Evening (2007)

A drama exploring the romantic past and emotional present of Ann Grant and her daughters, Constance and Nina. As Ann lays dying, she remembers, and is moved to convey to her daughters, the defining moments in her life 50 years prior, when she was a young woman. Harris is the man Ann loves in the 1950s and never forgets.

Director:

Lajos Koltai

Writers:

Susan Minot (screenplay), Michael Cunningham (screenplay)

Stars:

Vanessa Redgrave, Toni Collette, Claire Danes

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Claire Danes	...	Ann Grant
Toni Collette	...	Nina Mars
Vanessa Redgrave	...	Ann Lord
Patrick Wilson	...	Harris Arden
Hugh Dancy	...	Buddy Wittenborn
Natasha Richardson	...	Constance Haverford
Mamie Gummer	...	Lila Wittenborn
Eileen Atkins	...	The Night Nurse
Meryl Streep	...	Lila Ross
Glenn Close	...	Mrs. Wittenborn
Ebon Moss-Bachrach	...	Luc
Barry Bostwick	...	Mr. Wittenborn
David Furr	...	Ralph Haverford
Sarah Clements	...	Lizzie Tull (as Sarah Viccellio)
Cheryl Lynn Bowers	...	Peach Howze

Storyline

The love which binds mother and daughter -- seen through the prism of one mother's life as it crests with optimism, navigates a turning point, and ebbs to its close. Overcome by the power of memory, Ann Lord reveals a long-held secret to her concerned daughters; Constance, a content wife and mother, and Nina, a restless single woman. Both are bedside when Ann calls out for the man she loved more than any other. But who is this "Harris," wonder her daughters, and what is he to our mother? While Constance and Nina try to take stock of Ann's life and their own lives, their mother is tended to by a night nurse as she journeys in her mind back to a summer weekend some fifty years before, when she was Ann Grant, a young woman who has come from New York City to be maid of honor at the high-society Newport wedding of her dearest friend from college, Lila Wittenborn. The bride-to-be is jittery, and turns to her maid of honor rather than her own mother for support. Ann stays close to her friend...

---

Plot Keywords:

gay kiss | friend | love | woman | wedding | 

---

Taglines:

Her greatest secret was her greatest gift.

---

Genres:

Drama | Romance

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some thematic elements, sexual material, a brief accident scene and language

Details

Official Sites:

CMC Movie [Taiwan] Focus Features [United States]

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 June 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pasión al atardecer

Filming Locations:

85th St. and West End Avenue, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,501,971, 1 July 2007, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$12,406,646, 29 July 2007

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hart Sharp Entertainment, MBF Erste Filmproduktiongesellschaft, Twins Financing

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Keira Knightley was considered for the role of young Ann Grant Lord, but she was filming her last scenes of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) and finishing the shooting of Atonement (2007).

---

Goofs

Ann points out her star, chosen by Buddy, to Harris as one of the Seven Sisters. The Seven Sisters is the Pleiades, which (in addition to Orion, which is also mentioned) is a winter constellation and could not possibly have been in the sky during the summer, when the wedding took place.

---

Quotes

[from trailer]
Buddy Wittenborn: What if we just sang and laughed together... for the rest of our lives.
Young Ann: It wouldn't work.
Buddy Wittenborn: Not for you...

---

Connections

References Dracula (1931)

---

Soundtracks

I've Got the World On a String
Written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler
Performed by Michael Bublé
Courtesy of Reprise Records
By Arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing

User Reviews

Texture

Saw this Saturday night at the Provincetown Film Festival, and it's a stick-to-your-bones movie -- it's really stayed with me. Adapted very smartly from what is probably an excellent novel, it's a back-and-forth-in-time drama with fully rounded characters, thoughtful rumination on life choices, and, I'm not exaggerating. one of the greatest casts ever assembled in 100+ years of movie-making. Wonderful work from everyone, led by a luminous Vanessa Redgrave as a dying, deluded Newport matron, and Claire Danes as her much younger self. Meryl Streep's daughter Mamie Gummer is, like Mama, the real deal; Patrick Wilson looks like Paul Newman circa 1958 and doesn't overplay the charm; and what a pleasure to see such excellent stage actors as Barry Bostwick and Eileen Atkins contributing sharp, detailed cameos. Hugh Dancy, also from the stage, doesn't bring much edge to the somewhat clichéd role of an unhappy rich wastrel, and the family issues are resolved perhaps more neatly than real life would allow. But it's a deliberately paced, visually gorgeous meditation on real life issues, and you can cry at it and not feel like you're being recklessly manipulated. Also, what a sumptuous parade of 1940s/50s automobiles.