Fiona (1998)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Amos Kollek

Writer:

Amos Kollek (writer)

Release Date:

11 September 1999 (Taiwan)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The story of Fiona and her mother told in eight chapters. Fiona is abandoned at six months of age, raised in foster and adoptive homes...

Plot Keywords:

Necklace | Crack | Violence | Crack House | Narrator

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Anna Levine	...	Fiona (as Anna Thomson)
Felicia Maguire	...	Anita
Alyssa Mulhern	...	Alys
Anna Grace	...	Patty
Bill Dawes	...	Harvey
Mike Hodge	...	Ernie
Christopher McCann	...	Kasseem
Sue Ponczkowski	...	Suzy Q.
Peggy Van Tries	...	Joker
Matthew Powers	...	Larry
Noel Robichaux	...	Eddie
Michele Santopietro	...	Annie (as Michelle Santopietro)
Steve Klingman	...	Tenant
Phil LaRocca	...	Store Owner
James Mulholland	...	Leon

Runtime:

Canada:85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

France:-16 | Switzerland:18 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:18 (canton of Vaud)

Company:

AMKO Productions Inc.

Soundtrack:

If I Dream Hard Enough

Cassavetes on Crack

Amos Kollek must be crazy. "Fiona" is a film not only about prostitutes and crack addicts. It was an entire supporting cast of the real deal. Not just extras, several of the main characters are actual prostitutes and crack addicts with much of the film shot in a NYC crack house / crash pad. This is about as heavy duty as you can get without it being a documentary. Actually, this is beyond documentary because Kollek is no quiet observer. He's in there as a director working closely with the drug addicts and prostitutes. It's Dogma taken in a weird, dangerous and, inadvertently, titillating direction.

The story follows a young woman, Fiona (Anna Thomson) from her recollections of being sexually abused in a foster home to her adventures on the streets. The plot turns Oedipal as we meet her mother, who is a much more weathered prostitute working the same streets. Eventually, their paths meet and our streetwise Ophelia finally transcends her destiny by taking control of it.

Yeah, it's a simple plot. But the plot is really just a hanger with which a series of vignettes, both shocking and touching, are draped. Kollek's previous film, "Sue" (which also starred Anna Thomson), let him wear his influences on his sleeve as it clearly brings Cassavettes to mind. "Fiona" lets him take it to it's logical extent which, while most people will remember the grim moments, also allowed for some very real moments unlike anything you'll see at the multi-plex.