Household Saints

I was so impressed by this film when I saw it at the Festival of Festivals (now the Toronto International Film Festival) in 1993 that I went home without seeing anything else. I would recommend it to any spiritual person. The film's saint is Saint Therese of Lisieux, who once said "What matters in life is not great deeds, but great love." After her death, she promised to "let fall a shower of roses," which is pivotal in the film. I really recommend it. A wonderful work by an American director.

Not just another movie about Italian-Americans, "Household Saints" portrays three generations in a family, culminating in the granddaughter (Lili Taylor) getting obsessed with Jesus to the extremest extent. That seems a little antithetical - to me, at least - as I usually expect the older generations to be more religious than the younger generations to reject it. But don't get me wrong; I recommend this movie, at the very least as a look at the vicissitudes of family life. Nancy Savoca has shown that she does a great job when casting Lili Taylor, with this one and "Dogfight". Also starring Tracey Ullman, Vincent D'Onofrio and Michael Imperioli (of "The Sopranos").

This movie is an absolutely superb tale about family life for Italian-American Catholics. It starts out at the tale of how one man wins the hand in marriage of another man's daughter in a pinochle game, and continues in twists and turns to compel any audience watching it right up until the movie's end. Subtle metaphors teach us lessons about life and Tracy Ullman in what is no doubt the greatest performance of her movie career shows us that she has a range none of us knew before. A great film.

I fell upon this movie while searching for D'Onofrio's work. I quickly realized that this "little known" film is a gem of a movie. D'Onofrio, Ullman, Taylor and Malina all deliver a brilliant performance by making the characters alive and believable. It is the kind of move that draws you into their living room, making you part of the scene. You feel their joy and pain as the stories told.

It doesn't matter if your Greek, Jewish, Irish, or Italian, you begin to see your own families heritage and culture unfold. As a second generation Italian-American Catholic, it brought back a flood of memories of tradition, grandparents, family gatherings, superstition, and the struggle to assimilate in America.

Household Saints didn't get its share of publicity and the actors/actress didn't get the recognition they deserved for their brilliant performances.

The film itself was a bit sentimental; however, the performance given by Lili Taylor, convinced me that she rates as a major actor. I was particularly impressed with her hospital bed scene, when she quietly confronted her father about his losing a Pinochle game that resulted in his having to marry her mother.