Una donna tutta particolare

Two orphaned sisters growing up in a small Northwest mountain town in the 1950s drift apart when the eccentric habits of their itinerant guardian aunt (Christine Lahti) push one to the shelter of social conformity and draw the other outside, to an uncertain but more exciting life apart. The film was sold as another of Bill Forsythe's whimsical comedies, but the humor is overshadowed by the lingering memory of loss and dissatisfaction: a grandfather's tragic death, a mother's lonely suicide, and so forth. Likewise there isn't anything funny about Aunt Sylvie's deeply rooted vagabond instincts (expressed, for once, as something more than merely charming or quaint), which attract the more introverted sister (narrating the details) as strongly as they repel the rest of the community. It's a haunting, almost melancholy film, carefully paced to the rhythms of small town life in hard times, and with a fascinating undercurrent (note the irony of the title) equating the freedom of the open road with the liberation of women from domestic dependency. The final image, after Sylvie has introduced her niece to a life of wanderlust, is enough to lure the hobo out of any viewer.

Bill Forsyth is a Scottish-born director and writer of great insight with a whimsical view of the world. His movies tend to focus on low-key characters and obscure places rarely seen in filmdom. "Local Hero" is one of my all-time favorites. I now add "Housekeeping" to the list.

The movie is adapted from a novel by Marilynne Robinson. It takes place in the tiny town of Fingerbone, located in the Cascade Mountains of what I assume is Eastern Washington or Idaho, given many references to Spokane and Portland. I have lived in Seattle for many years, and I adore the scenery featured in this movie. One can almost smell the pungent, bracing aroma of decaying logs, fir trees, and smoldering campfires in the outdoor scenes.

Christine Lahti is an actress of rare gifts. Her basic decency and warmth comes through in every film I have seen her in. She plays rootless Sylvie, who comes to be the guardian of two adolescent orphaned nieces, Ruthie and Lucille. The story takes place in the 1950s, and the fashions, cars, and social mores are all dead-on. She and the girls live in a large house on the outskirts of Fingerbone, the same home Sylvie and her deceased sister Helen grew up in. The story explores the relationships of these three women, and the shifting dynamics of those relationships. There is an implied parallel of Ruthie and Lucille with Sylvie and Helen. "Housekeeping" supplies a rich family history for these off-beat characters, and provides a context for their behavior and development.

There are very few men in this film. It is resolutely about the lives of women among other women. The story unfolds over several years, and we see how Lucille (the younger sister) comes to be the responsible one, who yearns to live 'like other people'. Sylvie exists in a dream world, and Ruthie is gradually drawn into that land of longing and detachment. Eccentric is how most people would describe the behavior of Sylvie, but I prefer haunted. Haunted by the lingering presence of dead siblings and parents, haunted by the inability to fit in to modern society, haunted by the endless possibilities of other places and times. To me, "Housekeeping" is a ghost story, but these ghosts yet live.

"She IS sad. I mean, she should be sad."

I'm biased. I loved this movie. Being Canadian, I identified with the sense of isolation from the world these two women felt. What is wonderful about the story is that Ruthie and Sylvie revel in their isolation; it is exactly what they want. In its way, this is a romance. Two people, each alone, meet and discover one another. I was happy for them.

Years since I saw it in the moviehouse or video. NOT a comedy in the yuk yuk sense. I only wish I could have been on the set to say, "Bill, Focus more on the girls, not the aunt! You did them both so well!" It was just a question of balance in this absorbing movie. Christine Lahti had such a good, strong performance and Forsyth let her take the movie, or at least gave many viewers the idea that her character's the focus. Stunning scenery, wonderful evocation of family and place, and fascinates with its exploration of watery metaphors for our connection to and removal from people. Very faithful in tone to the book (a must-read by marilyn robinson, BTW), which I read after seeing the movie more than once. I wish I could see it on the big screen again.

great film, but probably the most misrepresentative ad campaign i've ever seen for a movie. this is NOT a comedy. Christine Lahti's Sylvia is NOT a one dimensional free-spirit. she is disturbed, as is the entire family. this translates perfectly from the book, as does the film's look and emotional atmosphere.

as for the opinion that Sylvia is a Pied Piper, that's just wrong. she could care less if anyone follows in her path. it just so happens that her niece is seduced by virtue of what i would interpret as instinct. the family has a long history of breaking from the norm, much to its detriment. the niece is merely fulfilling her filial destiny.

to say that the story presents a polemic about nonconformity shortchanges the viewer from the complexity of emotions that it evokes. there is no argument. this is just the way things turn out for these folks. and in my opinion, the ending leaves us questioning, just as it does in the book, how much control we have over destiny.