I just came back from Key West a few days ago. It's not as it used to be. Now there's too many people going around, sightseeing, wandering and making of this beautiful town quite a noisy one.
But when they decided to shoot this film down there, there was more than enthusiasm. Actually, there was a lot of things to go amiss. Ivan Strasburg as cinematographer, dared to try out new things and made a lot of people quite uneasy about the final look of this otherwise overlooked film.
Goldie Hawn is like fish in the water throughout the whole play, based on a novella that deals with the troubles a single mother goes through just clinging on the very limits, to save her only twelve-year-old son.
It's a moving film, since Goldie really knows what to do when faced with a role in which she must be serious and troubled. She shares the screen with a young actor who really did well for his first appearance on screen (and his last one). The locations are all real. No sets, no flashy things. Just the real thing: Key West portrayed as it was. They even used the old Seven Mile Bridge in one of the scenes, that depicts beautifully those times now long gone.
The main location is what is known as Eden House, a beautiful hotel that now hosts the only museum in the world related to this movie.
The shifts of mood, the anger, the solitude, the deep anguish and the agony of being caught in the middle of the storm, are just a few of the main ingredients that make this film a beautiful work.
Maybe if you are like me, one who really loves the very few places in continental USA (if Key West can be called part of the continent) that are still far removed from the craziness of big cities... and still can think about this world as a world where family makes sense, you must see this film. It is evanescent, flimsy, almost surreal, because it's too real.
And, of course, if you can give yourself a lot of time to travel to this beautiful island, do it, and go visit Eden House. You'll go back in time just about to love this place and this film... even when you can forget about living there: it may well be one of the most expensive places on earth. But you still can visit Hemingway's hideaway in Key West or feel the pendig fear of incoming hurricanes.
But when they decided to shoot this film down there, there was more than enthusiasm. Actually, there was a lot of things to go amiss. Ivan Strasburg as cinematographer, dared to try out new things and made a lot of people quite uneasy about the final look of this otherwise overlooked film.
Goldie Hawn is like fish in the water throughout the whole play, based on a novella that deals with the troubles a single mother goes through just clinging on the very limits, to save her only twelve-year-old son.
It's a moving film, since Goldie really knows what to do when faced with a role in which she must be serious and troubled. She shares the screen with a young actor who really did well for his first appearance on screen (and his last one). The locations are all real. No sets, no flashy things. Just the real thing: Key West portrayed as it was. They even used the old Seven Mile Bridge in one of the scenes, that depicts beautifully those times now long gone.
The main location is what is known as Eden House, a beautiful hotel that now hosts the only museum in the world related to this movie.
The shifts of mood, the anger, the solitude, the deep anguish and the agony of being caught in the middle of the storm, are just a few of the main ingredients that make this film a beautiful work.
Maybe if you are like me, one who really loves the very few places in continental USA (if Key West can be called part of the continent) that are still far removed from the craziness of big cities... and still can think about this world as a world where family makes sense, you must see this film. It is evanescent, flimsy, almost surreal, because it's too real.
And, of course, if you can give yourself a lot of time to travel to this beautiful island, do it, and go visit Eden House. You'll go back in time just about to love this place and this film... even when you can forget about living there: it may well be one of the most expensive places on earth. But you still can visit Hemingway's hideaway in Key West or feel the pendig fear of incoming hurricanes.