The Member of the Wedding

Movies on demand is currently resurrecting this 1997 cinematic version of Carson McCullers brilliant 1946 novel THE MEMBER OF THE WEDDING. McCullers herself adapted the novel for a Broadway production 1950 with a cast that included Ethel Waters, Julie Harris, and Brandon deWilde: Waters, Harris, and De Wilde repeated their roles in the 1952 film version, winning an Oscar nomination for Julie Harris. There was a 1982 television adaptation starring Pearl Bailey, Dana Hill, and Howard E. Rollins, Jr. and then came this 1997 film version, adapted by David W. Rintels (from the novel and not the play) starring Anna Paquin, Alfre Woodard, and Corey Dunn.

The story takes place over a few days in late August in the South of the 1940s, telling the story of 12-year-old tomboy Frankie Addams (Anna Paquin), who feels disconnected from the world; in her words, an "unjoined person." Frankie's mother died when she was born, and her father (Enrico Colantoni) is a distant, uncomprehending figure. Her closest companions are the family's African American maid, Berenice Sadie Brown (Alfrie Woodward), and her six- year-old cousin, John Henry West (Corey Dunn). She has no friends in her small Southern town, and dreams of going away with her soldier brother (Matt McGrath) and his bride-to-be Janice (Anne Tremko) on their honeymoon in the Alaskan wilderness. It is a tender tale of the complexities of growing into adolescence, the hurtful encounters that are destined to come, and how one tomboy is transformed by the aura of a wedding.

The film is tightly acted and Anna Paquin is convincing as the metamorphosing Frankie to Jasmine, but her very affected southern accent is troublesome. Alfre Woodward brings a different kind of dignity to her role as the benevolent Berenice. Corey Dunn is excellent as John Henry; there is no evidence in the searching that he is still acting or alive. For those who have not seen the original play or film this at least provides a peek into the genius of Carson McCullers and for that alone it is well worth watching.

Grady Harp