Northfork (2003)

Set in 1955, the residents of a small Montana community are forced to move their homes to make way for a new dam.

Director:

Michael Polish

Writers:

Mark Polish, Michael Polish

Stars:

Duel Farnes, Nick Nolte, Anthony Edwards

3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Woods	...	Walter O'Brien
Nick Nolte	...	Father Harlan
Douglas Sebern	...	Mayor
Claire Forlani	...	Mrs. Hadfield
Duel Farnes	...	Irwin
Mark Polish	...	Willis O'Brien
Daryl Hannah	...	Flower Hercules
Graham Beckel	...	Marvin
Josh Barker	...	Matt (as Joshuin Barker)
Peter Coyote	...	Eddie
Jon Gries	...	Arnold
Rick Overton	...	Rudolph
Robin Sachs	...	Cup of Tea
Ben Foster	...	Cod
Anthony Edwards	...	Happy

Storyline

In a near-empty Northfork orphanage, Father Harlan gently tends to Irwin, an eight-year-old who lies between a dream state and death. As orphanage caretaker Harlan reads aloud about Northfork's years-ago forced evacuation to make way for a hydro-electric dam, Irwin's imagination takes flight. While a team of six men evacuate the last remaining citizens of the town, Irwin, too, invents a cast of characters to prepare himself for his own evacuation. (the above states the caretaker - who is actually the priest - is reading about a years-ago evacuation. In the movie, the evacuation is taking place as the boy lays dying!)

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Plot Keywords:

view master | evacuation | caretaker | orphanage | dam | 

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mr Stalling says that he is waiting for a sign from God, when Walter O'Brien visits him at the ark. Walter imparts a tale about when the water has risen, men will come by in a boat to take him and the two Mrs Stallings's to safety. They will not go, because they are waiting for a sign and they will drown. And God will say, I sent you a boat, what more did you want? This story also appears in the The West Wing season one episode "Take This Sabbath Day" and is told by the Karl Malden character, Father Thomas Cavanaugh.

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Goofs

When the six committee members get out of their three cars at the dam, we hear eight doors slam.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Walter: [reading a letter] To the loving O'Brien family. It has been brought to our attention that the remains of a Mrs. Patricia O'Brien have yet to be excavated. Please make arrangements immediately.

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Crazy Credits

John Tuell special thanks

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen/Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl/Northfork/Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003)

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Soundtracks

Heart Full of Shame
(1956)
Performed by Helen Carter
Written by Helen Carter
Courtesy of Sony/ATV Acuff-Rose Music

User Reviews

Beautifully surreal.

I enjoyed this film's surreal nature and mysteriousness of the characters. The cinematography is beautiful, and the film is well-cast. Although I usually do not like Nick Nolte and the roles he plays, he showed great depth in this film.

Viewers who are unaccustomed to abstract film-making will find the plot disturbingly confusing, but I thought the transcendent themes overode the ambiguuities. If you absolutely HAVE to "understand" the film, just listen to the director's comments on the DVD. Doing this, however, diminishes the abstract beauty of the film--the way an art expert can ruin the experience of a fascinating painting in a museum.

By an odd coincidence, I had toured the locale for this film only a few months before purchasing it, and I thought the director captured the awesome yet austere nature of western Montana well.

The film is worth seeing just for the scenery and cinematography alone, and it offers many interesting topics for sociological discussions. I have already recommended it to number of my friends who appreciate esoteric films.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 August 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Northfork

Filming Locations:

Augusta, Montana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,900,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$61,481, 13 July 2003

Gross USA:

$1,420,578

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,599,804

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Classics, Romano Shane Productions, Departure Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1