Felicia's Journey
Starring:Hoskins, Cassidy
Studio: Lions Gate
Product Type: DVD
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Like Hitchcock, Atom Egoyan envisions family life as a potential hotbed of literal or figurative violence and incest. In Felicia's Journey, Egoyan's adaptation of William Trevor's shattering novel, one dreads to imagine what TV-cook mom (Arsinée Khanjian) did to so damage her pudgy son that grown- up Hilditch (Bob Hoskins) still prepares meals in perfect unison with faded videotapes of her show--and, as we eventually discover, often takes more sinister trips down Memory Lane. Distant kin to Psycho's Tony Perkins, Hoskins's troll is so obsessive, so traumatized, his every short-armed, fat-handed gesture and sing-song utterance is precisely calculated to keep reality safely buried.
Egoyan's movies often seem located underwater, in some surreal dreamscape where one's breath is perpetually suspended while a slow horror seeps ever deeper under the skin. Helpless, transfixed, one watches as his characters drive inexorably toward mined intersections where lives and souls may be lost or redeemed. When Hilditch's path crosses, diverges from, and finally coincides with that of young, pregnant Felicia (Elaine Cassidy)--an Irish innocent searching for her errant boyfriend--it leads to terrible epiphany for these fellow travelers. Trouble is, creepy Hilditch and too-naive Felicia come up a bit short in the psychological complexity department, so by film's end, revelatory payoffs are mostly penny ante. Felica's Journey tours familiar Egoyan territory--an industrialized wasteland full of hungry hearts--but this latest fairy tale (think perverse variations on Hansel and Gretel) isn't in the same league with such "family values" masterpieces as Exotica or The Sweet Hereafter. --Kathleen Murphy
Average customer rating:
- Dinner with a Serial Killer
- A JOURNEY TO REMEMBER...
- Theater, Film & Music
- An ugly secret is behind the door!
- Purity itself can surely wash the pain away.
|
Felicia's Journey
Starring: Brid Brennan , Bob Hoskins , Arsinée Khanjian , Gerard McSorley , and Elaine Cassidy
Director: Atom Egoyan
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Similar Items:
- The Sweet Hereafter (New Line Platinum Series)
- The Adjuster
- Exotica
- Ararat
- Where the Truth Lies (Unrated Theatrical Edition)
ASIN: B00003CWQ0
Release Date: 2001-02-20 |
Amazon.com
Like Hitchcock, Atom Egoyan envisions family life as a potential hotbed of literal or figurative violence and incest. In Felicia's Journey, Egoyan's adaptation of William Trevor's shattering novel, one dreads to imagine what TV-cook mom (Arsinée Khanjian) did to so damage her pudgy son that grown- up Hilditch (Bob Hoskins) still prepares meals in perfect unison with faded videotapes of her show--and, as we eventually discover, often takes more sinister trips down Memory Lane. Distant kin to Psycho's Tony Perkins, Hoskins's troll is so obsessive, so traumatized, his every short-armed, fat-handed gesture and sing-song utterance is precisely calculated to keep reality safely buried.
Egoyan's movies often seem located underwater, in some surreal dreamscape where one's breath is perpetually suspended while a slow horror seeps ever deeper under the skin. Helpless, transfixed, one watches as his characters drive inexorably toward mined intersections where lives and souls may be lost or redeemed. When Hilditch's path crosses, diverges from, and finally coincides with that of young, pregnant Felicia (Elaine Cassidy)--an Irish innocent searching for her errant boyfriend--it leads to terrible epiphany for these fellow travelers. Trouble is, creepy Hilditch and too-naive Felicia come up a bit short in the psychological complexity department, so by film's end, revelatory payoffs are mostly penny ante. Felica's Journey tours familiar Egoyan territory--an industrialized wasteland full of hungry hearts--but this latest fairy tale (think perverse variations on Hansel and Gretel) isn't in the same league with such "family values" masterpieces as Exotica or The Sweet Hereafter. --Kathleen Murphy
Customer Reviews:
Dinner with a Serial Killer.......2005-11-13
This is a movie in the Hitchcock style, this time without gore, but with subtle terror.
Some of the scenes are homages to the master, but this does not detract from their effectiveness. (I'm thinking of glass of milk carried up the stairs in Suspicion.)
The movie is suspenseful, and scary as mild-mannered catering supervisor Hilditch befriends the lost traveller Felicia as she struggles to find her missing boyfriend. On the surface, Mr. Hilditch seems so nice, but as his little hobby is gradually revealed, even the calmest scenes are quite terrifying.
Hilditch has grown up under the suffocating wing of his famous TV chef mother. Apparently, like the mother-son bonding in Psycho, the results of this "nurturing" can be deadly.
The leads are played by Bob Hoskins -- what a great actor -- and Elaine Cassidy, a young actress who makes the incredibly naive Felicia come alive. The movie is from a novel by William Trevor.
This is a troubling film, filmed in wide-open industrial spaces that emphasize how alone and weak Felicia is. The only place of comfort is the serial killer's cozy homestead.
This is not a Psycho-style shrieker, but it is a work of quiet horror. "Have a cup of tea, my dear?"
If you liked this, see Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter.
A JOURNEY TO REMEMBER..........2005-08-11
This film adaptation of William Trevor's novel of psychological suspense, for which its author was the recipient of the 1994 Whitbread Award, is one that those who read the book should see, as well as those who like unusual films of psychological suspense. After reading the book, I became curious as to how a film adaptation would work, as so much of the book involves the introspections of two people whose lives interconnect. Despite some of its shortcomings, it is definitely a film worth seeing, if only for Bob Hoskins brilliant performance.
Felicia is a seventeen year old motherless and naive Irish girl, who has become intimate with an Irish boy named Johnny. Of course, the expected ensues, and after Johnny has left Ireland and returned to England where he ostensibly works, Felicia is left holding the bag. Her disapproving father suspects Johnny of actually being in the British Army and, thus, a traitor to his own. He also has a few choice words for his daughter, now that she is in the family way, and none of it is flattering. So, Felicia leaves her rural village and her family and goes off in search of Johnny, having nothing more than the vaguest of ideas where he might be.
She crosses the Irish Sea and arrives in the English Midlands in the industrial city of Birmingham, as she believes Johnny to be working in a lawn mower factory there. In her search for Johnny, she runs into the portly catering manager for one of the local factories. His name is Joseph Ambrose Hilditch, and he is outwardly a jovial and agreeable man, well-liked by his co-workers and meticulous about his culinary repasts. He lives in solitary splendor in the large house in which he grew up. There, he concocts lavish gourmet meals, while watching tapes of his deceased mother's television show, as she was a chef of some renown. Obviously, he was quite close to his mother, and he still misses her. The house is cluttered with collectibles but is well-kept, although decorated in the style of a bygone era. Mr. Hilditch is, indeed, a collector, but his collection is initially far beyond Felicia's imaginings. In fact, Mr. Hilditch has a darker side to him, which is not immediately discernible by the unwary.
When Felicia first meets Mr. Hilditch, it is to ask for information in connection with her fool's errand, but something about her catches Mr. Hilditch's fancy, and he finds himself keeping Felicia in his crosshairs. When Felicia seemingly unexpectedly runs into Mr. Hilditch again, he directs her to lodgings, and so it begins. As Mr. Hilditch insinuates himself ever so slowly into her life, weaving a fantasy about his own life that is sure to put her mind at ease about him. Felicia begins finding herself ensnared by this ostensibly kind and ever so helpful, avuncular man, and she initially fails to see the darkness that lies at the core of his being. The viewer, however, is given sneak peaks into some of his peculiarities and deceits.
Bob Hoskins is magnificent in the role of Mr. Hilditch, infusing the character with an avuncular charm that sits as a thin veneer over the cauldron of seething emotion within, emotions that cause Mr. Hilditch to act in ways most others would not. The viewer sees what Felicia fails to see, until it is almost too late, the duplicity and cunning that is masked by his overt geniality and seeming kindness. Like a spider to the fly, our teddy bearish Mr. Hilditch begins laying his trap, and so Felicia's journey thrusts her into the belly of the beast. Newcomer, Eileen Cassidy is quite good as Felicia, playing her with a naiveté that is central to the character. Unlike the character of Mr. Hilditch, who physically stays true to the Mr. Hilditch of the book, the Felicia of the film differs physically. Instead of a pail, puling, nun like blonde, the viewer is presented with a robust looking, fresh-faced brunette.
The cinematography is excellent, and the interior of Mr. Hilditch's home is magnificent, as it evokes another era, miring Mr. Hilditch in happier times while at home. The musical soundtrack is used to good effect to maintain that evocation. The director, Atom Egoyan, who also wrote the screenplay, does a fairly good job of adapting the book to the screen, given some of the constraints inherent in the book. Where the film fails somewhat is in the exploration of the darker corners of the human psyche, although he maintains the cat and mouse game that is central to the story. While the mind of Mr. Hilditch is dark, indeed, unlike the book, there are no unspeakable revelations in the film as to what lies at the heart of his predilection. What the director substitutes does not really satisfy the viewer as to why Mr. Hilditch does what he does.
