Le balene d'agosto

This 1987 film is truly remarkable in its own small way. The film centers on a beautiful and simple story about the bonds of sisters, the disappointments of life, and the waning days of one last summer on the coast of Maine.

The legendary, and I mean LEGENDARY, Lillian Gish stars here at age 93 as Sarah. Having appeared in about 120 films over an incredible span of 75 years (1912-87), Gish goes about her business of being an actress with great dignity and skill. There are several quiet scenes in which she talks to old photographs as she cleans or fixes up her hair and makeup. She's truly enchanting.

The legendary Bette Davis doesn't fare quite as well playing the harsh Libby. Davis (post- stroke) is certainly easy to believe as the flinty sister who is blind and bitter. Davis was almost 80 here and had also racked up about 120 films, dating from 1931.

As Tisha, Ann Sothern (more than 100 films) earned a well-deserved Oscar nomination as the nosy, pushy friend who hasn't quite given up on life. Sothern started as a dancer in films in 1927 as a delicate blonde beauty. Vincent Price (almost 180 films from 1938) plays the charming drifter (and foreigner) who may be looking for a new place to live. And Harry Carey, Jr. (son of Harry Carey, a cowboy star in silent films) plays the fixit man who wants to install a picture window.

There's little action here as the sisters squabble about daily routines and long-ago events in their lives. Gish is ever hopeful while Davis is always mistrusting. The 4 stars work well together although the age differences are apparent. Davis uses her usual Boston voice; Sothern tries out a pretty good "down east" accent. Price plays a Russian émigré, and Gish speaks in her own voice.

The feeling of 50s Maine is just right. The house, perched on a small cliff looking out to sea, looks right. The island (this was filmed in Casco Bay) is gorgeous and captures the simplicity of old Maine just perfectly. The atmosphere is windy and overgrown and rocky. It's the Maine of my childhood.

This marks the final film appearance of Gish and Sothern. While Sothern was the only one to win an Oscar nomination, she, along with Gish and Price, won Independent Spirit nominations. What a pity that Gish did not win Oscar recognition for this role and for her astonishing longevity in film. Gish earned only one Oscar nomination (for DUEL IN THE SUN) and an honorary award in 1971.

Gish did win the best actress award from the National Board of Review.

Lindsay Anderson's The Whales of August stars silent film legend Lillian Gish, in her 95th year, and Bette Davis, 79, as widowed sisters, one warm and supportive, the other cold and cantankerous, who have been coming to a small cottage on the Maine seacoast for sixty years. Every August, they watch the journey of the whales passing in the nearby waters together but the sense is that this may be their last summer together. Knowing that their time is limited, the siblings attempt to resolve long-standing differences but face many obstacles. The Whales of August takes place during the course of a single day and the camera stays mostly inside the house except to follow the sisters on occasional walks to the ocean. It all sounds static but there is a great deal of emotion churning beneath the surface.

Libby (Davis) is nearly blind and very difficult to live with, always talking about how her life is over. Her sister Sarah (Gish) on the other hand is the polar opposite. She is sweet in her sisterly devotion to taking care of Libby and avoiding getting drawn into her moods (she always calls her dear). She brushes her hair, fixes breakfast for her, gets her clothes together and tends to the garden. "Busy, busy, busy" is how Libby talks about her and irritatingly calls her Say-rah throughout the film. Ms. Davis looks gaunt but her face shows a strength that is as craggy as the seacoast rocks. The film also features Vincent Price as Mr. Maranov, a down on his luck but charming Russian refugee whom Libby suspects is trying to worm his way in with them, and Haray Caray, Jr. as Joshua Brackett, a handyman who is forever making a racket in the house.

Also featured is Ann Sothern as Trish, a friend and neighbor who is close to convincing Sarah to leave Libby's care to her daughter until she remembers how Libby supported her when her own husband died. Sarah draws every ounce of emotion from a lovely scene in which she celebrates her 46th wedding anniversary by having an imaginary conversation with Philip, her long deceased husband. "Forty-six years, Phillip", she tells him. "Forty-six red roses; forty-six white. White for truth--red for passion. That's what you always said - passion and truth; that's all we need. I wish you were here, Phillip." Another moving sequence is when Libby brushes her face with a lock of her husband's hair while sitting alone in her bedroom.

I had heard that The Whales of August was little more than a vehicle for two aging stars to sing their swan song; however, I found the screenplay by David Berry to gracefully complement the performances with an emotional honesty that captures the truth of the characters. Not a great deal happens in The Whales of August but that is often true of life. It is a gentle and civilized character study that lets us know it is never too late to bury long-standing grievances and open a picture window to possibility. It may be elegant and old fashioned in its style but it has a grace and beauty that is timeless.

This is a delightful piece set on the magnificent shores of New England's Atlantic Ocean, with an absolutely unrepeatable cast. Starring not only Bette Davis and Lilian Gish, alone worth anybody's money, well advanced into the autumn of their years, but also a very welcome Vincent Price, and a magnificent Ann Sothern together with her real daughter, Tisha Sterling.

A slow sensitive story in which each one looks back on life from differing perspectives; as usual, Bette Davis is in a dominating rôle, which, despite her advanced years, carries off quite well; Lillian Gish is just superb, lending that toned-down equanimous nature of hers which pervades the whole atmosphere of the film. And as the film develops around their house and in the garden and on the cliff-tops looking out to sea in earnest attempts to see the whales making their way south, the quiet contemplativeness of the film holds you. This is a film you will cherish and savour long afterwards. Which is why it is in my video collection since 1993 and why IMDb contributors 15 years on are still commenting on this heart-warming piece, half a dozen of them only so far this year.

So as to make a contrast, I suggest that impressive classic 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?' (1962), with Bette Davis playing against Joan Crawford: an intense dramatic piece.

Just a few weeks after being invited to the San Sebastián Film Festival – her last public engagement – Bette Davis died, as has Lillian Gish: unrepeatable.

This film is a warm and thoughtful study of ageing. All the performances seem very fine to me. Lillian Gish has a remarkable range of expressions - her portrayal has both depth and truth. The photography is beautiful and the music is sensitive and responsive to the images.

This movie is very slight and quiet and beautiful. There is some of the best cinematography you've ever seen, as the Maine coastline is used to full advantage and you can smell the sea breezes. In a movie like this, you appreciate it even more, because the characters keep talking about what a beautiful day it is, and you get to see what they mean.

As a previous comment mentions, the actors in this movie have hundreds of years of screen time between them, so you know you are in good hands. Lillian Gish is still one of the great beauties of the movies; even at this late age, she was still glowing. Bette Davis had already suffered a stroke so she looks very frail and thin. Last time she had an on-screen sister, Joan Crawford in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane"?, they quarreled also, though obviously in a different way. Lillian and Bette get on each others nerves the way family members tend to do without even trying very hard.

Ann Sothern and Vincent Price make impressions in smaller parts and Sothern deserved her nomination, though Gish should have gotten one, too, and that would have been a fitting tribute to one of the pioneers of cinema.