November 22, 2008
Nancy Savoca's sweetly whimsical film takes some period romance, family dynamics, generational gaps, mixes in a dash or two of magical realism, and blindsides you with its true depths, and its brilliance in the process. It tells the story of three generations of an Italian-Americ...( read more)an family in New York City, and gives us insight into the ways in which superstitions, deep-seeded fears, and blind Catholic faith grow and wane throughout the decades. Joseph Santangelo (Vincent D'Onofrio) plays pinochle with his neighbors across the street, Lino Falconetti (Victor Argo) and his son Nicky (Michael Rispoli). Nicky is a veteran who is growing obsessed with Japanese culture, dreams of singing Italian opera to a female Asian performer, and is whispered about in the neighborhood for venturing out every day to find an Asian wife. One night, Lino bets Joseph the right to marry his daughter Catherine (Tracey Ullman) and loses, but Joseph would've married her anyway. Joseph works in the butcher shop across the street, and before you know it the young couple is married and living with Joseph's overbearing and superstitious mother Carmela (Judith Malena), who criticizes Catherine's first meal cooked for her new suitor and never seems fully accepting of her daughter-in-law. When Catherine becomes pregnant, Carmela is constantly berating her for her apparent willingness to ignore old-wives tales, thus inviting doom upon her unborn child. Sure enough, the first child is lost, and there is a period of deep, dark depression looming within the Santangelo home. Then, a miracle: Teresa is born, she goes to Catholic school and an early disappointment (what is the Pope hiding?) tests her faith. In high school, Teresa (now played by the luminescently off-beat Lili Taylor), who is forbidden from becoming a nun by her father, becomes obsessed with the idea of becoming a saint - through everyday actions. Soon, it's 1970 and she's attending college, only to meet a challenge to her path in life - an aspiring TV lawyer (Michael Imperioli). This is about the point where the film takes a turn, and becomes about much more than we ever could've expected. Taylor's half is essential to shed light on the significance and arc of her parents' half. The film is spread over two hours, about evenly split between the early married life of Joseph and Catherine, and his mother's meddling, and then the blessing that comes with Teresa's birth, only to give way to what her parents come to see as some form of madness. Carmela almost certainly would've approved of Teresa's apparent zealotry, but her parents grow from mild concern to fear and regret; her obsession is juxtaposed toward the end with her uncle Nicky's. I think this is a great film, but I will see it again. Nancy Savoca, who co-wrote (with Richard Guay) and directed, adapted a novel by Francine Prose, and shows a sure feel for this material. She never strains for effect, taking her pacing and storytelling qualities from everyday life, rather than heavy-handed plot machinations. This was her follow-up to her debut "True Love" (1989) with Annabella Sciorra and the bittersweet "Dogfight" (1991), with River Phoenix, also starring Lili Taylor. Here she employs low-key, simple special effects to demonstrate the spiritual visions of both Teresa, and her grandmother. In Lili Taylor, she has found perhaps the perfect actress for this part. She is fragile, quiet, low-key but astonishingly effective as she plays a difficult part in a larger picture that might've become obvious or over-the-top, but in Taylor's hands feels completely naturalistic and believable. I am not religious, and I'm not sure you need to be to understand or enjoy this film. What I took away from it was an appreciation for the faith of one devout religious person, and how her "modern Catholic" parents have deviated from their faith to such a degree that their daughter seems almost alien to them. Or mad. NOTE: Was it odd seeing Vincent D'Onofrio play Lili Taylor's father after playing her fiance and getting cold feet in "Mystic Pizza" (1988)? Yes...but only for a minute.
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