The film, however, manages to show how each of these two flawed human beings were initially able to achieve a connection with another, only to find ostensible betrayal. What is decidedly different is the way that they each cope with that betrayal. Moreover, the book has no happily-ever-after ending to its story, which culminates with a conclusion that is quite bleak, robbing the reader of some satisfaction. The film's conclusion differs from that of the book, and while less bleak, is also somewhat unsatisfactory but, perhaps, only so to those who may have already read the book. As in the book, the journey that Felicia makes is larger in scope than merely a trip across the Irish Sea.
Theater, Film & Music.......2005-07-26
Like "Exotica," Felicia's Journey focuses on impossible dreams, but murders we never see are the reality in the background. Wonderful music links what will never be with what we do not want to know. Lost girl (Elaine Cassidy) receives lots of help from too-lonely professional(Bob Hoskins),who turns out to be a serial killer. His victims come to life in one-minute video clips - a great theater mask - you know they're already dead. "Rest in Peace" sung in Gaelic by Kate Crossan during the final credits is a gorgeous emotional reconciliation.
An ugly secret is behind the door!.......2005-03-31
This is a low-key psychological thriller about a relationship between a hunger of love young woman with an older man that maintains two well definite profiles. So this ambigous character will spark the screen.
Felicia is simple woman who is pregnant, a fact that she will keep secret from her family as well Johnny, her boyfriend. So after a long and unhappy search, she will go to Birmingham to intend rebuild a new life. But the mysterious and enigmatic presence of Hildtich will seem to fit perfectly for her hopes and illusions.
The loneliness and the double moral will meet in this crossroad emotional picture. As you know, Hoskins is one the top actors in the world and this role comes to him as ring to finger.
Atom Egoyan a first class director has built a very intersting film without any fissure. This work deserved the prize as Best Canadian Film in 1999 so consider this factor as another positive point.
Recommended without any reserve!
Purity itself can surely wash the pain away. .......2005-03-17
Felicia's Journey was one of those films that I loved, then hated, then liked, then thought was decent. It was a difficult film to watch because the pacing that Egoyan has implemented is unlike any other film that I have seen. His use of the camera to create that uneasy sensation on screen and while watching the film was very impressive. Hoskins gives the performance of his career as this very controlled man with a very dark secret while Elaine Cassidy impressed me with her simplistic portrayal of Felicia. This was a brilliant film, but there were just some scenes and elements that didn't seem to match the rest of the film. The ending in particular was a bit misleading and at times rushed, but everything building up to that point really hit a strong nerve. If you were to define the word "thriller", I don't think that you could do it without mentioning this film. Brilliant acting, an interesting use of direction (which worked very well), and a story that allowed itself to be build upon during each scene are just a few of the great moments (that overshadow the poor) in this movie.
Felicia's Journey would not have been the powerhouse that it was if it was not for the powerful acting by Bob Hoskins who completely engulfed this character and showed us this rare glimpse of evil humanity. While I am sure that some of it is due in part by Egoyan's direction, but you cannot keep your eyes off Hoskins whenever he is on the screen. He builds his character so well, and bit by bit, that you never can anticipate what will he will say or do next. That is what is brilliant about Hoskins. Normally, when you have a troubled soul like Hilditch you can sometimes guess what he is going to do next. Actors sometimes fall into a pattern of repetition, but with Hoskins it was as if we were watching the final chapter and there were bigger events taking place. He also worked so well with Cassidy that at times I had forgotten that I was watching a film. His ability to be this sinister father figure to this girl was impressive. Hoskins really built this beautiful family dynamic to the film that I never saw coming. Outstanding performances by both that any film connoisseurs should not miss.
Taped onto the vintage acting is this deeply engrossing story that pours from the bottle like some freshly corked wine. The simplicity of the story allows the complexity of the characters emerge and be triumphant. The story gives our characters layers upon which we gradually peel away. Hoskins character especially. From the opening scene until the final, I felt as if I was given the whole course, and not just bits and pieces. While Felicia's name does take the title of this film, it is Hoskins whom this story is really about. We learn more about his life, and his struggles than we do with Felicia. Yet, the story does not stop there. I found it quite interesting that Felicia father caused her conflict, while a matriarchal figure challenged Hilditch's perception. I thought that Egoyan was really trying to do more than tell a serial killer story (as the box may reveal) by giving us these strange and strangled family moments. I felt as if this was more a story about family, then it was about the horrors of humanity ... or perhaps it was a slice of both. Either way, the story is the foundation to this picture, and for the first time it really worked. So many times we go to the theater expecting to be blown away by a creative and empowering story, but this time it was a polar opposite. The acting is what kept this film high above water, while the story (as simple as it was) only helped build Hoskins and Cassidy further into the world of impressiveness.
Finally, there was Egoyan behind the camera doing what he does best. I have seen only one of his other films, Exotica, and he is notorious for building the suspense from behind the camera as well as in front. His choice of panning in the wrong direction, the colors surrounding our characters and the sound of the film hit our nerves before any actors even walk into the picture. This is all coming from Egoyan's mind, which continues to impress me with each film that I view. I cannot wait to see more of his work and to see how well he has developed with each project. You can definitely see the Hitchcock influence that has been imprinted with Egoyan. I finished watching Frenzy (by Hitchcock) right after this film and the similarities were uncanny. Egoyan reminds me of a cross between Hitchcock and von Trier. His bold style makes each film his own, yet he is not afraid to be brutally honest and attributive to the cultural setting. He is a true filmmaker that needs to continue to prove that you don't need millions to create a masterpiece.
While I have given credit to everyone, and thing, that deserves it in this film, I must finish this review by saying that this film was not perfection on a stick, but very close. There were some unfinished ends that could have been tied better, and the ending just felt as if there was this outside influence at work that Egoyan was battling. Up until the final twenty minutes of this film, I was thoroughly enjoying what I was seeing, but when the idea of religion was brought in from left field, I felt the final moments were rushed and forced. I needed something just as dramatic, just not so random. Also, I needed some form of conclusion to Felicia's actual "journey". Did she find what she was looking for?
Overall, I was very impressed with this film.
Grade: **** out of *****
Average customer rating:
- Dinner with a Serial Killer
- A JOURNEY TO REMEMBER...
- Theater, Film & Music
- An ugly secret is behind the door!
- Purity itself can surely wash the pain away.
|
Felicia's Journey
Starring: Bob Hoskins , Arsinée Khanjian , Elaine Cassidy , Sheila Reid , and Nizwar Karanj
Director: Atom Egoyan
ProductGroup: DVD
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Similar Items:
- The Sweet Hereafter (New Line Platinum Series)
- The Adjuster
- Exotica
- Ararat
- Where the Truth Lies (Unrated Theatrical Edition)
ASIN: B000065K3Q |
Amazon.com
Like Hitchcock, Atom Egoyan envisions family life as a potential hotbed of literal or figurative violence and incest. In Felicia's Journey, Egoyan's adaptation of William Trevor's shattering novel, one dreads to imagine what TV-cook mom (Arsinée Khanjian) did to so damage her pudgy son that grown- up Hilditch (Bob Hoskins) still prepares meals in perfect unison with faded videotapes of her show--and, as we eventually discover, often takes more sinister trips down Memory Lane. Distant kin to Psycho's Tony Perkins, Hoskins's troll is so obsessive, so traumatized, his every short-armed, fat-handed gesture and sing-song utterance is precisely calculated to keep reality safely buried.
Egoyan's movies often seem located underwater, in some surreal dreamscape where one's breath is perpetually suspended while a slow horror seeps ever deeper under the skin. Helpless, transfixed, one watches as his characters drive inexorably toward mined intersections where lives and souls may be lost or redeemed. When Hilditch's path crosses, diverges from, and finally coincides with that of young, pregnant Felicia (Elaine Cassidy)--an Irish innocent searching for her errant boyfriend--it leads to terrible epiphany for these fellow travelers. Trouble is, creepy Hilditch and too-naive Felicia come up a bit short in the psychological complexity department, so by film's end, revelatory payoffs are mostly penny ante. Felica's Journey tours familiar Egoyan territory--an industrialized wasteland full of hungry hearts--but this latest fairy tale (think perverse variations on Hansel and Gretel) isn't in the same league with such "family values" masterpieces as Exotica or The Sweet Hereafter. --Kathleen Murphy
Customer Reviews:
Dinner with a Serial Killer.......2005-11-13
This is a movie in the Hitchcock style, this time without gore, but with subtle terror.
Some of the scenes are homages to the master, but this does not detract from their effectiveness. (I'm thinking of glass of milk carried up the stairs in Suspicion.)
