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The Hanging Garden
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The Hanging Garden (1997) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
7.0/10   1,844 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 24% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Thom Fitzgerald
Writer:
Thom Fitzgerald (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Hanging Garden on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
7 November 1997 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Romance more
Tagline:
It's hard to go home... ten years after your death.
Plot:
William, a once obese and troubled teen, goes back to his family's home after being gone, without word... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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Awards:
20 wins & 10 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(2 articles)
Toshiaki Toyoda Returns With Yomigaeri No Chi!
 (From Twitch. 19 April 2009, 2:49 PM, PDT)

Ask the Flying Monkey! (March 11, 2009)
 (From AfterElton.com. 10 March 2009, 5:38 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
8/10 more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Ian Parsons ... Little Sweet William
Peter MacNeill ... Whiskey Mac
Troy Veinotte ... Teen Sweet William
Kerry Fox ... Rosemary
Mark Austin ... Preacher

Joel S. Keller ... Fletcher
Heather Rankin ... Black-Eyed Susan
Christine Dunsworth ... Violet
Seana McKenna ... Iris
Joan Orenstein ... Grace

Chris Leavins ... Sweet William
Ashley MacIsaac ... Basil--Fiddler
Jocelyn Cunningham ... Laurel
Jim Faraday ... Mr. MacDougal

Sarah Polley ... Teen Rosemary
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Le jardin suspendu (Canada: French title)
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MPAA:
Rated R for strong sexuality, language, and a scene of a hanging, and some teen drug use.
Runtime:
91 min
Country:
UK | Canada
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby

Fun Stuff

Quotes:
Grace: [sending her grandchildren off to a school dance. To granddaughter Rosemary.] You got pockets? You carrying your protection with you?
Teen Rosemary: What?!
Grace: Started when your father was young. Every party dress had to have pockets.
[fetches something from her chest-of-drawers.]
Grace: Now ... Your hands. These'll keep you safe.
[lowers a rosary into Rosemary's open hands.]
Grace: Now, you feel some of that ... that hocus-pocus comin' into your body ... you don't have to worry.
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FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
8 out of 8 people found the following comment useful:-
8/10, 2 September 2004
8/10
Author: desperateliving from Canada

I'd seen portions of this film on TV when I was about 12, and it frightened me -- I thought it a perversely arousing horror film. Watching it now, I see that it's actually a pretty smartly made literary piece about a family (I could only remember the disturbing images indicated by the film's title). It does have its share of comedy -- there's a lightness in tone that comes mainly from the profuse swearing of the Maritime newlywed (Kerry Fox) who takes part in one of the more awkward marriage processions in recent memory (which also features Ashley MacIsaac on fiddle), and whose marriage instigates the return of her ten-years-gone brother, William. The telling of the film is centered around three tenses of William's life -- his childhood memories, his fat teenage years, and his current appearance -- which are cut up, rearranged, and presented to us, though the unique thing is that Fitzgerald chooses also to surreally intersperse them together into the present one: our current William sees his young self using food as a comfort, and he sees his teen self leave behind his obese body in favor of his current slim frame.

I liked the way that Fitzgerald chose to tackle the mind's abstract identity in this very literal way and I think it makes the film more interesting than its abusive-father/thoughtful-mother family drama otherwise would be. There are some nice touches in the film, like William's apparent young sister who he seems to have swapped gender roles with, and there are some really clever scenes like the one where the current William rushes to help his father -- and his father seeing that his grown son has been playing dress-up; or the scene where his mother has to listen to her son's first sexual experience with a woman. The performances are uniformly good for the film's intent, but Sarah Polley stands out as doing something beyond what's merely required. 8/10

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Hanging Garden (1997)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
clothing symbolism beliebig
So did he hang himself or not? dawh1
The sister's husband. Chasing_Dreams
Seana McKenna - likely the best Canadian actress..ever dontchange
I think Sweet William died and Violet was aborted. sangshao
hanging and sisters husband gorjac
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