 246 screens in the US and earned $1,402,921 on its opening weekend. It eventually grossed $22,905,522 in the United States and Canada.[1]
Critical reception
The film received positive review among critics and fans. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called the film "that most delicate of undertakings: a comedy about serious matters. It exists somewhere between parody and melodrama, between the tragic and the goofy. There are moments when the movie doesn't seem to know where it's going, but for once that's a good thing because the uncertainty almost always ends with some kind of a delightful, weird surprise ... The underlying tone ... is a deep, abiding comic affection, a love for these characters who survive in the middle of a thicket of Southern Gothic clichés and archetypes." [2]
Rita Kempley of the Washington Post described it as "Hannah and Her Sisters with a southern accent, a lilting gingerbread gothic with Diane Keaton, Sissie Spacek and Jessica Lange ding-a-linging harmoniously as Dixieland belles" and added, "Playwright Beth Henley has no dire message for us, but her adaptation is nicely restructured, glib as all get-out and character-wise ... The powerhouse performances are directed by Bruce Beresford, who maintains balance among the actresses and keeps a lovely tone and smooth pace. As with his critically acclaimed Tender Mercies, the Australian director again looks at American types with a fresh eye." [3]
Awards and nominations
The film was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy but lost to Hannah and Her Sisters.
Sissy Spacek was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and was named Best Actress by the Kansas City Film Critics Circle and the New York Film Critics Circle.
Tess Harper was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and Beth Henley was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Gigantic
"Gigantic" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies, co-written by bassist Kim Deal and lead vocalist/guitarist Black Francis (Deal is lead vocalist). The song appeared on the band's first studio album, Surfer Rosa, released in 1988. According to Deal, the main inspiration for the song was the film Crimes of the Heart, in which a married woman falls in love with a black teenager. The song's voyeuristic lyrics mostly revolve around a woman's observation of an attractive black man making love to another woman, culminating in the oddly light-hearted but sexual chorus: "Gigantic, gigantic, gigantic / A big, big love".
See also
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigantic_(song)
External links
- Crimes of the Heart at the Internet Movie Database
- Crimes of the Heart at AllRovi
Films directed by Bruce Beresford 1970s The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (1972) · Barry McKenzie Holds His Own (1974) · Side by Side (1975) · Don's Party (1976) · The Getting of Wisdom (1978) · Money Movers (1978)1980s Breaker Morant (1980) · The Club (1980) · Puberty Blues (1981) · Tender Mercies (1983) · King David (1985) · The Fringe Dwellers (1986) · Crimes of the Heart (1986) · Her Alibi (1989) · Driving Miss Daisy (1989)1990s Mister Johnson (1990) · Black Robe (1991) · Rich in Love (1993) · A Good Man in Africa (1994) · Silent Fall (1994) · Last Dance (1996) · Paradise Road (1997) · Sydney – A Story of a City (1999) · Double Jeopardy (1999)2000s Bride of the Wind (2001) · Evelyn (2002) · And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (2003) · The Contract (2006) · Mao's Last Dancer (2009)2010s Peace, Love and Misunderstanding (2011)Categories:- 1986 films
- American films
- English-language films
- 1980s comedy films
- American black comedy films
- American comedy-drama films
- American independent films
- Films based on plays
- Films directed by Bruce Beresford
- Films set in Mississippi
- Films shot in North Carolina
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