The movie is suspenseful, and scary as mild-mannered catering supervisor Hilditch befriends the lost traveller Felicia as she struggles to find her missing boyfriend. On the surface, Mr. Hilditch seems so nice, but as his little hobby is gradually revealed, even the calmest scenes are quite terrifying.
Hilditch has grown up under the suffocating wing of his famous TV chef mother. Apparently, like the mother-son bonding in Psycho, the results of this "nurturing" can be deadly.
The leads are played by Bob Hoskins -- what a great actor -- and Elaine Cassidy, a young actress who makes the incredibly naive Felicia come alive. The movie is from a novel by William Trevor.
This is a troubling film, filmed in wide-open industrial spaces that emphasize how alone and weak Felicia is. The only place of comfort is the serial killer's cozy homestead.
This is not a Psycho-style shrieker, but it is a work of quiet horror. "Have a cup of tea, my dear?"
If you liked this, see Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter.
A JOURNEY TO REMEMBER..........2005-08-11
This film adaptation of William Trevor's novel of psychological suspense, for which its author was the recipient of the 1994 Whitbread Award, is one that those who read the book should see, as well as those who like unusual films of psychological suspense. After reading the book, I became curious as to how a film adaptation would work, as so much of the book involves the introspections of two people whose lives interconnect. Despite some of its shortcomings, it is definitely a film worth seeing, if only for Bob Hoskins brilliant performance.
Felicia is a seventeen year old motherless and naive Irish girl, who has become intimate with an Irish boy named Johnny. Of course, the expected ensues, and after Johnny has left Ireland and returned to England where he ostensibly works, Felicia is left holding the bag. Her disapproving father suspects Johnny of actually being in the British Army and, thus, a traitor to his own. He also has a few choice words for his daughter, now that she is in the family way, and none of it is flattering. So, Felicia leaves her rural village and her family and goes off in search of Johnny, having nothing more than the vaguest of ideas where he might be.
She crosses the Irish Sea and arrives in the English Midlands in the industrial city of Birmingham, as she believes Johnny to be working in a lawn mower factory there. In her search for Johnny, she runs into the portly catering manager for one of the local factories. His name is Joseph Ambrose Hilditch, and he is outwardly a jovial and agreeable man, well-liked by his co-workers and meticulous about his culinary repasts. He lives in solitary splendor in the large house in which he grew up. There, he concocts lavish gourmet meals, while watching tapes of his deceased mother's television show, as she was a chef of some renown. Obviously, he was quite close to his mother, and he still misses her. The house is cluttered with collectibles but is well-kept, although decorated in the style of a bygone era. Mr. Hilditch is, indeed, a collector, but his collection is initially far beyond Felicia's imaginings. In fact, Mr. Hilditch has a darker side to him, which is not immediately discernible by the unwary.
When Felicia first meets Mr. Hilditch, it is to ask for information in connection with her fool's errand, but something about her catches Mr. Hilditch's fancy, and he finds himself keeping Felicia in his crosshairs. When Felicia seemingly unexpectedly runs into Mr. Hilditch again, he directs her to lodgings, and so it begins. As Mr. Hilditch insinuates himself ever so slowly into her life, weaving a fantasy about his own life that is sure to put her mind at ease about him. Felicia begins finding herself ensnared by this ostensibly kind and ever so helpful, avuncular man, and she initially fails to see the darkness that lies at the core of his being. The viewer, however, is given sneak peaks into some of his peculiarities and deceits.
Bob Hoskins is magnificent in the role of Mr. Hilditch, infusing the character with an avuncular charm that sits as a thin veneer over the cauldron of seething emotion within, emotions that cause Mr. Hilditch to act in ways most others would not. The viewer sees what Felicia fails to see, until it is almost too late, the duplicity and cunning that is masked by his overt geniality and seeming kindness. Like a spider to the fly, our teddy bearish Mr. Hilditch begins laying his trap, and so Felicia's journey thrusts her into the belly of the beast. Newcomer, Eileen Cassidy is quite good as Felicia, playing her with a naiveté that is central to the character. Unlike the character of Mr. Hilditch, who physically stays true to the Mr. Hilditch of the book, the Felicia of the film differs physically. Instead of a pail, puling, nun like blonde, the viewer is presented with a robust looking, fresh-faced brunette.
The cinematography is excellent, and the interior of Mr. Hilditch's home is magnificent, as it evokes another era, miring Mr. Hilditch in happier times while at home. The musical soundtrack is used to good effect to maintain that evocation. The director, Atom Egoyan, who also wrote the screenplay, does a fairly good job of adapting the book to the screen, given some of the constraints inherent in the book. Where the film fails somewhat is in the exploration of the darker corners of the human psyche, although he maintains the cat and mouse game that is central to the story. While the mind of Mr. Hilditch is dark, indeed, unlike the book, there are no unspeakable revelations in the film as to what lies at the heart of his predilection. What the director substitutes does not really satisfy the viewer as to why Mr. Hilditch does what he does.
The film, however, manages to show how each of these two flawed human beings were initially able to achieve a connection with another, only to find ostensible betrayal. What is decidedly different is the way that they each cope with that betrayal. Moreover, the book has no happily-ever-after ending to its story, which culminates with a conclusion that is quite bleak, robbing the reader of some satisfaction. The film's conclusion differs from that of the book, and while less bleak, is also somewhat unsatisfactory but, perhaps, only so to those who may have already read the book. As in the book, the journey that Felicia makes is larger in scope than merely a trip across the Irish Sea.
Theater, Film & Music.......2005-07-26
Like "Exotica," Felicia's Journey focuses on impossible dreams, but murders we never see are the reality in the background. Wonderful music links what will never be with what we do not want to know. Lost girl (Elaine Cassidy) receives lots of help from too-lonely professional(Bob Hoskins),who turns out to be a serial killer. His victims come to life in one-minute video clips - a great theater mask - you know they're already dead. "Rest in Peace" sung in Gaelic by Kate Crossan during the final credits is a gorgeous emotional reconciliation.
An ugly secret is behind the door!.......2005-03-31
This is a low-key psychological thriller about a relationship between a hunger of love young woman with an older man that maintains two well definite profiles. So this ambigous character will spark the screen.
Felicia is simple woman who is pregnant, a fact that she will keep secret from her family as well Johnny, her boyfriend. So after a long and unhappy search, she will go to Birmingham to intend rebuild a new life. But the mysterious and enigmatic presence of Hildtich will seem to fit perfectly for her hopes and illusions.
The loneliness and the double moral will meet in this crossroad emotional picture. As you know, Hoskins is one the top actors in the world and this role comes to him as ring to finger.
Atom Egoyan a first class director has built a very intersting film without any fissure. This work deserved the prize as Best Canadian Film in 1999 so consider this factor as another positive point.
Recommended without any reserve!
Purity itself can surely wash the pain away. .......2005-03-17
Felicia's Journey was one of those films that I loved, then hated, then liked, then thought was decent. It was a difficult film to watch because the pacing that Egoyan has implemented is unlike any other film that I have seen. His use of the camera to create that uneasy sensation on screen and while watching the film was very impressive. Hoskins gives the performance of his career as this very controlled man with a very dark secret while Elaine Cassidy impressed me with her simplistic portrayal of Felicia. This was a brilliant film, but there were just some scenes and elements that didn't seem to match the rest of the film. The ending in particular was a bit misleading and at times rushed, but everything building up to that point really hit a strong nerve. If you were to define the word "thriller", I don't think that you could do it without mentioning this film. Brilliant acting, an interesting use of direction (which worked very well), and a story that allowed itself to be build upon during each scene are just a few of the great moments (that overshadow the poor) in this movie.
Felicia's Journey would not have been the powerhouse that it was if it was not for the powerful acting by Bob Hoskins who completely engulfed this character and showed us this rare glimpse of evil humanity. While I am sure that some of it is due in part by Egoyan's direction, but you cannot keep your eyes off Hoskins whenever he is on the screen. He builds his character so well, and bit by bit, that you never can anticipate what will he will say or do next. That is what is brilliant about Hoskins. Normally, when you have a troubled soul like Hilditch you can sometimes guess what he is going to do next. Actors sometimes fall into a pattern of repetition, but with Hoskins it was as if we were watching the final chapter and there were bigger events taking place. He also worked so well with Cassidy that at times I had forgotten that I was watching a film. His ability to be this sinister father figure to this girl was impressive. Hoskins really built this beautiful family dynamic to the film that I never saw coming. Outstanding performances by both that any film connoisseurs should not miss.
