5 Strange, Compelling, Well Produced Films

Quirky, surrealistic, arty, eccentric, fun nonconformism. Goes well with the film Powder.

Lake Nelson - Housekeeping

Housekeeping (1987)
DIRECTED BY: Bill Forsyth.
WRITTEN BY: Bill Forsyth based on the novel by Marilynne Robinson.
FEATURING: Christine Lahti,Sara Walker and Andrea Burchill.
PLOT: Two orphaned girls are joined by their transient aunt who becomes their unconventional guardian in this dreamy, pensive study of nonconformity and the breaking of social mores in a restrictive 1950's environment.

Housekeeping is a surreal atmosphere piece that questions right and wrong, debates the meaning of normality and examines the consequences of non-conformity. The story follows the erratic behavior of two teenage girls and their seemingly irresponsible caretaker.

In the 1950?s Pacific Northwest, a series of bizarre events unfold leading to the abandonment of two adolescent girls. In a dramatic early scene, the girls? misfit mother amiably asks some young boys for help in getting her car out of a muddy rut. When they do, she casually commits suicide in front of them by driving over a cliff. Her daughters, long abandoned by their father, become the wards of their grandmother and aunt, who see them into their early teens. When the deceased mother?s sister shows up, the grandmother and great aunt disappear into the night, leaving them in the care of the newly arrived ?Aunt Sylvie? (Lahtie).

Sylvie, as it turns out, is an avowed nonconformist with an unconventional lifestyle and unique view of the world. Her permissive parenting evolves into the enabling of an alternative existence for her nieces. This new freedom includes skipping school, stealing boats, riding the rails, and other risky, unstructured behavior?acts which are particularly outré when performed by young women in the conservative 1950s.

The film is an odyssey of self discovery as Ruth, from whose point of view the story is presented, begins to question social convention and accepted folkways. As Ruth comfortably gravitates toward Sylvie?s atypical values, her sister Lucille is upset by the lack of structure and begins to embrace social norms.

This evolution of the girls? characters and personalities is presented through a series of ethereal misadventures and explorations. This transition is further influenced by the recounting of early childhood impressions, and their observations of the unique geography of their home which is located on a surreal lake surrounded by wooded mountains. Different story segments are connected by symbolism of ice and snow, the depth of the huge lake they live on, and of railroads and trains, particularly a spectacular train derailment disaster that occurred many years in the past. The lake itself, a massive body of deep cold water holding the wreckage and bodies from the doomed train, embodies concepts of obstacles, boundaries, mystery and the transcendence of space and time.

Ultimately and inevitably, outside authoritarian interference descends upon the trio; the tale alludes to fear of witches by the unsophisticated locals. Nonconformity is equated with a dread of the unknown. At this point, the slowly building tension between the girls? independence and the mainstream establishment comes to a rolling boil. The three must choose between two extremes, either one of which will create dramatic and permanent consequences.

Some credit Housekeeping with exploring themes concerning transience, self reliance, dependency, female marginalization, and freedom. This may be true, but the literary eye rollers ?that crowd who seek to distinguish themselves intellectually via the effete discovery of a plethora of symbolism, real or imaginary, in any work?are likely to perceive Housekeeping as being an exploration of feminist issues. This would not be the best interpretation of the story. Housekeeping is not a women?s movie. It is a beautifully photographed, thought-provoking atmospheric fantasy about unconventionality and its consequences. The events are experienced from the point of view of a youngster who happens to be a girl. The choice of gender serves more to facilitate this study of social taboos than to make any sort of statement. Those who wish to interpret Housekeeping as being a feminist vehicle will miss the nebula for the stars.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

??one of the strangest and best films of the year? not a realistic movie, not one of those disease-of-the-week docudramas with a tidy solution. It is funnier, more offbeat, and too enchanting to ever qualify on those terms.??Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times (contemporaneous)

An odd and disturbing, surreal Aussiie film which incorporates several creepy themes into its plot. Very high production values. Fans of the film Powder should enjoy the sinister and quirky storyline.

