Ein amerikanischer Quilt (1995)

Ein amerikanischer Quilt: Directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse. With Kaelynn Craddick, Sara Craddick, Kate Capshaw, Adam Baldwin. Bride-to-be Finn Dodd hears tales of romance and sorrow from her elders as they construct a quilt.

“This adaptation by screenwriter Jane Anderson (novel by Whitney Otto) presents us with a character named Finn Dodd (Ryder), a 26-year old college student who has just gotten engaged to her long-time sweetheart Sam (Mulroney). She begins to realize the many changes that will come about because of her acceptance to his proposal and needs time to think and adjust. She decides to spend three months at her grandma Hyu0026#39;s house in Grasse, CA, which is the center of operations to a longtime quilting bee. During her tenure, she continues working on her masteru0026#39;s thesis (a project of which she continuously changes her topic), all the while listening to the quilting beeu0026#39;s romantic horror stories as they craft Finnu0026#39;s wedding quilt.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003enTo sum it up, `How To Make An American Quiltu0026#39; is the quintessential chick flick awash with many familiar faces including Maya Angelou. The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet stars as Anna, the queen of an eight-member sewing circle consisting of Glady Jo Cleary (Anne Bancroft), Hy Cleary (Ellen Burstyn), her daughter Marianna (Alfre Woodard), Em Reed (Jean Simmons), Constance Saunders (Kate Nelligan) and Sophia Darling (Lois Smith). Anna winds up in the Cleary household at 16 – pregnant, unmarried and helpless. She will dwell there until the birth of her child, meeting Hy and Glady Jo for the first time. Little does she know that these two young women will remain in her life for years afterward, their interest and skill in the art of quilting mounting over the years by Annau0026#39;s guidance.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere is also the story of Hy and Glady Jo themselves and their unspoken bitterness towards each other – we learn that Hy is the reason for Glady Jou0026#39;s `self-expressionu0026#39; all over the walls of the laundry room. Then there is Sophia, an aspiring diver in her adolescence and later an abandoned mother of three; Em, wife to a histrionic artist, suffering his recurrent infidelity; Constance, a decent woman who endures the loss of her nearest and dearest, left with only her precious memories and Marianna, a lover of many but starved for the discovery of her soulmate.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWe find as the film goes on that many instances of infidelity exist in the charactersu0026#39; cluttered histories. Half the women in this movie commit adultery at some point and even Finn falls victim to temptation. Where as once I could not relate, I find myself agreeing with many of Finnu0026#39;s thoughts and opinions on marriage upon becoming engaged – this includes a question in the very beginning that Ryderu0026#39;s voiceover poses to the audience: `How do you merge into this thing called u0026#39;a coupleu0026#39;, and still keep a little room for yourself? How do we even know weu0026#39;re only supposed to be with one person for the rest of our lives?u0026#39; These kinds of questions number in the hundreds of intended couples as they come closer to walking the proverbial aisle. I know that I have had my own reservations about marriage ever since I got engaged and many of my questions will never have an answer – I must trust my heart.and my gut.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ePerformances range in the areas of premium to mediocre. Who comes at the top of my list are screen veterans (and Academy Award winners, natch) Ellen Burstyn and Anne Bancroft. These two never cease to amaze me with how they can turn a character inside out and make it their own. Winona Ryder is so-so (as she is in most of her movies) as Finn but she does manage to touch a few nerves with her dark and luminous eyes – those pretty peepers are half of her dramatic capacity. Alfre Woodard is excellent, giving Marianna a carved edge but a soft core. Kate Nelligan is also wonderful but if you really wanna see her flex those acting chops, take a deep breath of Lila Wingo in `The Prince of Tidesu0026#39;. Dermot Mulroney always seems to play a nice guy that gets taken for granted (The Thing Called Love, My Best Friendu0026#39;s Wedding, Point Of No Return, etc.) and he does it again here – actis repeatus, you might say. Jean Simmons is a little disappointing as Em, the once beautiful and poised actress now only a shadow of herself. Maya Angelou does fine as Anna and some of Gen Xu0026#39;s more popular faces make brief appearances in supporting roles (Claire Danes, Samantha Mathis, Jared Leto and Jonathan Schaech).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis film is a fairly even script-to-screen production and will please many that seek a decent character study. Of course, you canu0026#39;t outdo a detailed and poetic novel or the insightful author who writes it. As long as novelists continue to exist and evolve, filmic adaptations cannot compare (though there are a few exceptions here and there, e.g. Dolores Claiborne). This is not to say that `How To Make An American Quiltu0026#39; isnu0026#39;t enjoyable – itu0026#39;s just not on par with what can be translated through literature. For those who have read Ottou0026#39;s novel, it will earn your rigid criticism.”