Mistérios do Passado

... but Meg was better suited for the role, and I was happy to see her working. I just saw this (first time) on TV. It is an interesting story of a young painter and a rich patroness of the arts and their bonding and unbonding. Very good acting by Tilly and Ellen Burstyn with no excess emoting. They both looked young for the movie date ('94); anyone know how long this sat on the shelf before release?

This TV movie might have been undistinguished if not for the two marvellous performances of the leads, Ellen Burstyn and Meg Tilly. The story is rather far-fetched, but the two actresses carry out their tasks with such utter conviction that I was spellbound by them and their interactions. I recently saw Ellen Burstyn onstage in London as the Grandmother in 'The Children's Hour' by Lillian Hellman (starring Keira Knightley and Elizabeth Moss as the two young women), and her portrayal of that character is very similar indeed to what we see here in this film. She must have known a few grande dames in her time, as she is so eerily convincing as one both in this film and in the Hellman play. Here, she manages to lapse into petulant fits which punctuate her otherwise perfectly mannered and excessively genteel exterior, and she does it with such perfect sophistication that it is a joy to watch such an old pro at work. Meg Tilly is the perfect foil for her, and they get the balance right between them in every scene, so that as the intensity of the emotional battle between them heightens, they both turn up the temperature in perfect synch. This film was directed by Ed Kaplan, and is the last film which he did direct, all six in his CV having been for television. I don't know why it is that television films always have to have such dinky, pathetic opening and closing credits, cheaply designed and with ditsy, cheap tinkly music such as you might hear in a mall. The film itself was largely of feature standard, but the horrible credits let you know from the first instant that you are in TV-land. Burstyn plays one of the richest women in America, and Paxton Whitehead does an excellent job of playing her butler, his English origins being essential to doing so. (His self-apologetic 'don't look at me while I make myself invisible' body language is so English that it can honestly be said, I think, that no native American could ever simulate it.) Burstyn's daughter died young in a tragic accident, and it turns out that Tilly resembles her so strongly that she could almost be her twin. Burstyn becomes obsessed with Tilly and begins to call her by her daughter's name and even treat her the same. Burstyn at first lures Tilly to her mansion on the pretext of painting a series of murals on her ballroom walls. Tilly, as a starving artist, is delighted. But it is not really the murals that Burstyn wants, it is Tilly. Or rather, it is not even Tilly she wants, but her daughter simulated by Tilly. The atmosphere becomes increasingly tense and claustrophobic as these two women are cooped up together and Tilly struggles to maintain her own identity in the face of Burstyn's clever attempts to 'form' her, give her style, expensive clothes, and a place in her home. She even offers to make her her heir, which would include inheriting many spectacular Old Master paintings! One false note in the film is the exterior of the mansion of Burstyn. However, this is an American failing in general. The most pathetic thing about the American super-rich is that their mansions are so ugly. They seem to think that by having a very long drive and acres of lawn planted in astro-turf (which is such horrible stuff like something unconvincing from a bad dream) with lot of men on lawnmowers (as if they were in a cemetery), their residences will be impressive and awe-inspiring. However, they have neglected to notice that one you have gone through the great approaches to the mansions, their mansions themselves are generally mediocre, flat, squat, undistinguished, and of excruciating architectural banality. It all goes to prove that rich Americans are mostly incapable of taste or style in architecture, and that the majority of their mansions are a positive offence to the eye. The one in this film is no exception. Out west, lack of architectural distinction in a mansion can often be excused by 'ranch-style' building, because the inhabitants wear cowboy hats, so that's OK then. If they live in something only slightly more interesting than a cow barn, they always have their longhorns to fall back on. But it is only the traditional Southern mansions and a few New England ones which have any architectural merit in America (always with the exception of a few eccentric constructions by the occasional neglected genius). One might almost go so far as to say that the last time anybody designed a convincing mansion in America was Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. But then he had spent enough time in France to develop some style. One does despair at all these American movies about powerful rich people living in undistinguished houses, but then one thing I have noticed about most of the super-rich Americans I have known is how undistinguished, lacking in taste or charm, and completely bland they are, just like their houses. Now that the Russian oligarchs and Chinese princelings are imitating them, mediocrity is spreading ever more widely round the world and will soon drown us. This film makes highly congenial viewing, for those who value fine acting or who are particularly interested in Ellen Burstyn and Meg Tilly. Certainly it contains one of Ellen Burstyn's finest performances, and should not be missed for that reason alone. The film is also of interest because of its study of the dynamics between a manipulative older woman and a vulnerable young woman. The film is also to some extent a tragic mystery tale. It is a pity that so few people have ever heard of this film.

