Interiors (1978)

Three sisters find their lives spinning out of control in the wake of their parents' sudden, unexpected divorce.

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer:

Woody Allen

Stars:

Diane Keaton, Geraldine Page, Kristin Griffith

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Kristin Griffith	...	Flyn
Mary Beth Hurt	...	Joey
Richard Jordan	...	Frederick
Diane Keaton	...	Renata
E.G. Marshall	...	Arthur
Geraldine Page	...	Eve
Maureen Stapleton	...	Pearl
Sam Waterston	...	Mike
Missy Hope	...	Young Joey
Kerry Duffy	...	Young Renata
Nancy Collins	...	Young Flyn
Penny Gaston	...	Young Eve
Roger Morden	...	Young Arthur
Henderson Forsythe	...	Judge Bartel

Storyline

The story of a very dysfunctional family and what happens when the parents divorce. Eve (Geraldine Page) and Arthur (EG Marshall) are a 60-something couple, recently separated. They have three adult daughters - Renata (Diane Keaton), Joey (Mary Beth Hurt) and Flyn (Kristin Griffith). Renata is a poet and is married to Frederick (Richard Jordan). Joey is (reluctantly) in advertising and is married to Mike (Sam Waterston). Flyn is a film and TV actress. Eve is an incredibly negative woman and this has had a toxic effect on her children. This results in stifling, unsupportive relationships and joyless lives.

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Plot Keywords:

no music | woman wears eyeglasses | three sisters | sibling rivalry | attempted rape | 

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Taglines:

The One Movie You Should Not Miss This Year

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

After the success of Annie Hall (1977), Woody Allen's previous movie, United Artists executives told Allen's producers, Charles H. Joffe and Jack Rollins, to give Allen a message. That was: "From now on, make whatever you want."

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Goofs

Renata takes the white book off the same shelf twice.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Arthur: I had dropped out of law school when I met Eve. She was very beautiful, very pale and cool in her black dress with never anything more than a single strand of pearls. And distant. Always poised and distant. At the time the girls were born it was all so perfect, so ordered. Looking back, of course, it was rigid. The truth is she created a world around us that we existed in, where everything had its place, where there was always a kind of harmony. Great dignity. I will say, it was ...

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Crazy Credits

Casting director Juliet Taylor's name is spelled Juilet Taylor in the credits.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Atomic Brain (1993)

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Soundtracks

Wolverine Blues
(1923)
Written by Ferdinand 'Jelly Roll' Morton (uncredited)
Performed by The World's Greatest Jazz Band
On Project III Records

User Reviews

Sick psyches

The three adult daughters of a quiet attorney and an imperious matriarch are alternately offended and benumbed by their parents' divorce and their father's "hasty" decision to remarry (leaving mama to fend for herself, probably something she needs but does not enjoy--there's no one to boss around). Bergmanesque drama from writer-director Woody Allen, who does not appear or even feel present (Pauline Kael of the New Yorker claims his neuroses have been transposed to the mother-character, but I never felt like I was watching something created by Woody Allen). All the actors are quite fine playing characters who are high-strung, uptight, woebegone (yet oddly, never intentionally comical), yet the flatness of the dialogue and the listlessness of Mary Beth Hurt's frequent narration may strain some viewers' patience. Some of the wordy sequences tend to ramble, and what words! Allen has a fixation with non-textbook terms for multiple abnormal psychoses; and no matter how educated Hurt's character is supposed to be, I had trouble swallowing some of the high-brow talk in her third-act put-down of Geraldine Page. The movie--seriously well-scrubbed, sterile and somber--has many conflicts and personality quirks which feel real and intricate, and Page's high society dementia is riveting (alternately, Maureen Stapleton's gaudy low-class is also superb). The three sisters remain enigmas that confound and confuse (each other and the viewer) but Diane Keaton's gritty reserve as the eldest daughter is the one I gravitated towards. Not a masterpiece (as some critics claimed), but certainly not a dud. It's Woody's art-house gambol, a dark one, and it leaves behind a fascinating imprint. *** from ****

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 October 1978 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Anhedonia

Filming Locations:

Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$10,432,366

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,432,366

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions, Rollins-Joffe Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1