Taped onto the vintage acting is this deeply engrossing story that pours from the bottle like some freshly corked wine. The simplicity of the story allows the complexity of the characters emerge and be triumphant. The story gives our characters layers upon which we gradually peel away. Hoskins character especially. From the opening scene until the final, I felt as if I was given the whole course, and not just bits and pieces. While Felicia's name does take the title of this film, it is Hoskins whom this story is really about. We learn more about his life, and his struggles than we do with Felicia. Yet, the story does not stop there. I found it quite interesting that Felicia father caused her conflict, while a matriarchal figure challenged Hilditch's perception. I thought that Egoyan was really trying to do more than tell a serial killer story (as the box may reveal) by giving us these strange and strangled family moments. I felt as if this was more a story about family, then it was about the horrors of humanity ... or perhaps it was a slice of both. Either way, the story is the foundation to this picture, and for the first time it really worked. So many times we go to the theater expecting to be blown away by a creative and empowering story, but this time it was a polar opposite. The acting is what kept this film high above water, while the story (as simple as it was) only helped build Hoskins and Cassidy further into the world of impressiveness.
Finally, there was Egoyan behind the camera doing what he does best. I have seen only one of his other films, Exotica, and he is notorious for building the suspense from behind the camera as well as in front. His choice of panning in the wrong direction, the colors surrounding our characters and the sound of the film hit our nerves before any actors even walk into the picture. This is all coming from Egoyan's mind, which continues to impress me with each film that I view. I cannot wait to see more of his work and to see how well he has developed with each project. You can definitely see the Hitchcock influence that has been imprinted with Egoyan. I finished watching Frenzy (by Hitchcock) right after this film and the similarities were uncanny. Egoyan reminds me of a cross between Hitchcock and von Trier. His bold style makes each film his own, yet he is not afraid to be brutally honest and attributive to the cultural setting. He is a true filmmaker that needs to continue to prove that you don't need millions to create a masterpiece.
While I have given credit to everyone, and thing, that deserves it in this film, I must finish this review by saying that this film was not perfection on a stick, but very close. There were some unfinished ends that could have been tied better, and the ending just felt as if there was this outside influence at work that Egoyan was battling. Up until the final twenty minutes of this film, I was thoroughly enjoying what I was seeing, but when the idea of religion was brought in from left field, I felt the final moments were rushed and forced. I needed something just as dramatic, just not so random. Also, I needed some form of conclusion to Felicia's actual "journey". Did she find what she was looking for?
Overall, I was very impressed with this film.
Grade: **** out of *****
![Felicia's Journey [Region 2]](http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/418YWGZKEEL.gif)
Average customer rating:
- Dinner with a Serial Killer
- A JOURNEY TO REMEMBER...
- Theater, Film & Music
- An ugly secret is behind the door!
- Purity itself can surely wash the pain away.
|
Felicia's Journey [Region 2]
Starring: Bob Hoskins , Arsinée Khanjian , Elaine Cassidy , Sheila Reid , and Nizwar Karanj
Director: Atom Egoyan
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD
Thrillers
| Mystery & Suspense
| Genres
| DVD
| Video
Brennan, Brid
| ( B )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Hoskins, Bob
| ( H )
| Actors & Actresses
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| DVD
| Video
McGovern, Barry
| ( M )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
McSorley, Gerard
| ( M )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Reid, Sheila
| ( R )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Voe, Sandra
| ( V )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Yassine, Ali
| ( Y )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Egoyan, Atom
| ( E )
| Directors
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Used DVDs
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| Music Video & Concerts
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| Westerns
Atom Egoyan
| By Director
| Foreign & International
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
( F )
| Titles
| Features
| DVD
| Video
Similar Items:
- The Sweet Hereafter (New Line Platinum Series)
- The Adjuster
- Exotica
- Ararat
- Where the Truth Lies (Unrated Theatrical Edition)
ASIN: B00004W1FA |
Amazon.com
Like Hitchcock, Atom Egoyan envisions family life as a potential hotbed of literal or figurative violence and incest. In Felicia's Journey, Egoyan's adaptation of William Trevor's shattering novel, one dreads to imagine what TV-cook mom (Arsinée Khanjian) did to so damage her pudgy son that grown- up Hilditch (Bob Hoskins) still prepares meals in perfect unison with faded videotapes of her show--and, as we eventually discover, often takes more sinister trips down Memory Lane. Distant kin to Psycho's Tony Perkins, Hoskins's troll is so obsessive, so traumatized, his every short-armed, fat-handed gesture and sing-song utterance is precisely calculated to keep reality safely buried.
Egoyan's movies often seem located underwater, in some surreal dreamscape where one's breath is perpetually suspended while a slow horror seeps ever deeper under the skin. Helpless, transfixed, one watches as his characters drive inexorably toward mined intersections where lives and souls may be lost or redeemed. When Hilditch's path crosses, diverges from, and finally coincides with that of young, pregnant Felicia (Elaine Cassidy)--an Irish innocent searching for her errant boyfriend--it leads to terrible epiphany for these fellow travelers. Trouble is, creepy Hilditch and too-naive Felicia come up a bit short in the psychological complexity department, so by film's end, revelatory payoffs are mostly penny ante. Felica's Journey tours familiar Egoyan territory--an industrialized wasteland full of hungry hearts--but this latest fairy tale (think perverse variations on Hansel and Gretel) isn't in the same league with such "family values" masterpieces as Exotica or The Sweet Hereafter. --Kathleen Murphy
Customer Reviews:
Dinner with a Serial Killer.......2005-11-13
This is a movie in the Hitchcock style, this time without gore, but with subtle terror.
Some of the scenes are homages to the master, but this does not detract from their effectiveness. (I'm thinking of glass of milk carried up the stairs in Suspicion.)
The movie is suspenseful, and scary as mild-mannered catering supervisor Hilditch befriends the lost traveller Felicia as she struggles to find her missing boyfriend. On the surface, Mr. Hilditch seems so nice, but as his little hobby is gradually revealed, even the calmest scenes are quite terrifying.
Hilditch has grown up under the suffocating wing of his famous TV chef mother. Apparently, like the mother-son bonding in Psycho, the results of this "nurturing" can be deadly.
The leads are played by Bob Hoskins -- what a great actor -- and Elaine Cassidy, a young actress who makes the incredibly naive Felicia come alive. The movie is from a novel by William Trevor.
This is a troubling film, filmed in wide-open industrial spaces that emphasize how alone and weak Felicia is. The only place of comfort is the serial killer's cozy homestead.
This is not a Psycho-style shrieker, but it is a work of quiet horror. "Have a cup of tea, my dear?"
If you liked this, see Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter.
A JOURNEY TO REMEMBER..........2005-08-11
This film adaptation of William Trevor's novel of psychological suspense, for which its author was the recipient of the 1994 Whitbread Award, is one that those who read the book should see, as well as those who like unusual films of psychological suspense. After reading the book, I became curious as to how a film adaptation would work, as so much of the book involves the introspections of two people whose lives interconnect. Despite some of its shortcomings, it is definitely a film worth seeing, if only for Bob Hoskins brilliant performance.
Felicia is a seventeen year old motherless and naive Irish girl, who has become intimate with an Irish boy named Johnny. Of course, the expected ensues, and after Johnny has left Ireland and returned to England where he ostensibly works, Felicia is left holding the bag. Her disapproving father suspects Johnny of actually being in the British Army and, thus, a traitor to his own. He also has a few choice words for his daughter, now that she is in the family way, and none of it is flattering. So, Felicia leaves her rural village and her family and goes off in search of Johnny, having nothing more than the vaguest of ideas where he might be.
She crosses the Irish Sea and arrives in the English Midlands in the industrial city of Birmingham, as she believes Johnny to be working in a lawn mower factory there. In her search for Johnny, she runs into the portly catering manager for one of the local factories. His name is Joseph Ambrose Hilditch, and he is outwardly a jovial and agreeable man, well-liked by his co-workers and meticulous about his culinary repasts. He lives in solitary splendor in the large house in which he grew up. There, he concocts lavish gourmet meals, while watching tapes of his deceased mother's television show, as she was a chef of some renown. Obviously, he was quite close to his mother, and he still misses her. The house is cluttered with collectibles but is well-kept, although decorated in the style of a bygone era. Mr. Hilditch is, indeed, a collector, but his collection is initially far beyond Felicia's imaginings. In fact, Mr. Hilditch has a darker side to him, which is not immediately discernible by the unwary.
When Felicia first meets Mr. Hilditch, it is to ask for information in connection with her fool's errand, but something about her catches Mr. Hilditch's fancy, and he finds himself keeping Felicia in his crosshairs. When Felicia seemingly unexpectedly runs into Mr. Hilditch again, he directs her to lodgings, and so it begins. As Mr. Hilditch insinuates himself ever so slowly into her life, weaving a fantasy about his own life that is sure to put her mind at ease about him. Felicia begins finding herself ensnared by this ostensibly kind and ever so helpful, avuncular man, and she initially fails to see the darkness that lies at the core of his being. The viewer, however, is given sneak peaks into some of his peculiarities and deceits.
