The Stone Angel (2007)

In Manitoba, Hagar Shipley is nearing 90. She has little, she tells us, but her memories. Over several weeks, during which she runs away from her son and daughter-in-law who want to place ... See full summary »

Director:

Kari Skogland

Writers:

Kari Skogland, Margaret Laurence (novel)

Stars:

Ellen Burstyn, Dylan Baker, Christine Horne

4 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ellen Burstyn	...	Hagar
Dylan Baker	...	Marvin
Sheila McCarthy	...	Doris
Judy Marshak	...	Silver Elms Matron
Doreen Brownstone	...	Silver Elms Bridge Player
Samantha Weinstein	...	Child Hagar
Ryland Thiessen	...	Child Telford
Mackenzie Munro	...	Child Charlotte
Connor Price	...	Child Matt
Jordan Todosey	...	Child Lottie
Ardith Boxall	...	Lottie's Mother
Arne MacPherson	...	Doctor
Ted Atherton	...	Reverend Troy
Christine Horne	...	Young Hagar
R. Morgan Slade	...	Young Telford

Storyline

In Manitoba, Hagar Shipley is nearing 90. She has little, she tells us, but her memories. Over several weeks, during which she runs away from her son and daughter-in-law who want to place her in a nursing home, returning to the small town where she grew up and the now-derelict farmhouse where she was married and raised two sons, we follow Hagar in the present and in memories that trace her childhood, marriage in defiance of her father, and later losses. She's fiercely even foolishly proud. Can she make peace with anyone she loves, or is she left to rage against the dying of the light?

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Plot Keywords:

run over by a train | fully clothed sex | partial female nudity | sex on stairs | panties hit the floor | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes it takes your whole life to get it right.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sexuality and brief language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Canada UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 July 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

O Anjo de Pedra

Filming Locations:

Hartney, Manitoba, Canada

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$31,883 (USA) (11 July 2008)

Gross:

$31,883 (USA) (11 July 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alliance, Astral Media, Buffalo Gal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During filming, Ellen Burstyn saw on the call sheet a long lost relative who was working on the crew.

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Goofs

The first incident with the freight train is set about 1950 yet it has no caboose. The caboose was not replaced by an electronic monitor on the last freight car until the eighties. It's also more than likely that in that era in western Canada a freight would have been hauled by steam rather than diesel.

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Quotes

Arlene: I want to have a baby.
John: We're broke.
Arlene: We love each other. It'll be a love child.
[they both laugh quietly. meanwhile, Hagar walks silently in and sees what's going on]
John: Well, my mom leaves town in a couple weeks. Then we can get married, and we can talk about having a baby, okay?
Arlene: I don't care about a wedding or anything.
John: You can have whatever you want.
[it becomes more intense; they are both breathing faster]
Arlene: [breathlessly] I want lots of babies.
[...]

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Soundtracks

"All People That On Earth Do Dwell"
Traditional
Lyrics by William Kethe
Music by Louis Bourgeois
(sang at church)

User Reviews

I liked it.

I saw the movie recently and really liked it. I surprised myself and cried. This movie is in the same niche genre as "Away from Her" - or even "The Bucket List" but handles the whole aging theme with incredible authenticity. It's really really tough to have the main character as unlikable as Hagar. The director does a masterful job with the challenge. Hagar's hard to understand. Her world has hard edges and she isn't a warm endearing woman at all.

The first scene gets this across without any compromise. Hagar (Ellen Burnstyn) is being taken to a nursing home by her son and daughter-in-law. She figures it out en-route and freaks out. Her edges are really hard. She is mean. She is belittling and selfish. She is a stone. I didn't like her - not even a little bit.

Throughout the course of the movie, we get insight. We find out why she doesn't like petunias, why she favors one son over the other, how her losses have formed her character... I started to see the angel... and I started to like her. I especially liked her when she poured out her secrets to the boy in the shack. Ellen Burnstyn, you are a brilliant actor. Kudos. Kudos. Kudos. What a scene!

This isn't a "feel good" movie, but it is certainly a movie that brings the viewer to empathy. I understand more clearly that hard edges in a person's life are there to protect, they are there for a reason...

Hagar isn't my mother - she isn't even my mother-in-law or neighbor... but parts of her are present in many women (and men) in my life. Those parts somehow make more sense to me now that I've watched The Stone Angel.