Frances
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Movie Reviews of Frances
Movie Review: One of the few masterpieces
Summary: 5 Stars
No other word could possibly describe this film than masterpiece. Almost any adjective would be an understatement, but I will try to describe here in words what is one of the greatest works of art ever created.It is no coincidence that of all the films I have seen, appreciated, and cared to review, only Frances and the 1937 version of Camille starring Greta Garbo share my opinion as being masterpieces. What makes Frances one of the best movies ever made? I could go on and on about Jessica Lange's brilliant, career-defining, tragic portrayal of the misunderstood heroine (which is at the very heart and soul of this film). I could describe in detail the wistful, beautiful, epic score or the powerful cinematography and supporting performances. At the very center of this film, however, is a genius screenplay. Perhaps long, weakly edited, but the lines and quotes - the unforgettable images, tragic love, and beauty conveyed in the words stand alone as a morally edifying, eye-opening, and cathartic work of drama. It was the reinvention, the renaissance of melodrama and it is dazzling.
Lines will linger in your memory forever. Jessica Lange's immortal cry to Harry, "Sometimes I wonder if anybody really loves anybody." Or Lange's biting and true remark to the psychologist who takes away her freedom, "Do you really think you know more about what goes on inside my head than I do?"
Frances was a dreamer at heart...a brilliant nonconformist who paid the price of a society expecting everyone to be the same. She was punished because she was different...because she had a mind and a heart. She no longer had any rights as a person - as an individual.
When Frances attempts to break away from the mold..from the Hollywood lifestyle that was "killing" her inside, her mother interferes and purposely has her committed to an asylum. Her only love - Harry - helps her escape, but by the end of the film we see it is too late for Frances to find happiness. Her life was stolen.
The most emotionally stirring part of the film is when Frances receives the lobotomy. We know she will never be the same dreamer that Harry fell in love with. We know that she will never, in fact, be able to love again, having her emotional and imaginative abilities "flattened" by the procedure. And this is the tragedy and main point of Frances - no one has a right to take away these very basic, natural human freedoms. The right to love. The right to think for oneself and be an individual. As the movie shows, even parents - who are supposed to love unconditionally - may have motives of their own and be responsible for the emotional destruction of their children.
The tragedy lies at the very end. Frances is, more than anything else, a love story. We remember Frances gazing out the small door window of the sanitarium, trying desperately to touch Harry - who we sense she deeply loves. And that is why she refuses to drag him down with her. In her mind, "nobody can screw things up like I can." And she can't let that happen to Harry, too, because he's the only thing that has ever been constant in her unstable life.
When, at the end of the film, it becomes clear that Frances no longer has deep feelings for Harry (due to the lobotomy), we realize that society has taken away her greatest freedom of all--her freedom to love. And at this painful discovery, one can only weep for the tears Frances has inside but will never cry again.
Movie Review: Lange gives an unforgettable performance
Summary: 5 Stars
The film opens with a written narrative that it is based upon the life of Frances Farmer. After doing some research on Farmer and her turbulent life, I found that the film takes many liberties with the troubled actress's life. Most blatantly is the claim towards the film's end that Farmer, who suffered from mental illness most of her adult life, was given a lobotomy. Witness's accounts, family input and medical records have disproved this theory. There are other problems with the script's credibility. Farmer was not an only child and the character of Harry York, who serves as the film's narrator, never existed.
Nevertheless, the film is extremely powerful, well written and directed. At the core of the film is the magnificent performance of Jessica Lange. Probably with a touch of film magic, Lange's facial resemblance to Farmer is almost spooky. Here's a performance of historical proportions. Like Brando in "On the Waterfront", or more recently the late Heath Ledger in "Brokeback Mountain", for me this is one of those quintessential film performances that unfortunately happen infrequently. Lange would have probably won the Oscar for best actress had Meryl Streep made "Sophie's Choice" earlier or later. Also, Lange could have cancelled herself out by the historical nomination of not only best actress for "Frances" but also best supporting actress in "Tootsie". As delightful as she was as the soap opera actress in "Tootsie" for which she won the award that year, as far as I'm concerned, both Streep and Lange could have tied for the best actress prize. Lange is brilliant throughout. Convincing as the teenage Farmer, the adult Farmer and finally the emotionally scared middle aged woman.
In her last film role, Kim Stanley as Frances's possessive mother also gives an amazing performance. Stanley has always been a favorite of mine. I've marveled at her natural technique, that brilliant ability to appear as not acting. She was one of the greatest actresses of her generation.
Sam Sheppard is wonderful as the mythical Harry York who narrates the film. His style is natural and he's almost unbelievably handsome in a very natural way. It's a quiet performance that makes an indelible impression.
John Barry's lush and beautiful score, as well as a piano sonata, underscore the film beautifully. One of the best film scores ever written.
Despite the inaccuracies of the film, which was more or less based upon the just as inaccurate book on Farmer's life "Shadowland", the film is rich with the atmosphere of the 1930's Hollywood and Broadway atmosphere. The art direction of the film stunning.
The difficult subject matter of how mental illness was treated in the middle of the 20th century probably kept popular audiences away from the film. But it became a hit as a video release and just as strong in its laser disk and DVD versions.
Although the film is not an accurate account of it's subject's life, the career and emotional problems Farmer experienced are true and again, Lange's performance is a remarkable achievement.
Movie Review: The Intersection Of Film, Fact, And Genius - Unforgettable
Summary: 5 Stars
At its core, this is a film about what happens when a person defies the system, any system. It is the true story of Frances Farmer, a beautiful, smart, and rebellious movie star of the `30s who seemed to have it all. Because of her many advantages the system took a while catching up to her; maybe that's where the fury and vengeance originated. Payback required more than a pound of flesh, the system wanted her spirit, her intellect, and her soul. The portrayal of psychiatry as practiced in those days is unlike anything you will see anywhere else, it makes Cuckoo's Nest look like a vacation in Tuscany. Indeed, psychiatry in this film is less a healing force than a means of preserving social order and conformity.
