Just saw this movie yesterday. Enjoyed it terribly. Such an unusual cast of characters, living lives so different from mine. Wonderful performances by the leads. Beautifully filmed.
Anyone else see this?
From what I understand, the film somewhat whitewashed the reality, but that didn’t decrease my enjoyment.
I enjoy films like this - that deal with believable humans living believable lives - so much more than the fantasy extravaganzas that seem to dominate theaters.
It’s helpful when you include some information… Maudie.
From IMDB: 1930’s rural Nova Scotia. Maud Dowley, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, smokes heavily to deal with the pain. Because of her unusual gait from the arthritis, she is often mistaken as a stupid, incapable woman, that perception which does make her feel stupid and incapable. That view is held by her surviving family, her brother Charlie and her Aunt Ida with who [sic] she lives… After an action by Charlie, Maud decides to seek some independence, she the only applicant for a posted job as housekeeper for brusque Everett Lewis, a poor fish seller. Despite not wanting to hire a cripple which only adds to their antagonism, Maud negotiates to get the job for room and board. What Maud may or may not be aware is that Everett saw the position ultimately resulting in marriage or at least sexual favors. Their antagonistic relationship ends up including Everett exacting beatings on Maud whenever she doesn’t do what he wants. To keep herself happy, Maud begins to paint the interior of the house with happy pictures and paint similar pictures on small cards, these folk art pictures how she wants to see the world. Maud’s paintings come to the attention of one of Everett’s customers, Sandra, a New York socialite, who ultimately commissions Maud to paint some pictures for her if Maud won’t or can’t sell what she’s already painted. This begins Maud’s possible independence from her violent relationship with Everett, who in turn admits that he may need Maud more than she needs him. In the process, Maud is able to revisit an issue from her past which she believed had long died in a literal sense.
Sorry - I thought the movie’s title in the thread title would be sufficient info. I’m not a big film student/fan, but I had seen a review in the paper when the film was released over the summer.
Um - that excerpt from IMDB is not very indicative of the film I saw. For example, I saw no hint of him expecting marriage or sexual favors at the beginning. In fact, he was very resistant to marriage. And he hit her once, rather than “beatings.”
That IMDB description makes it sound pretty depressing. The 4 of us all laughed repeatedly, and both the main characters grew considerably during the events covered in the movie. Telling is that at one point, a family member observes that the physically impaired Maude, living an impoverished life with a taciturn husband in a tiny shack with no running water or utilities, “Is the only member of our family who ended up happy.”
I found it a very moving portrayal of a very unusual relationship between 2 very unusual people in a time/culture very foreign to what I am familiar with. But despite the “foreignness”, the characters and their actions were very believable.
We saw it at the local theater which, once a month, has films w/ limited release. Suspect it will soon be available on demand. I strongly recommend it. And I wager Sally Hawkins gets an Oscar nom - Possibly Ethan Hawke as well.
Gotta admit I’m somewhat astounded that I’m the only person around here who has seen this. So many of you impress me as so much more into film than I. And this movie didn’t impress me as horribly obscure.
Maybe I’m not really a boring middle-aged suburban guy, but am instead a bohemian artiste! I think I’ll start wearing a beret…
Sally Hawkins will probably get an Oscar nomination but it will be for Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water instead of Maudie. I’ve been a fan for many years and it’s thrilling to me to see her have such a great year. I loved Maudie, it’s such a beautiful movie. It was made even more special to me because, to my complete surprise, a song from one of my favorite artists is used in its entirety in the movie during a montage. The scene is not up on YouTube yet, but this is the song with stills from the film.