This is a serious gem of an obscure film. I never expected to find it in the database. Better than Lynch. And a great Earl Bostick tenor sax recording to boot. Arty and offbeat without deliberately trying to be (unlike Lynch's post Blue Velvet work, where I think he was trying to live up to his own image).

POWDER (1995)
GENRES: FANTASY, SCI FI, WEIRD, DRAMA
DIRECTED BY: Victor Salva
FEATURING: Lance Henriksen, Jeff Goldblum, Mary Steenburgen, and Sean Patrick Flanery
PLOT: A supernaturally gifted teen misfit fights against the grain when he is forcibly integrated into a callous, backward community. A strange blend of fantasy and drama, Powder has shadings of The Enigma of Casper Hauser, Carrie, and The Man Who Fell To Earth.

COMMENTS: In a situation reminiscent of Casper Hauser's enigma, Jeremy Reed (Flanery) is discovered sequestered in his grandmother's basement upon her death in a Podunk Texas town. A bright, sensitive boy, he has been raised without contact with the outside world with which he is acquainted only through books. He happens to be albino, and not just like Edgar Winter. He is mime white.

Additionally he is hairless . Because of his unsettling appearance he attracts the unbecoming nickname, "Powder." He also seems to attract static electricity. Because of his appearance his father rejected him and his grandparents sheltered him, thus his contact with the outside world is novel and very troublesome for Powder and for others.

The film opens with his premature birth after when his mother is struck by lightening. This turns out to be foreshadowing because the concepts of electricity and energy are dispersed throughout the film. Clues are provided that Powder's body exudes some sort of interactive electromagnetic field.

Wrist watches run backward when he's upset, televisions overload with static, and other electric and electronic devices run haywire. In a discussion with his teacher, the instructor tells Powder that Einstein allegedly said he wasn't sure death exists because energy never ceases to exist, and that if man ever reaches a point where he can use all of his brain, he would be pure energy and not need a body. This catches Powder's attention.

Powder is technically still a minor . He is not exactly the picture of redneck conformity. Ideally he needs to be in a progressive, tolerant environment. So of course the local authorities lock him up in a violent rural boys home that seems to be more of a reform school than an orphanage. As one can imagine, he is welcomed with open arms by the crude, hostile ruffians. Well not exactly. They harass and torment him incessantly with murder in their collective eye.

While he is a ward of the state, two staffers played by Steenburgen and Goldblum try to help him. Powder takes aptitude tests. His unusually high scores indicate that he has a profound intellect, but nobody believes it. His test results are challenged by a panel of hostile state goons. Meanwhile, his tormenting bullies in the state boys home discover that he can defend himself with seemingly telekinetic-like electromagnetic powers.

Powder assists a dying woman like a faith healer. This seems to add a religious element to the film which complicates efforts to comprehend Powder's true existential nature. While his invitro exposure to lightening has evidently bestowed him with electromagnetic powers, he has others as well, such as apparent psychic ability. Difficult to classify and out of his element, Powder is like an alien who has been displaced and stranded.

As Powder and the confused, disturbed locals continue to clash, the chasm grows wider as many become awed by or fearful of his unusual talents. All Powder wants to do is go home and live in seclusion. He escapes and tries to do so, but his family property has been foreclosed upon. Some town officials encourage him to run away and others want him back in the boy's home.

Near the end of the story there appears to be some suggestion that Powder is just too unique for this world and Powder is portrayed a little bit like a Christ figure. It is dubious that this is really what the film makers had in mind. Powder is a science fiction fantasy about nonconformity and social rejection, not a religious allegory. Like the subject of Brian DePalma's Carrie, Powder is gifted and different, ostracized and misunderstood.

However Powder does not take spectacular revenge based on seething resentment, Instead he strives and strives to escape somehow, always trying to find a away to transcend his dilemma. The conflicts, uncertainty, tension and turmoil come to a flashpoint when a huge thunderhead approaches town and Powder rushes into the storm. In a spectacular cinematic sequence many uncertain elements of Powder's riddle merge in an unexpected way that is unconventionally conclusive and magical.

POWDER - (1995) - CLIP - CLICK TO PLAY