Bob Hoskins is magnificent in the role of Mr. Hilditch, infusing the character with an avuncular charm that sits as a thin veneer over the cauldron of seething emotion within, emotions that cause Mr. Hilditch to act in ways most others would not. The viewer sees what Felicia fails to see, until it is almost too late, the duplicity and cunning that is masked by his overt geniality and seeming kindness. Like a spider to the fly, our teddy bearish Mr. Hilditch begins laying his trap, and so Felicia's journey thrusts her into the belly of the beast. Newcomer, Eileen Cassidy is quite good as Felicia, playing her with a naiveté that is central to the character. Unlike the character of Mr. Hilditch, who physically stays true to the Mr. Hilditch of the book, the Felicia of the film differs physically. Instead of a pail, puling, nun like blonde, the viewer is presented with a robust looking, fresh-faced brunette.
The cinematography is excellent, and the interior of Mr. Hilditch's home is magnificent, as it evokes another era, miring Mr. Hilditch in happier times while at home. The musical soundtrack is used to good effect to maintain that evocation. The director, Atom Egoyan, who also wrote the screenplay, does a fairly good job of adapting the book to the screen, given some of the constraints inherent in the book. Where the film fails somewhat is in the exploration of the darker corners of the human psyche, although he maintains the cat and mouse game that is central to the story. While the mind of Mr. Hilditch is dark, indeed, unlike the book, there are no unspeakable revelations in the film as to what lies at the heart of his predilection. What the director substitutes does not really satisfy the viewer as to why Mr. Hilditch does what he does.
The film, however, manages to show how each of these two flawed human beings were initially able to achieve a connection with another, only to find ostensible betrayal. What is decidedly different is the way that they each cope with that betrayal. Moreover, the book has no happily-ever-after ending to its story, which culminates with a conclusion that is quite bleak, robbing the reader of some satisfaction. The film's conclusion differs from that of the book, and while less bleak, is also somewhat unsatisfactory but, perhaps, only so to those who may have already read the book. As in the book, the journey that Felicia makes is larger in scope than merely a trip across the Irish Sea.
Theater, Film & Music.......2005-07-26
Like "Exotica," Felicia's Journey focuses on impossible dreams, but murders we never see are the reality in the background. Wonderful music links what will never be with what we do not want to know. Lost girl (Elaine Cassidy) receives lots of help from too-lonely professional(Bob Hoskins),who turns out to be a serial killer. His victims come to life in one-minute video clips - a great theater mask - you know they're already dead. "Rest in Peace" sung in Gaelic by Kate Crossan during the final credits is a gorgeous emotional reconciliation.
An ugly secret is behind the door!.......2005-03-31
This is a low-key psychological thriller about a relationship between a hunger of love young woman with an older man that maintains two well definite profiles. So this ambigous character will spark the screen.
Felicia is simple woman who is pregnant, a fact that she will keep secret from her family as well Johnny, her boyfriend. So after a long and unhappy search, she will go to Birmingham to intend rebuild a new life. But the mysterious and enigmatic presence of Hildtich will seem to fit perfectly for her hopes and illusions.
The loneliness and the double moral will meet in this crossroad emotional picture. As you know, Hoskins is one the top actors in the world and this role comes to him as ring to finger.
Atom Egoyan a first class director has built a very intersting film without any fissure. This work deserved the prize as Best Canadian Film in 1999 so consider this factor as another positive point.
Recommended without any reserve!
Purity itself can surely wash the pain away. .......2005-03-17
Felicia's Journey was one of those films that I loved, then hated, then liked, then thought was decent. It was a difficult film to watch because the pacing that Egoyan has implemented is unlike any other film that I have seen. His use of the camera to create that uneasy sensation on screen and while watching the film was very impressive. Hoskins gives the performance of his career as this very controlled man with a very dark secret while Elaine Cassidy impressed me with her simplistic portrayal of Felicia. This was a brilliant film, but there were just some scenes and elements that didn't seem to match the rest of the film. The ending in particular was a bit misleading and at times rushed, but everything building up to that point really hit a strong nerve. If you were to define the word "thriller", I don't think that you could do it without mentioning this film. Brilliant acting, an interesting use of direction (which worked very well), and a story that allowed itself to be build upon during each scene are just a few of the great moments (that overshadow the poor) in this movie.
Felicia's Journey would not have been the powerhouse that it was if it was not for the powerful acting by Bob Hoskins who completely engulfed this character and showed us this rare glimpse of evil humanity. While I am sure that some of it is due in part by Egoyan's direction, but you cannot keep your eyes off Hoskins whenever he is on the screen. He builds his character so well, and bit by bit, that you never can anticipate what will he will say or do next. That is what is brilliant about Hoskins. Normally, when you have a troubled soul like Hilditch you can sometimes guess what he is going to do next. Actors sometimes fall into a pattern of repetition, but with Hoskins it was as if we were watching the final chapter and there were bigger events taking place. He also worked so well with Cassidy that at times I had forgotten that I was watching a film. His ability to be this sinister father figure to this girl was impressive. Hoskins really built this beautiful family dynamic to the film that I never saw coming. Outstanding performances by both that any film connoisseurs should not miss.
Taped onto the vintage acting is this deeply engrossing story that pours from the bottle like some freshly corked wine. The simplicity of the story allows the complexity of the characters emerge and be triumphant. The story gives our characters layers upon which we gradually peel away. Hoskins character especially. From the opening scene until the final, I felt as if I was given the whole course, and not just bits and pieces. While Felicia's name does take the title of this film, it is Hoskins whom this story is really about. We learn more about his life, and his struggles than we do with Felicia. Yet, the story does not stop there. I found it quite interesting that Felicia father caused her conflict, while a matriarchal figure challenged Hilditch's perception. I thought that Egoyan was really trying to do more than tell a serial killer story (as the box may reveal) by giving us these strange and strangled family moments. I felt as if this was more a story about family, then it was about the horrors of humanity ... or perhaps it was a slice of both. Either way, the story is the foundation to this picture, and for the first time it really worked. So many times we go to the theater expecting to be blown away by a creative and empowering story, but this time it was a polar opposite. The acting is what kept this film high above water, while the story (as simple as it was) only helped build Hoskins and Cassidy further into the world of impressiveness.
Finally, there was Egoyan behind the camera doing what he does best. I have seen only one of his other films, Exotica, and he is notorious for building the suspense from behind the camera as well as in front. His choice of panning in the wrong direction, the colors surrounding our characters and the sound of the film hit our nerves before any actors even walk into the picture. This is all coming from Egoyan's mind, which continues to impress me with each film that I view. I cannot wait to see more of his work and to see how well he has developed with each project. You can definitely see the Hitchcock influence that has been imprinted with Egoyan. I finished watching Frenzy (by Hitchcock) right after this film and the similarities were uncanny. Egoyan reminds me of a cross between Hitchcock and von Trier. His bold style makes each film his own, yet he is not afraid to be brutally honest and attributive to the cultural setting. He is a true filmmaker that needs to continue to prove that you don't need millions to create a masterpiece.
While I have given credit to everyone, and thing, that deserves it in this film, I must finish this review by saying that this film was not perfection on a stick, but very close. There were some unfinished ends that could have been tied better, and the ending just felt as if there was this outside influence at work that Egoyan was battling. Up until the final twenty minutes of this film, I was thoroughly enjoying what I was seeing, but when the idea of religion was brought in from left field, I felt the final moments were rushed and forced. I needed something just as dramatic, just not so random. Also, I needed some form of conclusion to Felicia's actual "journey". Did she find what she was looking for?
Overall, I was very impressed with this film.
Grade: **** out of *****
![Felicia's Journey [Region 2]](http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/21K0WWJN9ML.jpg)
Average customer rating:
- Dinner with a Serial Killer
- A JOURNEY TO REMEMBER...
- Theater, Film & Music
- An ugly secret is behind the door!
- Purity itself can surely wash the pain away.
|
Felicia's Journey [Region 2]
Starring: Bob Hoskins , Arsinée Khanjian , Elaine Cassidy , Sheila Reid , and Nizwar Karanj
Director: Atom Egoyan
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD
Thrillers
| Mystery & Suspense
| Genres
| DVD
| Video
Brennan, Brid
| ( B )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Hoskins, Bob
| ( H )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
McGovern, Barry
| ( M )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
McSorley, Gerard
| ( M )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Reid, Sheila
| ( R )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Voe, Sandra
| ( V )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Yassine, Ali
| ( Y )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Egoyan, Atom
| ( E )
| Directors
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Used DVDs
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
| Action & Adventure
| African American Cinema
| Animation
| Anime & Manga
| Art House & International
| Classics
| Comedy
| Cult Movies
| Documentary
| Drama
| Educational
| Fitness & Yoga
| Gay & Lesbian
| Horror
| Kids & Family
| Military & War
| Music Video & Concerts
| Musicals & Performing Arts
| Mystery & Suspense
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Special Interests
| Sports
| Television
| Westerns
Atom Egoyan
| By Director
| Foreign & International
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
( F )
| Titles
| Features
| DVD
| Video
Similar Items:
- The Sweet Hereafter (New Line Platinum Series)
- The Adjuster
- Exotica
- Ararat
- Where the Truth Lies (Unrated Theatrical Edition)
ASIN: B00005AKTP |
Amazon.com
Like Hitchcock, Atom Egoyan envisions family life as a potential hotbed of literal or figurative violence and incest. In Felicia's Journey, Egoyan's adaptation of William Trevor's shattering novel, one dreads to imagine what TV-cook mom (Arsinée Khanjian) did to so damage her pudgy son that grown- up Hilditch (Bob Hoskins) still prepares meals in perfect unison with faded videotapes of her show--and, as we eventually discover, often takes more sinister trips down Memory Lane. Distant kin to Psycho's Tony Perkins, Hoskins's troll is so obsessive, so traumatized, his every short-armed, fat-handed gesture and sing-song utterance is precisely calculated to keep reality safely buried.
