Personal Velocity: Three Portraits (2002)

Director:

Rebecca Miller

Writers:

Rebecca Miller (book)
Rebecca Miller (written by)

Release Date:

28 March 2003 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Three women's escapes from their afflicted lives. Each struggles to flee from the men who confine their personal freedom.

Plot Keywords:

Editor | Hitchhiker | Infidelity | Marriage | Narration

Awards:

6 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Kyra Sedgwick	...	Delia Shunt
Parker Posey	...	Greta Herskowitz
Fairuza Balk	...	Paula
John Ventimiglia	...	Narrator (voice)
Ron Leibman	...	Avram Herskowitz
Wallace Shawn	...	Mr. Gelb
David Warshofsky	...	Kurt Wurtzle
Leo Fitzpatrick	...	Mylert
Tim Guinee	...	Lee
Patti D'Arbanville	...	Celia
Ben Shenkman	...	Max
Joel de la Fuente	...	Thavi Matola (as Joel De La Fuente)
Marceline Hugot	...	Pam
Brian Tarantina	...	Pete Shunt
Seth Gilliam	...	Vincent

Also Known As:

Enter Fleeing (USA) (working title)
Personal Velocity (USA) (short title)

MPAA:

Rated R for brief violence, some strong sexuality and language.

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Brazil:16 | Canada:14A | Chile:14 | Netherlands:12 | Peru:14 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Ellenville, New York, USA

Company:

Blue Magic Pictures

Quotes:

Greta Herskowitz: How could he still love me? If he does, it's because he doesn't know me. I'm rotten with ambition, a lusty little troll, the kind of demon you'd find at the bottom floor of hell pulling fingernails off the loansharks.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Decade Under the Influence (2003)

A Triumph ... for Multi-Part Films ...

The main thing about multi-part films, which in this case means a three-part film, is that they often lack a sense of cohesiveness. This is certainly the case with "Personal Velocity". There was a forced connectedness brought on by a specific television event and a talkative narrator, but there also remained a disconnectedness which brought on a yearning for more film. So that was it? That was our film? On the visual and emotional levels the film had an impact, but it just didn't satisfy fully. I was very thrown by the excessive use of the voice over, which was obviously necessary due to be fully committed to the adaptation from the original book (by the screenwriter). Being a visual medium, an audience being essentially read to is a squirming audience. The writing was beautiful, but often required some intense editing (perhaps by the Parker Posey character?). Visually, the stylized editing and near snapshot form of storytelling did work. The acting was first-rate and moving. "Personal Velocity" just feels like a partially completed jigsaw puzzle, but maybe that was the point.