Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt and the Brian De Palma movie ‘Sisters’

My first introduction to Brian De Palma was the movie Scarface (1983), which Matt Lynn Digital holds as quality cinema in this review from October 2020. Moving backwards in time eleven years offers a trippy movie clearly inspired by the mystery thriller movie genre pioneered by Alfred Hitchcock with a clear and gleeful foray into the slasher film yet to come in Hollywood with the movie Sisters (1972).

(Margot Kidder as Danielle Blanchion and Dominique Blanchion and Lisle Wilson as Phillip Woode in the Brian De Palma movie Sisters).

Margot Kidder stars as conjoined twin sisters Danielle and Dominique Blanchion in the independently made, low-budget Sisters. The films opening credits offer shocking images that hint at part of the background of the Blanchion sisters would mean in the telling of the story inspired by facts that only later give the psychological punch that offers the film and reputation De Palma would establish for himself meaning. The disquiet, edgy qualities are central, effective and worth a viewing for this film.

(From left, Jennifer Salt as Grace Collier and Charles Durning as Joseph Larch in the Brian De Palma movie Sisters).

Before getting into the backstory of the Blanchion sisters portrayed by Kidder, we at first are introduced to Phillip Woode, who is portrayed by Lisle Wilson. Woode and Danielle Wilson cross paths through an odd circumstance wherein their backgrounds are unknown to one another with a mutual attraction that offers the opportunity for intimacy. To earn that outcome, however, the two need to act cunningly against the prying eyes that we only later learn belong to Grace Collier and Emil Breton. Jennifer Salt portrayed Collier as William Finley portrayed Breton in the movie.

(From left, William Finley as Emil Breton and Burt Richards as an uncredited Hospital Attendant in the Brian De Palma movie Sisters).

The character of Breton feels like a stalker from the beginning of the movie. While that feeling is relevant, the trippy role he plays in supporting that feeling in the larger narrative that the movie offers definitely holds hope over time. The shocking parts of the movie intersect strongly with the stories we get from Joseph Larch, Arthur McLennen and Detective Kelly.

(From left, Barnard Hughes as Arthur McLennen and Dolph Sweet as Detective Kelly in the Brian De Palma movie Sisters).

Charles Durning portrayed Joseph Larch in Sisters. Barnard Hughes portrays magazine writer Arthur McLennen. Dolph Sweet portrays police Detective Kelly. The mysteries, suspense and slasher thrills of the movie Sisters, with the slasher components being one place where De Palma separates himself from Hitchcock, are told in many ways through the changes in experience for many of the movies characters. This fact, combined with the psychological impact for much of the movie, gives the movie the punch that allows me to bring this movie to you.

(From left, director Brian De Palma and actress Margot Kidder on the set of the Brian De Palma movie Sisters).

The larger cinematic experience and narrative of the movie, along with the exposition for most of the characters, are strengths for the movie. Not everything in the film necessarily ages well, in looking back on the film with contemporary lenses. That the ending felt abrupt to me perhaps was a matter of budget in the making of the film more than a shortcoming of the larger vision of the film. All told, I rate Sisters at 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Saturday, January 16, 2021

Richard Dreyfuss and the film ‘Mr. Holland’s Opus’

Family friendly films of an after school special quality have their place on the big screen. The film Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995) landed in my film queue over the weekend with positive results for my own personal brand of uplifting in the face of drama.

(Glenne Headly as Iris Holland, left, and Richard Dreyfuss as Glenn Holland in Mr. Holland’s Opus).

The film Mr. Holland’s Opus begins with the notion of the Iris and Glenn Holland changing their perspective of married life after having tried to make a go of the husband’s music and composition career. Richard Dreyfuss played the title role of Glenn while Glenne Headly played the role of Iris.

(Richard Dreyfuss as Glenn Holland, left, and Olympia Dukakis as Principal Helen Jacobs in Mr. Holland’s Opus).

At the beginning of the movie, Glenn and Iris plan to be affixed to the newly minted John F. Kennedy High School in Portland, Oregon for a not too long period. The couple questions the wisdom of the decision, made initially for financial stability, when Glenn runs into initial resistance from Principal Helen Jacobs (played by Olympia Dukakis) and vice principal Gene Wolters (played by William H. Macy), who resent Holland while questioning the value and importance of music education given the school’s strained budget.

(Jay Thomas as Bill Meister, left, and Richard Dreyfuss as Glenn Holland in Mr. Holland’s Opus).

Along comes an epiphany for Mr. Holland, after some well-placed pressure by Jacobs and an insight on how to reach the students. Football coach Bill Meister, played by Jay Thomas, joins with Principal Jacobs in cutting Glenn Holland slack in reaching students in the appreciation of music by incorporating fun into the curriculum. In the mid 1960s, that translated to reaching students through Rock & Roll, Rhythm and Blues, and whatever else will get students to appreciate music. Vice Principal Wolters was less impressed.

(Richard Dreyfuss as Glenn Holland, left, and Terrence Howard as Louis Russ in Mr. Holland’s Opus).

Somewhere about this time, student Louis Russ (played by Terrence Howard) needed a hand getting academic credit in order to wrestle during the winter sports season. Holland agreed to help Russ in exchange for help from Meister with getting the marching band that Holland agreed to take over in marching order. This led to a positive impact for Russ, Holland and Meister while revealing that the relatively new addition to the Holland family, Cole Holland, was severely hard of hearing.

(Richard Dreyfuss as Glenn Holland, left, and Joseph Anderson as Cole Holland in Mr. Holland’s Opus).

As a fresh storyline emerges from the irony of an avid lover of music having overcome the means of reaching his students through music now having the difficulty of reaching his own son. Iris struggles with reaching Cole, too. The financial stress of getting Cole the help he needs to learn tugs upon the couple, in addition to the title character’s desire to compose. Meanwhile, Glenn helps student Gertrude Lang (played by Alicia Witt) connect emotionally with music in a way that adds appreciation and joy for music in a way it hadn’t until the two unlocked that reason why.

(Richard Dreyfuss as Glenn Holland, left, and Alicia Witt as Gertrude Lang in Mr. Holland’s Opus).

The pull of composition, the pull of students, and the effort to keep music in John F. Kennedy High School begins to cause tension at home for the Holland family. Glenn and Iris feel the death of John Lennon keenly, which becomes an emotional rupture between Glenn and Cole for the two have struggled to connect on the level of the passion Glenn feels for something Cole cannot appreciate in the manner many do. An artful solution presents itself, as does what looks like a potentially inappropriate relationship between teacher (Glenn Holland) and student Rowena Morgan. Jean Louisa Kelly played Rowena Morgan. This test gets graded through the course of the movie, as ultimately does the career of Glenn Holland, the perspective of recognition through music composition, and the investment made in relationships and family.

(Jean Louisa Kelly as Rowena Morgan, left, and Richard Dreyfuss as Glenn Holland in Mr. Holland’s Opus).

The film Mr. Holland’s Opus repeatedly asked what the value of music education is within the school curriculum. The further question is what does it mean to be a fully formed human being, which we see in the characters of Glenn Holland, Iris Holland, Cole Holland, Gertrude Lang, Louis Russ, Stadler (as played by Balthazar Getty), Rowena Morgan, and even John F. Kennedy High School staff members Bill Meister, Principal Helen Jacobs and vice principal Gene Wolters. The message of Mr. Holland’s Opus becomes the value of that investing fully in people. That music, teaching and family are celebrated, too, has its clear merit. I rate Mr. Holland’s Opus at 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Wednesday, March 11, 2020