Egoyan's movies often seem located underwater, in some surreal dreamscape where one's breath is perpetually suspended while a slow horror seeps ever deeper under the skin. Helpless, transfixed, one watches as his characters drive inexorably toward mined intersections where lives and souls may be lost or redeemed. When Hilditch's path crosses, diverges from, and finally coincides with that of young, pregnant Felicia (Elaine Cassidy)--an Irish innocent searching for her errant boyfriend--it leads to terrible epiphany for these fellow travelers. Trouble is, creepy Hilditch and too-naive Felicia come up a bit short in the psychological complexity department, so by film's end, revelatory payoffs are mostly penny ante. Felica's Journey tours familiar Egoyan territory--an industrialized wasteland full of hungry hearts--but this latest fairy tale (think perverse variations on Hansel and Gretel) isn't in the same league with such "family values" masterpieces as Exotica or The Sweet Hereafter. --Kathleen Murphy
Customer Reviews:
Dinner with a Serial Killer.......2005-11-13
This is a movie in the Hitchcock style, this time without gore, but with subtle terror.
Some of the scenes are homages to the master, but this does not detract from their effectiveness. (I'm thinking of glass of milk carried up the stairs in Suspicion.)
The movie is suspenseful, and scary as mild-mannered catering supervisor Hilditch befriends the lost traveller Felicia as she struggles to find her missing boyfriend. On the surface, Mr. Hilditch seems so nice, but as his little hobby is gradually revealed, even the calmest scenes are quite terrifying.
Hilditch has grown up under the suffocating wing of his famous TV chef mother. Apparently, like the mother-son bonding in Psycho, the results of this "nurturing" can be deadly.
The leads are played by Bob Hoskins -- what a great actor -- and Elaine Cassidy, a young actress who makes the incredibly naive Felicia come alive. The movie is from a novel by William Trevor.
This is a troubling film, filmed in wide-open industrial spaces that emphasize how alone and weak Felicia is. The only place of comfort is the serial killer's cozy homestead.
This is not a Psycho-style shrieker, but it is a work of quiet horror. "Have a cup of tea, my dear?"
If you liked this, see Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter.
A JOURNEY TO REMEMBER..........2005-08-11
This film adaptation of William Trevor's novel of psychological suspense, for which its author was the recipient of the 1994 Whitbread Award, is one that those who read the book should see, as well as those who like unusual films of psychological suspense. After reading the book, I became curious as to how a film adaptation would work, as so much of the book involves the introspections of two people whose lives interconnect. Despite some of its shortcomings, it is definitely a film worth seeing, if only for Bob Hoskins brilliant performance.
Felicia is a seventeen year old motherless and naive Irish girl, who has become intimate with an Irish boy named Johnny. Of course, the expected ensues, and after Johnny has left Ireland and returned to England where he ostensibly works, Felicia is left holding the bag. Her disapproving father suspects Johnny of actually being in the British Army and, thus, a traitor to his own. He also has a few choice words for his daughter, now that she is in the family way, and none of it is flattering. So, Felicia leaves her rural village and her family and goes off in search of Johnny, having nothing more than the vaguest of ideas where he might be.
She crosses the Irish Sea and arrives in the English Midlands in the industrial city of Birmingham, as she believes Johnny to be working in a lawn mower factory there. In her search for Johnny, she runs into the portly catering manager for one of the local factories. His name is Joseph Ambrose Hilditch, and he is outwardly a jovial and agreeable man, well-liked by his co-workers and meticulous about his culinary repasts. He lives in solitary splendor in the large house in which he grew up. There, he concocts lavish gourmet meals, while watching tapes of his deceased mother's television show, as she was a chef of some renown. Obviously, he was quite close to his mother, and he still misses her. The house is cluttered with collectibles but is well-kept, although decorated in the style of a bygone era. Mr. Hilditch is, indeed, a collector, but his collection is initially far beyond Felicia's imaginings. In fact, Mr. Hilditch has a darker side to him, which is not immediately discernible by the unwary.
When Felicia first meets Mr. Hilditch, it is to ask for information in connection with her fool's errand, but something about her catches Mr. Hilditch's fancy, and he finds himself keeping Felicia in his crosshairs. When Felicia seemingly unexpectedly runs into Mr. Hilditch again, he directs her to lodgings, and so it begins. As Mr. Hilditch insinuates himself ever so slowly into her life, weaving a fantasy about his own life that is sure to put her mind at ease about him. Felicia begins finding herself ensnared by this ostensibly kind and ever so helpful, avuncular man, and she initially fails to see the darkness that lies at the core of his being. The viewer, however, is given sneak peaks into some of his peculiarities and deceits.
Bob Hoskins is magnificent in the role of Mr. Hilditch, infusing the character with an avuncular charm that sits as a thin veneer over the cauldron of seething emotion within, emotions that cause Mr. Hilditch to act in ways most others would not. The viewer sees what Felicia fails to see, until it is almost too late, the duplicity and cunning that is masked by his overt geniality and seeming kindness. Like a spider to the fly, our teddy bearish Mr. Hilditch begins laying his trap, and so Felicia's journey thrusts her into the belly of the beast. Newcomer, Eileen Cassidy is quite good as Felicia, playing her with a naiveté that is central to the character. Unlike the character of Mr. Hilditch, who physically stays true to the Mr. Hilditch of the book, the Felicia of the film differs physically. Instead of a pail, puling, nun like blonde, the viewer is presented with a robust looking, fresh-faced brunette.
The cinematography is excellent, and the interior of Mr. Hilditch's home is magnificent, as it evokes another era, miring Mr. Hilditch in happier times while at home. The musical soundtrack is used to good effect to maintain that evocation. The director, Atom Egoyan, who also wrote the screenplay, does a fairly good job of adapting the book to the screen, given some of the constraints inherent in the book. Where the film fails somewhat is in the exploration of the darker corners of the human psyche, although he maintains the cat and mouse game that is central to the story. While the mind of Mr. Hilditch is dark, indeed, unlike the book, there are no unspeakable revelations in the film as to what lies at the heart of his predilection. What the director substitutes does not really satisfy the viewer as to why Mr. Hilditch does what he does.
The film, however, manages to show how each of these two flawed human beings were initially able to achieve a connection with another, only to find ostensible betrayal. What is decidedly different is the way that they each cope with that betrayal. Moreover, the book has no happily-ever-after ending to its story, which culminates with a conclusion that is quite bleak, robbing the reader of some satisfaction. The film's conclusion differs from that of the book, and while less bleak, is also somewhat unsatisfactory but, perhaps, only so to those who may have already read the book. As in the book, the journey that Felicia makes is larger in scope than merely a trip across the Irish Sea.
Theater, Film & Music.......2005-07-26
Like "Exotica," Felicia's Journey focuses on impossible dreams, but murders we never see are the reality in the background. Wonderful music links what will never be with what we do not want to know. Lost girl (Elaine Cassidy) receives lots of help from too-lonely professional(Bob Hoskins),who turns out to be a serial killer. His victims come to life in one-minute video clips - a great theater mask - you know they're already dead. "Rest in Peace" sung in Gaelic by Kate Crossan during the final credits is a gorgeous emotional reconciliation.
An ugly secret is behind the door!.......2005-03-31
This is a low-key psychological thriller about a relationship between a hunger of love young woman with an older man that maintains two well definite profiles. So this ambigous character will spark the screen.
Felicia is simple woman who is pregnant, a fact that she will keep secret from her family as well Johnny, her boyfriend. So after a long and unhappy search, she will go to Birmingham to intend rebuild a new life. But the mysterious and enigmatic presence of Hildtich will seem to fit perfectly for her hopes and illusions.
The loneliness and the double moral will meet in this crossroad emotional picture. As you know, Hoskins is one the top actors in the world and this role comes to him as ring to finger.
Atom Egoyan a first class director has built a very intersting film without any fissure. This work deserved the prize as Best Canadian Film in 1999 so consider this factor as another positive point.
Recommended without any reserve!
