+ intro by Grace Barber-Plentie, BFI Festivals Film Programmer
Playing Edna Buxton/Denise Waverly, a songwriter whose career is closely based on that of Carole King, Illeanna Douglas brings such a winningly tipsy verve to her character’s pursuits – from her singing (although dubbed), to the Brill Building hackwork she marks time with – that we can’t help loving them too.
For King, the true-life payoff was her 1971 solo LP Tapestry, which became the best-selling record of the mid-70s. Actually, the girl-groups that King started out writing for have far more hip cachet today than the introspective West Coast singer-songwriter genre, a boom started by King’s massive success. Yet not only is the film titled after Waverly’s equivalent to Tapestry, her LP Grace of My Heart, but this record’s implied artistic triumph gives the movie its closure. That this ending convinces and pleases us is a testament not just to Douglas’ resplendent smile, but to the calm, uncynical breadth of Allison Anders’ generosity towards every warring style within the music industry. For even those inclined to prefer early 60s three-minute symphonies-for-kids (where King began) to the well-heeled mid-70s adult self-regard of a Carly Simon (which King unleashed) are allowed to retain their sense that an artist’s achievement of total control will entail loss as much as gain.
Wim Wenders may once have been Anders’ guru, but now it’s Scorsese, so intelligent about compromise with the Hollywood machine. Better yet, classic Hollywood ‘women’s picture’ melodrama has become Anders’ lode-star in a way not evident in Gas Food Lodging and Mi vida loca. As an examination of the value of creative compromise – and of power, freedom, priorities, support and other feminist concerns – only the director’s own story betters King’s.
Anders has never been the most adept storyteller: characters often stand around spouting back story, and Edna’s need for an unsatisfactory love to be on the rebound from – between Caszatt and Phillips – is dabbed into the plot very awkwardly. Nor has she the slightest interest in giving her male characters more than one dimension. Though great fun while on-screen, John Turturro’s Millner – ostensibly the film’s moral hero, for his understated supportiveness – is little more than a wig, a beard and an accent; Matt Dillon’s Phillips, as an unstable childlike genius, a doomed Brian Wilson figure, seem misconceived from the outset – wised up 90s moviegoers will be willing Edna to stay away from him. But then Anders’ women are all so characterful, smart, and self-sufficient (even Brit-poppet Patsy Kensit acquires a certain depth) that it’s a mystery why they don’t simply make do with one another.
However, the real triumph is how the music is dealt with. When Edna and Cheryl realise that squeaky-clean girl idol Kelly Porter (Bridget Fonda) is not the brainless deb her publicity makes out, but a tormented secret lesbian we’re able to watch her recording ‘My Secret Love’: this is a stunning portrait in subjective emotion – she sings it direct to her lover, who sits out in the mixing booth beside the unwitting (male) producer, who simply (‘objectively’) hears the song as another brilliant but trivial hit aimed at silly teens.
This sets us up for our appropriate double response to Edna’s own performance of her composition ‘God Give Me Strength’. Singing to an audience of one – she’s auditioning for future producer-husband Phillips – with a song that opens up on the miseries of her own recent life (‘I’m only human, I want him, I want him to hurt’), she hunches over in total concentration, rocking clumsily from foot to foot: she has to convince him (and us) professionally, as well as being true to the contradictory feelings she has about events – her unrequited love for the married Murray – that only we have witnessed.
The music, in other words, has to carry a remarkable double burden. Firstly, it’s the soundtrack-to-a-life inner-voice commentary on the events that unfold: this device was first heard when the massive stomp of The Ronettes’ ‘Be My Baby’ kicked Scorsese’s Mean Streets into life. But it also arises out of the experiences and observations of these various bed-sharing songwriter teams: ‘Be My Baby’ was by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, another model for Howard and Denise (the first being Gerry Goffin with King, the third Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil). To reflect this, we have to be in on the apparent creation of songs: existing ones won’t do, with their freight of potentially inappropriate resonance. Which lays a great responsibility on the behind-the-scenes pasticheurs providing these songs – including Goffin, Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello and even Leslie Gore (on whom Kelly Porter may be based).
That these backroom workers don’t disappoint is perhaps the main reason why Grace of My Heart succeeds where many ‘modern’ musicals (from New York, New York to Absolute Beginners) have failed: the different levels of delivery of meaning interact, supporting, extending and critiquing one another. But it’s also down to Anders, who comes up with what she’s best at: scene after scene of lively, funny, unexpected woman-to-woman moments.
Mark Sinker, Sight and Sound, March 1997
SIGHT AND SOUND
Never miss an issue with Sight and Sound, the BFI’s internationally renowned film magazine. Subscribe from just £25*
*Price based on a 6-month print subscription (UK only). More info: sightandsoundsubs.bfi.org.uk
BFI SOUTHBANK
Welcome to the home of great film and TV, with three cinemas and a studio, a world-class library, regular exhibitions and a pioneering Mediatheque with 1000s of free titles for you to explore. Browse special-edition merchandise in the BFI Shop.We're also pleased to offer you a unique new space, the BFI Riverfront – with unrivalled riverside views of Waterloo Bridge and beyond, a delicious seasonal menu, plus a stylish balcony bar for cocktails or special events. Come and enjoy a pre-cinema dinner or a drink on the balcony as the sun goes down.
BECOME A BFI MEMBER
Enjoy a great package of film benefits including priority booking at BFI Southbank and BFI Festivals. Join today at bfi.org.uk/join
BFI PLAYER
We are always open online on BFI Player where you can watch the best new, cult & classic cinema on demand. Showcasing hand-picked landmark British and independent titles, films are available to watch in three distinct ways: Subscription, Rentals & Free to view.
See something different today on player.bfi.org.uk
Join the BFI mailing list for regular programme updates. Not yet registered? Create a new account at www.bfi.org.uk/signup
Programme notes and credits compiled by Sight and Sound and the BFI Documentation Unit
Notes may be edited or abridged
Questions/comments? Contact the Programme Notes team by email