Falling Angels

D: Scott Smith; with Miranda Richardson, Callum Keith Rennie, Katharine Isabelle, Kristin Adams, Monté Gagné

Narrative Feature Special Screenings, U.S. Premiere Canada, 1969. Three teenage girls care for their mother, sick with alcoholism. Their father comes home from his car-sales job every day and immediately inspects their fingernails for cleanliness before he, too, begins drinking. Norma, Lou, and Sandy are as different as they are close: Norma is nurturing and aims to please, Lou is independent to the point of defiance, and Sandy yearns for attention from older men. The Field family from Barbara Gowdy’s eponymous novel is brought to life spectacularly by director Smith (Roller Coaster). Opening on the funeral of mother Mary Field – eerily portrayed by Richardson – Falling Angels turns inward to divulge the events leading up to the destruction of the family core. Bit by bit, family secrets are revealed to finish a puzzle of dysfunction. Yet, despite what obstacles are thrown at them, the young women learn to stand without leaning on anything but each other. A Canadian Ice Storm for tyrant fathers, alcoholic mothers, lesbian daughters, and everyone in between. – Darcie Stevens

This article appears in March 19 • 2004.

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A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, Kimberley has written about film, books, and pop culture for The Austin Chronicle since 2000. She was named Editor of the Chronicle in 2016; she previously served as the paper’s Managing Editor, Screens Editor, Books Editor, and proofreader. Her work has been awarded by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia for excellence in arts criticism, team reporting, and special section (Best of Austin). The Austin Alliance for Women...