Jessica Lange deserved the Oscar for this role, that she didn't get it is a crime. This is a solo masterpiece performance easily on a par with Streep in Sophie's Choice. Lange has the beauty, intelligence, sophistication, and edge to play this complicated woman, and she throws herself into the part fearlessly. From saucy starlet oozing coy charm, to radical intellectual hanging with lefties in NYC, to belligerent scrapper knocking heads with studio moguls, to star-crossed lover inviting disaster and betrayal the way others invite friends over to dinner, to self-destructive victim descending into the darkness of booze and pills, to adult infant manipulated by a fiercely controlling mother, to psychiatric patient - abused for sport and disassembled; Lange shifts through facets like she's driving a Porsche on a country road, you never notice her changing gears, every minute of the ride is thrilling.
The best thing about this film, apart from Lange, is that is shows, it doesn't tell. The viewer is left to interpret without heavy-handed moralizing. The truth of Frances Farmer's life is so fascinating and bizarre that simply bringing it to the screen is more than enough. Few of us have had the experience of being involuntarily committed to a mental hospital - much less lobotomized - but all of us have tried to thwart the system at one point or another and paid for it. Every viewer can applaud Farmer's irreverence and idealism, even when it's naive, and feel sorrow when she must confront the cruel consequences.
This is a dark movie, not all Hollywood lives have happy endings, but it is a true movie. Frances takes you places you have never gone and can barely imagine; Jessica Lange delivers the performance of lifetime - not just her lifetime, anybody's lifetime.
Movie Review: Powerful movie
Summary: 5 Stars
Frances is a powerful movie that tells the story of a very gifted, beautiful and smart actress falling apart as she struggles to fit into the Hollywood mold of her time. It is not quite clear if she is suffering from mental illness of if she is just overwheled with rage and frustration for which she has no outlet, but regardless, like used to happen and still does at times, she enters the world of the psychiatric hospital and gradually looses her freedom, her life and her mind (literally, in the sense that at some point in the movie she is lobotomized). As she endures all of this, we begin to understand that Frances has a very sick mother, that is probably more in need of psychiatric care than her daughter. The mother betrays her over and over, not allowing her to be her true self, denying her true needs and handling her over to the butchers at the psychiatric hospital whenever she feels that Frances may be slipping away from her control.
This is a very sad and at times horrifying story. It may not be Frances Farmer's true story however, as it seems that she may have never had a lobotomy. Also it seems that she had a far bigger problem with alcoholism than was highlighted here. However, this does not detract from the movie, which tells a story that could have been true for many people of that era. Lobotomy and in particular the "icepick" style lobotomy was practiced liberally at the time by a variety of doctors and mental health practitioners, some of which did not even have any kind of surgical experience or license. Lobotomies of this kind , apparently were administered to war veterans struggling to adjust after the traumas they endured. Now they would be dignosed with PTSD and treated accordingly. Eventually lobotomy went out of fashion as it was seen for what it was: a barbaric practice that zombified people by robbing them of their essence, not a cure. I hope the same will be said soon of electroshock treatments, that, believe it or not are still used today. The history of the treatement of severe mental illness is rife with horror. In many ways we are still so very ignorant in these matters.
This is not a movie for the faint of heart. However, it is an important movie in many ways. And Jessica Lange's performance is one of the best female performances I have ever seen. It is worth watching this picture just to see her act. A disturbing yet beautiful and powerful movie.
Movie Review: Disturbing, in every sense
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the most horrifying, heartbreaking stories I have ever seen. There are a lot of reviewers here who contest the authenticity of the storyline, but even if what is depicted is even remotely true, here is a life that no-one deserves.
I don't agree with a lot of what Jessica Lange has to say, current issues, political views and such, but I have tremendous respect for her acting ability. Her portrayal of an unbalanced, threatened, hounded woman, is without peer. In this film, she portrays the film star Frances Farmer, showing a very controversial, headstrong woman, a no-no in the day of Farmer's rise and fall. Attacking a hairdresser, being pulled over by the police, then attacking a police officer, and being convicted of Contempt of Court, yes, she needed to learn a lesson. But people in authority don't like people who make waves.
The story follows her life, so to speak, through some rough times, some happier times, and, what I would call one of the saddest, most frustrating, completely horrifying things to happen to somebody. She's happy, she knows what she wants, and is ready to begin anew, without Hollyweird. The typical stage-mother sees this as a bad idea, and a fight ensues. Since she was stripped of her legal rights as an adult, her mother's decisions count, not hers, and in one of the most vicious things one could do to another person, commits Frances to a mental intstitution a second time. Seeing her sitting there, remembering her life when it was better, in a crowded mental infirmary, surrounded with the dregs of society, drugged, hair chopped off, restrained, tied down and raped, this is an excruciating scene to watch. As with the Ice-Pick Lobotomy. Detractors of this film say this didn't happen to her, but it DOES happen. Or, at the very least, it did happen to people. Like an earlier scene, where the doctors strapped her to a bed, and injected her full of Insulin, telling her it was a tranquilizer. Watching convulsions isn't a pleasant experience, and having one, I can't imagine.
The written narration at the end of the film says, "She died as she lived: Alone."
Yes, this is one brutal film, one that can leave a viewer exhausted, physically, as well as emotionally, and will stay with you for a very long time, knowing how people tend to treat someone who is a little "different."