The Hanging Garden (1997)

Director:

Thom Fitzgerald

Writer:

Thom Fitzgerald (writer)

Release Date:

7 November 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

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...

Plot Keywords:

Wedding | Gay | Sex | Garden | Dancer

Awards:

20 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Le jardin suspendu (Canada: French title)

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

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:MA | Finland:K-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada

Company:

Alliance Communications Corporation

Quotes:

Grace the Nun: Father, can you come and bless this Virgin
[statue]
Grace the Nun: for the lady, please?
Iris: No no, that's not necessary, please don't bother him ...
Grace the Nun: That's what he's here for, it's included! Father, are you ready to bless the Virgin or what?
[The priest comes up to the store counter and picks up the Virgin statuette.]
Grace the Nun: Oh hang on now, she hasn't got the receipt. How many times do I tell you, don't bless the Virgin until you get the receipt!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Weird Sex and Snowshoes: A Trek Through the Canadian Cinematic Psyche (2004) (TV)

8/10

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