A struggling young artist is caught up in a heavenly opportunity when she's asked to paint the grand ballroom of an upper class Long Islander. The older woman, Mrs. Griffin, seems to have a strange fascination with the painter, and the "vision" created on the ballroom walls, which leads Faith to the mysterious death of the woman's daughter, Cassandra. As she unfolds truth from deception, she lies on the brink of a horrifying discovery...

There are obvious flaws in the structure of this film, which doesn't explain away all the events in the characters' lives, but overall as a thriller it works. The aura of the house and the strange Mrs. Griffin give the piece an eerie feeling, even as we fear Faith is treading on the threshold of doom. The performances are fair and although there's a lack of dramatic action until the last few minutes of film, we really get a sense of who the characters are and even some of their motivations. The final scene is jarring enough to satisfy any mystery fan, even if Burstyn's acting seems a little over the top.

As an artist I really connected with this film. Meg Tilly did a sensitive, perceptive job of portraying a contemporary young artist.

This was a great made-for-television drama, immediately far more richer and engrossing than l was expecting, it ranks right up there with the other all-too rare exceptional ones that I've seen in my life. The cinematography was beautiful, the mansion that's featured is gorgeous, its magnificent yet somehow moody grandeur adding everything to the mysterious atmosphere of the story. I love the powerful artistic themes that run throughout and lie at the heart of this film, I think it brilliantly captures the eager hungry mind of the artist, and what it means to put your heart and soul into something beautiful created out of nothing. To me, despite the plot focusing entirely on one very sad broken-hearted woman's twisted deceptions and impossible fantasies it is a tremendously uplifting film that's full of life and vibrant colour, although it definitely grows more hectic and melancholy as the story progresses. It's very involving, the story unfolding at a leisurely pace that develops the characters well, and although at least as far as one of them goes there's technically nothing at stake, you care and feel for them both, perhaps strangely the 'villain' most of all. Ellen Burstyn was simply excellent in her role as the extremely wealthy and desperate to reclaim something she never can "Frances Griffin." At first her character seems so kind and warm and generous, but then the cracks soon begin to show as she reveals her more subtley manipulative and controlling tendencies, as well as bizarre mood swings. She showers Jennifer Tilly's character with expensive gifts to win her over, persuading her to move into her residence out of 'convenience', and then foolishly attempting to isolate her by blocking her phone calls, and then when the understandably angry Faith is about to leave, she fakes illness in order to make her feel sorry for her and convincing her to stay. Eventually she even offers her the opportunity to become her legal heir and inherit her entire fortune, all if she'll only stay with her... But you also get the sense that despite all the eccentricities and amoral behaviour she's not a bad, cruel person underneath it all. For all the joy and happiness she takes from her estate and elegant home, it may as well be her tomb. For all the riches in the world can never reclaim what she's lost, inadvertently by her own hand, and she knows it. So like the pretty flowers she tends to, the only love she seemed capable of showing her own late daughter was to groom and develop her into an unwilling perfect princess of high society. You can't help but feel great pity for her as she breaks down at the finale, finally revealing the full tragic story of her daughter's death in the movie's most moving scene. The ever-uncanny Meg Tilly was equally strong though in a different way, she was awesome in her role as a fragile but determined young artist who strives to solve the mystery of her 'connection' to her deceased doppelgänger Cassandra Griffin, as well as to see her project through to its very bitter end. At first she doesn't quite seem to comprehend the complex mystery nightmare her dream job soon turns into! I love all the enchanting moments and scenes that are interspersed throughout of Faith as she painstakingly recreates a large mural all around the walls of a vast ballroom of the coming out party of the sixteen year-old Cassandra, who mysteriously died on the night of her débutante ball. Only it's sadly all for nothing in the end, for as soon as she departs Frances cruelly has the incredible work of art immediately erased in a fit of spite and anger. And then as Faith leaves for the final time after returning to inform Frances that neither she nor her talent can never be owned, the hysterical woman pathetically orders her butler to prevent her from leaving and bring her back. And it seems for a second that he will do just that as he blocks her car in a menacing manner, but he merely reassures her that her beautiful work will never be forgotten. This is a terrifically intriguing suspense drama, but in no way should any part of it be considered a thriller. It is somewhat simple and systematic with its developments, but the real meat of this film is the emotionally-charged psychological tension that slowly builds between the two lead actresses, and this highly satisfying picture is well worth seeking out for their performances and chemistry alone. See ya! 🖼