Pieces of April (2003)
Spoiler Note:
If you are an insightful person, there are spoilers
in this review. I highly suggest seeing this film
before reading about it.
A post-modern, post-punk "Home for
the Holidays," "Pieces of April" could become a Thanksgiving
film for the post- apocalyptic age. Filmmaker Peter
Hedges, who has previously only scripted a few prominent
films, picks up a DV camera and creates a film full
of intense and edgy characters that somehow still
ends up being one of the most beautiful, poignant
and hopeful films to be seen.
The titular character, April, is
a troubled child on the verge of adulthood whom, as
we see her, is desperately trying to create a Thanksgiving
dinner in her dingy, ratty New York City apartment
for her parents. Her live-in boyfriend, an African-American
man about her age, helps and tries to sooth her nerves.
Eventually he has to leave to take care of something
(we eventually discover what it is) and April is left
on her own.
While he is gone their oven breaks
down and April has to go through her apartment house
trying to find other residents who will let her use
their stove so she can cook her turkey. Her interaction
with her vastly diverse neighbors are always interesting
and unique.
While all of this drama, and some
of it is sweet and humorous, unfolds, Hedges cuts
a story about April's family driving to the dinner
into the film. This is where the film gets its dramatic
tension. As this part of the story unfolds, as we
oscillate back and forth between the two stories,
we discover the history of April's troubled past with
her family. Her mother is angry and unforgiving. Her
father is the peacemaker, trying to placate his bitter
wife. The younger daughter is a "Miss Perfect" type.
The son a geeky teen who finds much humor in all that
happens. (He is probably Hedges putting a bit of himself
in he film). And then there's the archetypical grandmother,
sprung from a retirement home and seemingly oblivious
to what is going on within this highly dysfunctional
family.
As the film progresses, we discover
much of the backstory of this family. We learn why
the mother is so bitter. Much of her anger has nothing
to do with April but what she is going through in
her life herself. These revelations continue to explain
why everyone in the car, including the father, daughter
and son, act in the manner in which they do.
It is obvious, as we watch the film,
that the climax, when the family arrives at April's
apartment, will be either explosive or implosive.
And then Hedges turns the entire film on its ear and
truly surprises us. The finale of this film is simply
amazing and perfect.
The cast here is simply fantastic.
What an ensemble! Katie Holmes, an actress I previously
could have cared less about, is a revelation here.
Her punky, disillusioned April is a complex character.
It is important that we "see through her." and that
we view what she says in comparison to what she does.
Holmes makes us love April as we are allowed to see
her alone and in a way that defies what her parents
seem to be saying about her.
Meanwhile, Patricia Clarkson is
devastating as the mother. Her bitterness is never
over-the-top nor unrealistic and yet she is so harsh
and so venomous, that we cannot believe what she says.
Her complexity, as her character's layers are peeled
away by Hedges' exposition, blows us away more and
more as the film progresses. Clarkson is simply amazing
here. This is an indie actress who continually impresses
with her talent. This is an actress to actively look
for in films.
This dynamic between mother and
daughter is further propelled by the other characters,
of course, and Oliver Platt is perfect in the role
of the father as would-be mediator. Platt provides
the voice of understanding and reason who is nevertheless
trying to appease his wife and in the process proves
his character just as complex as the others. It is
a marvelous performance that makes new a character
we have seen many times before.
The secondary characters are provided
by the siblings, the grandmother, and the neighbors.
The best among these are April's African-American
neighbors. (I wish I could remember the name of the
characters so I could credit the actor and actress
here. They are wonderful, a true highlight of the
film). Hedges begins the relationship between April
and this older couple in a typical and expected manner
and then, again, flips it on its ear and turns it
into something cliche-busting and something that we
do not expect. It is these characters that begin to
provide some needed relief for the tension building
in the film. And it is also they who perhaps inspire
April to reevaluate her life and her feelings. This
is very subtly done as Hedges script, until the absolute
end of the film, never becomes manipulative. (By the
end of the film, you want Hedges to manipulate the
story as he does).
By using DV, Hedges provides a voyeuristic
insight into his story. (You are there!) We are in
the apartment with April. We are in the car with her
family. We become part of the family. We see tinges
of our own families in these characters.
I like Jodie Foster's "Home for
the Holidays" which came out in 1995, but I felt it
was missing something. It never truly clicked. "Pieces
of Aprils" clicks. It hits every note perfectly. It
tells a vaguely familiar story in a new and unique
way. And it allows us "into" the story with its vulnerable
characters and its intimate cinematography. This is
a film that could become a Thanksgiving tradition
in many homes. A film that could perhaps become considered
second only to the vastly different yet somehow similar
"Planes, Trains and Automobiles," as the best Thanksgiving
film of all time.
Note:
Also with Sisqo, Lillas White, Isiah
Whitlock, and John Gallagher, Jr.
Also with "Will and Grace" star
Sean Hayes in a minor role. (The distributor is playing
this up in the marketing for the film because of Hayes
vast appeal. He really adds almost nothing to the
film).
Music by Stephen Merritt, of the
bands Magnetic Fields and The 6's. Hedges, in a Q&A
during the Austin Film Festival in 2003, referred
to Merritt as "my favorite musician." Hedges said
that for a long time he wanted to have no score in
the film except the end scene, in which he intended
to use Three Dog Night's "Pieces of April." As he
went through the post- production process of the film,
he began to rethink this and when he considered adding
music to score the film, he decided to try and get
Merritt.
Hedges dedicates the film "To my
mother, who loved everyday." During the Q&A, he told
us a lengthy story about his mother dying of cancer
and how she helped to inspire him to continue writing.
He made sure that we understood that this film was
not autobiographical and his mother was not like the
Clarkson character. He said that he decided that the
film "wouldn't be about my mother, it would be in
tribute to her."
Produced by In/Dig/Ent. Hedges said
the financing for the film (which would have had a
budget of 4 to 7 million dollars) fell through three
times before he decided to go low budget and shoot
the film digitally. He made the film for under $300,000.
Clarkson won an award at Sundance,
where this film premiered, for her acting in this
film as well as "The Station Agent" and "All the Real
Girls."
The film begins an arthouse run
this month, October 2003.
Viewed
at AFF 2003 at the new Regal Arbor theater.
