HOW TO MAKE AN AMERICAN QUILT
A film review by Anthony E. Wright
Copyright 1995 Anthony E. Wright
"Are they re-releasing that documentary on the AIDS quilt?" questioned a friend. Given the title, one might expect that or an art-house needlepoint lesson. But mainstream movie-goers should enjoy this lyrical and entertaining movie about love, sex, and relationships.
The central character Finn spends a summer to write her thesis at her grandmother's house, as a group of older women make her wedding quilt on the theme "Where Love Resides." The characters stitch their feelings about love (and the related themes of sex, men, relationships, children, and commitment) into the quilt, as the audience sees flashbacks from key moments in their lives. Winona Ryder performs admirably as the story's center, but the credit goes to the entire ensemble cast, including Anne Bancroft, Ellen Burstyn, Maya Angelou, Jean Simmons, Lois Smith, Kate Nelligan, and Alfre Woodard.
This could be the quintessential Ryder movie (yes, she narrates yet again in raspy voice-overs), in that she embodies several roles that she has taken before. She plays the generational icon (perhaps even the same character) as in REALITY BITES or even HEATHERS. She perhaps made woman-binding films like this possible with her success in LITTLE WOMEN. And she is the vehicle for a larger allegorical tale, a la EDWARD SCISSORHANDS. Different people may enjoy various aspects of the film, but there enought here for everyone.
Call her a Twentysomething Everywoman. Daughter of divorced hippie parents, Ryder's Finn weighs her recent engagement against her fear of commitment, to a thesis topic, a career, or a man. While she is young, her sensibilities are cautious, and in times it seems the older women are having more fun. Ryder's performance speaks directly to the questions that many of her age group face as they begin the "adult" portion of their lives, dealing with commitment, temptation, and experimentation. She learns from her elders all sorts of conflicting lessons, and while she goes through uniquely 90s twists, we see that most of the issues are universal, for every age and generation.
It's refreshing to see an all-woman cast, and one that is so spunky. Rather than the gentility of LITTLE WOMEN or the cattiness of any soap opera, these women seem to break out of the stereotypes: many of the issues and stories they deal with men will identify with, although this is a clearly a female film. In fact, to make that point, all the male characters are caricatures: the steamy Latin lover that tempts Finn, the flirtatious artist of passion, the one-night dreamboat that becomes a father, the career-focused scientist who loses his love and his family, the faithful husband that makes the one big mistake, and the poetic soulmate who turns out to be married. They are all here, as mirrors for the women to react to.
These are stories of relationships, but it is more than pieced-together vignettes of Meg Ryan movies. The gorgeous California grove landscape, the lush cinematography, and the heavy symbolism--framed by the quilt--uplifts this movie from good to great. These stories do weave together, beautifully, as they also instruct Finn on her life. The overlapping sequences are done well. By the time the symbolism perhaps overreaches with the second appearance of a guiding crow, the audience is lulled into a mystic trance, not unlike being wrapped in a warm quilt with a loved one.
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