Legacy is the first feature film made by Karen Arthur, a director who subsequently worked primarily in television, directing series such as Cagney & Lacey and Remington Steele before developing into one of the most in-demand directors of TV movies. Legacy is probably Arthur’s least polished work, an outgrowth of a one-woman show developed by its scriptwriter and star Joan Hotchkis. Its theatrical roots are evident, although the intensity of its sexually defined psychological experience can also be seen in such Arthur films as The Mafu Cage and Lady, Beware and a sampling of her made-for-TV movies, which include A Bunny’s Tale, The Rape of Richard Beck, and True Women (which filmed here in Austin). Legacy is a witty portrait of an upper-middle-class woman’s slow disintegration into madness. Hotchkis, who spent four years writing the screenplay and perfecting the role of Elizabeth, has a precision that is matched by Arthur’s directorial style, which displays a unique talent for uncovering the hallucinatory nature of reality. The film unfolds within the spacious confines of Elizabeth’s home, where she is alone and isolated but for the telephone. Ostensibly, the action centers on her preparations for a large dinner party that she is hosting. Her preparations, however, lead her down a path of memories, flashbacks, fantasies, hallucinations, and reflections on body image. The lines between reality and unreality are skillfully perforated, and our ability to distinguish between the two becomes as blurred as Elizabeth’s sensations. Gradually, we become suspicious of all presentations of reality. Made around the same time as A Woman Under the Influence, Legacy explores realms of madness never even approached by the John Cassavetes/Gena Rowlands collaboration. Woman explored society’s reactions to a woman behaving oddly and, ultimately, unacceptably. Legacy focuses on one woman’s reactions to herself and her cultural heritage.
This article appears in June 29 • 2001.
