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Junebug, Directed by Phil Morrison
Epoch Films, August 5, 2005 (US)
Screenplay: Angus MacLachlan
Starring: Embeth Davidtz, Alessandro Nivola, Celia Weston, Benjamin McKenzie, Amy Adams, Scott Wilson, and Frank Hoyt Taylor
The pictures on the wall cannot begin to tell the story that they were hired to tell. Mere snapshots, as lost in translation as the empty rooms or the dining room table that is arranged just so. The beds are made, adorned with quilts stitched with the love of grandmothers. The carpet is vacuumed and the hallways are silent and empty. Inside of it all, from the ink on the pictures on the walls to the decision to go with a tri-fold on the bathroom towels is where the story unfolds. Laughter and tears, awkward moments, fits of anger, sighs, parting glances. Good morning. The afternoon sun cutting through the kitchen window. A quiet dinner. The gentle sway of the family.
Peg Johnston (Celia Weston): We don’t need some stranger coming in here messin’ things up.
Eugene Johnston (Scott Wilson): She’s not a stranger. She’s family.
We search for trinkets to fill the empty spaces. A vase here, the perfect tablecloth there, the passion that goes into choosing the colors for the walls. And yet, the emptiness of the home itself tells as much of the story as does Sara’s first words or the phone call in the darkest night. The spirit of a family is alive in it all, in every last closed curtain.
Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz): What?
George Johnsten (Alessandro Nivola): It means something.
Madeleine: What?
George: Family.
Grandmothers and grandfathers watch an argument arise over who gets to play Xbox next. The victor of the debate will dictate the decision to play an afternoon game of tennis or to jettison into a frantic car race through Monte Carlo. Brothers exchange a handshake at Christmas. An e-mail from a sister-in-law says hello. As the years pass, the relationships are branches that sprout lives of their own. Some stronger, some weaker. Such is the precious frailty of a family’s heartbeat.
Madeleine: She’s a very strong personality.
George: That’s just her way. She’s not like that inside. She hides herself. Like most.
Just like the home is so much more than an empty set of rooms, so is the invisible spirit of a family. It shines over the seas that separate us.
Ashley Johnsten (Amy Adams): I don’t understand it. You make me feel better about things than anybody else and you don’t even do anything.
The light in the window is a beacon that is always ready to guide you home.
Ashley: It’s funny how you’re gone all the time but you’re always here when I need you. Inn’t that funny?
-G
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