Purity itself can surely wash the pain away. .......2005-03-17
Felicia's Journey was one of those films that I loved, then hated, then liked, then thought was decent. It was a difficult film to watch because the pacing that Egoyan has implemented is unlike any other film that I have seen. His use of the camera to create that uneasy sensation on screen and while watching the film was very impressive. Hoskins gives the performance of his career as this very controlled man with a very dark secret while Elaine Cassidy impressed me with her simplistic portrayal of Felicia. This was a brilliant film, but there were just some scenes and elements that didn't seem to match the rest of the film. The ending in particular was a bit misleading and at times rushed, but everything building up to that point really hit a strong nerve. If you were to define the word "thriller", I don't think that you could do it without mentioning this film. Brilliant acting, an interesting use of direction (which worked very well), and a story that allowed itself to be build upon during each scene are just a few of the great moments (that overshadow the poor) in this movie.
Felicia's Journey would not have been the powerhouse that it was if it was not for the powerful acting by Bob Hoskins who completely engulfed this character and showed us this rare glimpse of evil humanity. While I am sure that some of it is due in part by Egoyan's direction, but you cannot keep your eyes off Hoskins whenever he is on the screen. He builds his character so well, and bit by bit, that you never can anticipate what will he will say or do next. That is what is brilliant about Hoskins. Normally, when you have a troubled soul like Hilditch you can sometimes guess what he is going to do next. Actors sometimes fall into a pattern of repetition, but with Hoskins it was as if we were watching the final chapter and there were bigger events taking place. He also worked so well with Cassidy that at times I had forgotten that I was watching a film. His ability to be this sinister father figure to this girl was impressive. Hoskins really built this beautiful family dynamic to the film that I never saw coming. Outstanding performances by both that any film connoisseurs should not miss.
Taped onto the vintage acting is this deeply engrossing story that pours from the bottle like some freshly corked wine. The simplicity of the story allows the complexity of the characters emerge and be triumphant. The story gives our characters layers upon which we gradually peel away. Hoskins character especially. From the opening scene until the final, I felt as if I was given the whole course, and not just bits and pieces. While Felicia's name does take the title of this film, it is Hoskins whom this story is really about. We learn more about his life, and his struggles than we do with Felicia. Yet, the story does not stop there. I found it quite interesting that Felicia father caused her conflict, while a matriarchal figure challenged Hilditch's perception. I thought that Egoyan was really trying to do more than tell a serial killer story (as the box may reveal) by giving us these strange and strangled family moments. I felt as if this was more a story about family, then it was about the horrors of humanity ... or perhaps it was a slice of both. Either way, the story is the foundation to this picture, and for the first time it really worked. So many times we go to the theater expecting to be blown away by a creative and empowering story, but this time it was a polar opposite. The acting is what kept this film high above water, while the story (as simple as it was) only helped build Hoskins and Cassidy further into the world of impressiveness.
Finally, there was Egoyan behind the camera doing what he does best. I have seen only one of his other films, Exotica, and he is notorious for building the suspense from behind the camera as well as in front. His choice of panning in the wrong direction, the colors surrounding our characters and the sound of the film hit our nerves before any actors even walk into the picture. This is all coming from Egoyan's mind, which continues to impress me with each film that I view. I cannot wait to see more of his work and to see how well he has developed with each project. You can definitely see the Hitchcock influence that has been imprinted with Egoyan. I finished watching Frenzy (by Hitchcock) right after this film and the similarities were uncanny. Egoyan reminds me of a cross between Hitchcock and von Trier. His bold style makes each film his own, yet he is not afraid to be brutally honest and attributive to the cultural setting. He is a true filmmaker that needs to continue to prove that you don't need millions to create a masterpiece.
While I have given credit to everyone, and thing, that deserves it in this film, I must finish this review by saying that this film was not perfection on a stick, but very close. There were some unfinished ends that could have been tied better, and the ending just felt as if there was this outside influence at work that Egoyan was battling. Up until the final twenty minutes of this film, I was thoroughly enjoying what I was seeing, but when the idea of religion was brought in from left field, I felt the final moments were rushed and forced. I needed something just as dramatic, just not so random. Also, I needed some form of conclusion to Felicia's actual "journey". Did she find what she was looking for?
Overall, I was very impressed with this film.
Grade: **** out of *****
![Felicia's Journey [Region 2]](http://www.germanelectronics88.com/noimage.gif)
Average customer rating:
- Dinner with a Serial Killer
- A JOURNEY TO REMEMBER...
- Theater, Film & Music
- An ugly secret is behind the door!
- Purity itself can surely wash the pain away.
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Felicia's Journey [Region 2]
Starring: Bob Hoskins , Arsinée Khanjian , Elaine Cassidy , Sheila Reid , and Nizwar Karanj
Director: Atom Egoyan
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Similar Items:
- The Sweet Hereafter (New Line Platinum Series)
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- Ararat
- Where the Truth Lies (Unrated Theatrical Edition)
ASIN: B00004U3XB |
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Like Hitchcock, Atom Egoyan envisions family life as a potential hotbed of literal or figurative violence and incest. In Felicia's Journey, Egoyan's adaptation of William Trevor's shattering novel, one dreads to imagine what TV-cook mom (Arsinée Khanjian) did to so damage her pudgy son that grown- up Hilditch (Bob Hoskins) still prepares meals in perfect unison with faded videotapes of her show--and, as we eventually discover, often takes more sinister trips down Memory Lane. Distant kin to Psycho's Tony Perkins, Hoskins's troll is so obsessive, so traumatized, his every short-armed, fat-handed gesture and sing-song utterance is precisely calculated to keep reality safely buried.
Egoyan's movies often seem located underwater, in some surreal dreamscape where one's breath is perpetually suspended while a slow horror seeps ever deeper under the skin. Helpless, transfixed, one watches as his characters drive inexorably toward mined intersections where lives and souls may be lost or redeemed. When Hilditch's path crosses, diverges from, and finally coincides with that of young, pregnant Felicia (Elaine Cassidy)--an Irish innocent searching for her errant boyfriend--it leads to terrible epiphany for these fellow travelers. Trouble is, creepy Hilditch and too-naive Felicia come up a bit short in the psychological complexity department, so by film's end, revelatory payoffs are mostly penny ante. Felica's Journey tours familiar Egoyan territory--an industrialized wasteland full of hungry hearts--but this latest fairy tale (think perverse variations on Hansel and Gretel) isn't in the same league with such "family values" masterpieces as Exotica or The Sweet Hereafter. --Kathleen Murphy
Customer Reviews:
Dinner with a Serial Killer.......2005-11-13
This is a movie in the Hitchcock style, this time without gore, but with subtle terror.
Some of the scenes are homages to the master, but this does not detract from their effectiveness. (I'm thinking of glass of milk carried up the stairs in Suspicion.)
The movie is suspenseful, and scary as mild-mannered catering supervisor Hilditch befriends the lost traveller Felicia as she struggles to find her missing boyfriend. On the surface, Mr. Hilditch seems so nice, but as his little hobby is gradually revealed, even the calmest scenes are quite terrifying.
Hilditch has grown up under the suffocating wing of his famous TV chef mother. Apparently, like the mother-son bonding in Psycho, the results of this "nurturing" can be deadly.
The leads are played by Bob Hoskins -- what a great actor -- and Elaine Cassidy, a young actress who makes the incredibly naive Felicia come alive. The movie is from a novel by William Trevor.
This is a troubling film, filmed in wide-open industrial spaces that emphasize how alone and weak Felicia is. The only place of comfort is the serial killer's cozy homestead.
This is not a Psycho-style shrieker, but it is a work of quiet horror. "Have a cup of tea, my dear?"
If you liked this, see Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter.
A JOURNEY TO REMEMBER..........2005-08-11
This film adaptation of William Trevor's novel of psychological suspense, for which its author was the recipient of the 1994 Whitbread Award, is one that those who read the book should see, as well as those who like unusual films of psychological suspense. After reading the book, I became curious as to how a film adaptation would work, as so much of the book involves the introspections of two people whose lives interconnect. Despite some of its shortcomings, it is definitely a film worth seeing, if only for Bob Hoskins brilliant performance.
Felicia is a seventeen year old motherless and naive Irish girl, who has become intimate with an Irish boy named Johnny. Of course, the expected ensues, and after Johnny has left Ireland and returned to England where he ostensibly works, Felicia is left holding the bag. Her disapproving father suspects Johnny of actually being in the British Army and, thus, a traitor to his own. He also has a few choice words for his daughter, now that she is in the family way, and none of it is flattering. So, Felicia leaves her rural village and her family and goes off in search of Johnny, having nothing more than the vaguest of ideas where he might be.
