|
How to Make an American Quilt - Movie Review |
|
|
|
|
Book Reviews -
Movie and Music Reviews
|
|
Written by Jennifer Thompson
|
 How
to Make an American Quilt
I finally
saw How
to Make an American Quilt
last night, and I am so glad that I did. When it was first out, I wasn't
interested in seeing it. When I heard that my niece was bringing it
over to watch on video, I was indifferent. But as tears were streaming
down my face at the end of it, I was ever so glad that I'd seen it.
Themes of lost dreams, of staying the individual after joining a couple,
passing on stories from mother to daughter, aunt to niece - they're
all a part of this movie. The movie begins with 26-year-old Finn leaving
her fiancee for three months to return to live with her great-aunt and
grandmother, to finish her Master's thesis and clear her head before
agreeing to go through with her marriage. There's a quilting bee going
on at her great-aunt's house, and there we meet the women of the movie
and one by one hear their stories.
-
Hyacinth and Gladiola - sisters with a history of pain between them
over an affair.
-
Emma
- marrried to an artist because it makes her feel unique, and who
has endured one too many of his affairs.
-
Constance - lost her husband recently and stays true to his memory.
-
Sophia - a young girl with dreams of travel and adventure who winds
up pregnant and a wife.
-
Anna - African American woman who becomes a single mom to a baby of
a white man and shares the story of her family through her quilts.
-
Maria - Annna's daughter who's well-travelled but could never be with
the one man who felt like a soulmate.
One by one,
you find out the stories behind the women as they quilt together on
Finn's wedding quilt, and you see old pains come to light and get resolved
or at least aired. I wasn't overly thrilled with Winona Ryder's character,
but the rest of the women give solid performances. It's a movie that
touches anyone who has ever felt a sense of loss or betrayal, and it
made me yearn for a group of women of my own to share my life stories
with and learn from as well.
This review is available for reprint.
|
