The Stone Angel (2007)

A 90-year-old woman, rapidly losing her memory and knowing that sooner or later her life will be over, returns to the Manitoba farmhouse she grew up in to try and make peace with her dysfunctional family.

Director:

Kari Skogland

Writers:

Kari Skogland, Margaret Laurence (novel)

Stars:

Ellen Burstyn, Christine Horne, Ellen Page

4 wins & 9 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:

train | based on novel | memory | travel | mother in law daughter in law relationship | 

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Taglines:

Pride was my wilderness, and the demon that led me there was fear.

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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:

El ángel de piedra

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

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There were over 50 picture vehicles used in the filming that spanned 5 decades.

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Goofs

During the first flashback scene when the children are running away from the funeral home a black hatchback with rear windshield wiper is seen in an alley off to the right of the screen.

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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

Bram's Blues
Written by Don Benedictson, William Bonness and 'Daniel Roy'
Performed by The Prairie Polka Playboys
(performed at dance)

User Reviews

Margaret Laurence would not be happy.

As this film does not do justice to a great novel. I so loved this book I've read it twice. It presents an irascible old woman, warts and all, bad tempered and humourless, and tries to soften her up and give her a raison d'etre.

Hagar, played by the marvellous Ellen Burstyn, is a woman who lives in fear of what her son and anxious daughter in law can do to her. The worst would be a home for the aged and it is happening now.

Through flashbacks, we gain insight into Hagar's life, her lusty marriage to a waster, her sons and her bitterness at the way life has worked out for her.

It is hopelessly and meaninglessly modernized, the book was written in the sixties and here it is translated to modern day with cell phones, etc. It doesn't work. The flashbacks are not smoothly transitioned and at times are oddly placed within the framework of the whole or are too abrupt.

However, that said, the supporting cast are excellent with the younger lusty Hagar played by Christine Horne is a delight. Ellen Page has a small but telling part.

But the film didn't enhance my enjoyment of the book.

6 out of 10.