She crosses the Irish Sea and arrives in the English Midlands in the industrial city of Birmingham, as she believes Johnny to be working in a lawn mower factory there. In her search for Johnny, she runs into the portly catering manager for one of the local factories. His name is Joseph Ambrose Hilditch, and he is outwardly a jovial and agreeable man, well-liked by his co-workers and meticulous about his culinary repasts. He lives in solitary splendor in the large house in which he grew up. There, he concocts lavish gourmet meals, while watching tapes of his deceased mother's television show, as she was a chef of some renown. Obviously, he was quite close to his mother, and he still misses her. The house is cluttered with collectibles but is well-kept, although decorated in the style of a bygone era. Mr. Hilditch is, indeed, a collector, but his collection is initially far beyond Felicia's imaginings. In fact, Mr. Hilditch has a darker side to him, which is not immediately discernible by the unwary.
When Felicia first meets Mr. Hilditch, it is to ask for information in connection with her fool's errand, but something about her catches Mr. Hilditch's fancy, and he finds himself keeping Felicia in his crosshairs. When Felicia seemingly unexpectedly runs into Mr. Hilditch again, he directs her to lodgings, and so it begins. As Mr. Hilditch insinuates himself ever so slowly into her life, weaving a fantasy about his own life that is sure to put her mind at ease about him. Felicia begins finding herself ensnared by this ostensibly kind and ever so helpful, avuncular man, and she initially fails to see the darkness that lies at the core of his being. The viewer, however, is given sneak peaks into some of his peculiarities and deceits.
Bob Hoskins is magnificent in the role of Mr. Hilditch, infusing the character with an avuncular charm that sits as a thin veneer over the cauldron of seething emotion within, emotions that cause Mr. Hilditch to act in ways most others would not. The viewer sees what Felicia fails to see, until it is almost too late, the duplicity and cunning that is masked by his overt geniality and seeming kindness. Like a spider to the fly, our teddy bearish Mr. Hilditch begins laying his trap, and so Felicia's journey thrusts her into the belly of the beast. Newcomer, Eileen Cassidy is quite good as Felicia, playing her with a naiveté that is central to the character. Unlike the character of Mr. Hilditch, who physically stays true to the Mr. Hilditch of the book, the Felicia of the film differs physically. Instead of a pail, puling, nun like blonde, the viewer is presented with a robust looking, fresh-faced brunette.
The cinematography is excellent, and the interior of Mr. Hilditch's home is magnificent, as it evokes another era, miring Mr. Hilditch in happier times while at home. The musical soundtrack is used to good effect to maintain that evocation. The director, Atom Egoyan, who also wrote the screenplay, does a fairly good job of adapting the book to the screen, given some of the constraints inherent in the book. Where the film fails somewhat is in the exploration of the darker corners of the human psyche, although he maintains the cat and mouse game that is central to the story. While the mind of Mr. Hilditch is dark, indeed, unlike the book, there are no unspeakable revelations in the film as to what lies at the heart of his predilection. What the director substitutes does not really satisfy the viewer as to why Mr. Hilditch does what he does.
The film, however, manages to show how each of these two flawed human beings were initially able to achieve a connection with another, only to find ostensible betrayal. What is decidedly different is the way that they each cope with that betrayal. Moreover, the book has no happily-ever-after ending to its story, which culminates with a conclusion that is quite bleak, robbing the reader of some satisfaction. The film's conclusion differs from that of the book, and while less bleak, is also somewhat unsatisfactory but, perhaps, only so to those who may have already read the book. As in the book, the journey that Felicia makes is larger in scope than merely a trip across the Irish Sea.
Theater, Film & Music.......2005-07-26
Like "Exotica," Felicia's Journey focuses on impossible dreams, but murders we never see are the reality in the background. Wonderful music links what will never be with what we do not want to know. Lost girl (Elaine Cassidy) receives lots of help from too-lonely professional(Bob Hoskins),who turns out to be a serial killer. His victims come to life in one-minute video clips - a great theater mask - you know they're already dead. "Rest in Peace" sung in Gaelic by Kate Crossan during the final credits is a gorgeous emotional reconciliation.
An ugly secret is behind the door!.......2005-03-31
This is a low-key psychological thriller about a relationship between a hunger of love young woman with an older man that maintains two well definite profiles. So this ambigous character will spark the screen.
Felicia is simple woman who is pregnant, a fact that she will keep secret from her family as well Johnny, her boyfriend. So after a long and unhappy search, she will go to Birmingham to intend rebuild a new life. But the mysterious and enigmatic presence of Hildtich will seem to fit perfectly for her hopes and illusions.
The loneliness and the double moral will meet in this crossroad emotional picture. As you know, Hoskins is one the top actors in the world and this role comes to him as ring to finger.
Atom Egoyan a first class director has built a very intersting film without any fissure. This work deserved the prize as Best Canadian Film in 1999 so consider this factor as another positive point.
Recommended without any reserve!
Purity itself can surely wash the pain away. .......2005-03-17
Felicia's Journey was one of those films that I loved, then hated, then liked, then thought was decent. It was a difficult film to watch because the pacing that Egoyan has implemented is unlike any other film that I have seen. His use of the camera to create that uneasy sensation on screen and while watching the film was very impressive. Hoskins gives the performance of his career as this very controlled man with a very dark secret while Elaine Cassidy impressed me with her simplistic portrayal of Felicia. This was a brilliant film, but there were just some scenes and elements that didn't seem to match the rest of the film. The ending in particular was a bit misleading and at times rushed, but everything building up to that point really hit a strong nerve. If you were to define the word "thriller", I don't think that you could do it without mentioning this film. Brilliant acting, an interesting use of direction (which worked very well), and a story that allowed itself to be build upon during each scene are just a few of the great moments (that overshadow the poor) in this movie.
Felicia's Journey would not have been the powerhouse that it was if it was not for the powerful acting by Bob Hoskins who completely engulfed this character and showed us this rare glimpse of evil humanity. While I am sure that some of it is due in part by Egoyan's direction, but you cannot keep your eyes off Hoskins whenever he is on the screen. He builds his character so well, and bit by bit, that you never can anticipate what will he will say or do next. That is what is brilliant about Hoskins. Normally, when you have a troubled soul like Hilditch you can sometimes guess what he is going to do next. Actors sometimes fall into a pattern of repetition, but with Hoskins it was as if we were watching the final chapter and there were bigger events taking place. He also worked so well with Cassidy that at times I had forgotten that I was watching a film. His ability to be this sinister father figure to this girl was impressive. Hoskins really built this beautiful family dynamic to the film that I never saw coming. Outstanding performances by both that any film connoisseurs should not miss.
Taped onto the vintage acting is this deeply engrossing story that pours from the bottle like some freshly corked wine. The simplicity of the story allows the complexity of the characters emerge and be triumphant. The story gives our characters layers upon which we gradually peel away. Hoskins character especially. From the opening scene until the final, I felt as if I was given the whole course, and not just bits and pieces. While Felicia's name does take the title of this film, it is Hoskins whom this story is really about. We learn more about his life, and his struggles than we do with Felicia. Yet, the story does not stop there. I found it quite interesting that Felicia father caused her conflict, while a matriarchal figure challenged Hilditch's perception. I thought that Egoyan was really trying to do more than tell a serial killer story (as the box may reveal) by giving us these strange and strangled family moments. I felt as if this was more a story about family, then it was about the horrors of humanity ... or perhaps it was a slice of both. Either way, the story is the foundation to this picture, and for the first time it really worked. So many times we go to the theater expecting to be blown away by a creative and empowering story, but this time it was a polar opposite. The acting is what kept this film high above water, while the story (as simple as it was) only helped build Hoskins and Cassidy further into the world of impressiveness.
Finally, there was Egoyan behind the camera doing what he does best. I have seen only one of his other films, Exotica, and he is notorious for building the suspense from behind the camera as well as in front. His choice of panning in the wrong direction, the colors surrounding our characters and the sound of the film hit our nerves before any actors even walk into the picture. This is all coming from Egoyan's mind, which continues to impress me with each film that I view. I cannot wait to see more of his work and to see how well he has developed with each project. You can definitely see the Hitchcock influence that has been imprinted with Egoyan. I finished watching Frenzy (by Hitchcock) right after this film and the similarities were uncanny. Egoyan reminds me of a cross between Hitchcock and von Trier. His bold style makes each film his own, yet he is not afraid to be brutally honest and attributive to the cultural setting. He is a true filmmaker that needs to continue to prove that you don't need millions to create a masterpiece.
While I have given credit to everyone, and thing, that deserves it in this film, I must finish this review by saying that this film was not perfection on a stick, but very close. There were some unfinished ends that could have been tied better, and the ending just felt as if there was this outside influence at work that Egoyan was battling. Up until the final twenty minutes of this film, I was thoroughly enjoying what I was seeing, but when the idea of religion was brought in from left field, I felt the final moments were rushed and forced. I needed something just as dramatic, just not so random. Also, I needed some form of conclusion to Felicia's actual "journey". Did she find what she was looking for?
Overall, I was very impressed with this film.
Grade: **** out of *****
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