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''Interiors'' is a 1978 American drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. It stars
Kristin Griffith Kristin Griffith (born September 7, 1953) is an American actress. Filmography *''Interiors'' (1978, by Woody Allen) – Flyn *''The Europeans'' (1979, by James Ivory) – Lizzie Acton *''Flesh & Blood'' (1979 TV movie) – Michelle *''CHiPs' ...
, Mary Beth Hurt, Richard Jordan, Diane Keaton,
E. G. Marshall E. G. Marshall (born Everett Eugene Grunz;Everett Eugene Grunz in Minnesota, U.S., Birth Index, 1900-1934, Ancestry.comEverett Eugene Grunz in the U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, accessed via Ancestry.com June 18, ...
,
Geraldine Page Geraldine Sue Page (November 22, 1924June 13, 1987) was an American actress. With a career which spanned four decades across film, stage, and television, Page was the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Acade ...
, Maureen Stapleton, and Sam Waterston. Allen's first fully-fledged film in the drama genre, it was met with acclaim from critics. It received five Academy Award nominations, including
Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...
, Best Original Screenplay (both for Allen), Best Actress (Page), and Best Supporting Actress (Stapleton). Page also won the BAFTA Film Award for Best Supporting Actress.


Plot

The film centers on the three children of Arthur (
E. G. Marshall E. G. Marshall (born Everett Eugene Grunz;Everett Eugene Grunz in Minnesota, U.S., Birth Index, 1900-1934, Ancestry.comEverett Eugene Grunz in the U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, accessed via Ancestry.com June 18, ...
), a corporate attorney, and Eve (
Geraldine Page Geraldine Sue Page (November 22, 1924June 13, 1987) was an American actress. With a career which spanned four decades across film, stage, and television, Page was the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Acade ...
), an interior decorator. Renata ( Diane Keaton) is a poet whose husband Frederick ( Richard Jordan), a struggling writer, feels eclipsed by her success. Flyn (
Kristin Griffith Kristin Griffith (born September 7, 1953) is an American actress. Filmography *''Interiors'' (1978, by Woody Allen) – Flyn *''The Europeans'' (1979, by James Ivory) – Lizzie Acton *''Flesh & Blood'' (1979 TV movie) – Michelle *''CHiPs' ...
) is an actress who is away most of the time filming; the low quality of her films is an object of ridicule behind her back. Joey ( Mary Beth Hurt), who is in a relationship with Mike ( Sam Waterston), cannot settle on a career, and resents her mother for favoring Renata, while Renata resents their father's concern over Joey's lack of direction. One morning, Arthur unexpectedly announces that he wants a separation from his wife and would like to live alone. Eve, who is
clinically depressed Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Introd ...
, attempts suicide. The shock of these two events causes a rift among the sisters. Arthur returns from a trip to Greece with Pearl ( Maureen Stapleton), a high-spirited and more "normal" woman, whom he intends to marry. His daughters are disturbed that Arthur would disregard Eve's suicide attempt and find another woman, to whom Joey refers as a "vulgarian." Arthur and Pearl marry at Arthur and Eve's former summer home, with Renata, Joey and Flyn in attendance. Later in the evening, Joey lashes out at Pearl when Pearl accidentally breaks one of Eve's vases. In the middle of the night, Frederick drunkenly attempts to rape Flyn. Meanwhile, Joey finds Eve in the house, and sadly explains how much she has given up for her mother, and how disdainfully she is treated. Eve walks out onto the beach and into the surf. Joey attempts unsuccessfully to save Eve, but almost drowns in the attempt. Mike rescues Joey, pulling her to shore, so that Pearl revives the drowned victim by tilting Joey's head back and pinching her nose to administer a cycle of two breaths. The film ends with the family silently attending Eve's funeral, each placing a single white rose, Eve's favorite flower and a symbol of hope to her, on Eve's wooden, perfectly polished coffin, after which all three sisters look out at the sea from their former family beachfront home and comment on how 'peaceful' the sea looks.


Cast


Reception


Box office

''Interiors'' grossed $10.4 million in the United States and Canada.


Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 81%, based on reviews from 16 critics, with an average score of 6.8/10. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 67, based on reviews from 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Vincent Canby of '' The New York Times'' called the film "beautiful" and complimented Gordon Willis on his "use of cool colors that suggest civilization's precarious control of natural forces", but noted: Richard Schickel of '' Time'' wrote that the film's "desperate sobriety...robs it of energy and passion"; Allen's "style is Bergmanesque, but his material is Mankiewiczian, and the discontinuity is fatal. Doubtless this was a necessary movie for Allen, but it is both unnecessary and a minor embarrassment for his well-wishers."
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
gave the film four stars and praised it highly, writing "Here we have a Woody Allen film, and we're talking about
O'Neill The O'Neill dynasty (Irish: ''Ó Néill'') are a lineage of Irish Gaelic origin, that held prominent positions and titles in Ireland and elsewhere. As kings of Cenél nEógain, they were historically the most prominent family of the Northern ...
and
Bergman Bergman is a surname of German, Swedish, Dutch and Yiddish origin meaning 'mountain man', or sometimes (only in German) 'miner'.https://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=bergmann People *Alan Bergman (born 1925), American songwriter *Alan Berg ...
and traditions and influences? Yes, and correctly. Allen, whose comedies have been among the cheerful tonics of recent years, is astonishingly assured in his first drama."
Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...
awarded three stars out of four and wrote: Charles Champlin called the film "somber, intense and stunning," concluding "Like ''
Cries and Whispers ''Cries and Whispers'' ( sv, Viskningar och rop, lit=Whispers and Cries) is a 1972 Swedish period drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Harriet Andersson, Kari Sylwan, Ingrid Thulin and Liv Ullmann. The film, set in ...
,'' Allen's ''Interiors'' is, for all the somberness of the material, in the end an affirmation of life and a transcendent piece of art. The film lovers will love it if joke-seekers do not.
Penelope Gilliatt Penelope Gilliatt (; born Penelope Ann Douglass Conner; 25 March 1932 – 9 May 1993) was an English novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and film critic. As one of the main film critics for ''The New Yorker'' magazine in the 1960s an ...
of '' The New Yorker'' wrote: "This droll piece of work is llen'smost majestic so far. The theme its characters express is very
Chekhovian Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as ...
. It is pinned to the idea that the hardest, and most admirable thing to do is to act properly through a whole life." James Monaco, in his 1979 published book ''American Film Now'', described ''Interiors'' as the most pretentious film by a major American filmmaker in the last 30 years. In 2016, ''Interiors'' was listed as Allen's 11th best film in an article by '' The Daily Telegraph'' critics Robbie Collin and Tim Robey, who wrote that "the emotional effort being expended is cumulatively hard to shrug off" and praised Stapleton's performance.


Woody Allen's response

Allen's own fears about the film's reception are recounted in a biography of Allen by
Eric Lax Eric Lax is an American author who has written books on modern medicine, four books on Woody Allen including a biography, and a personal memoir ''Faith: Interrupted'' about his loss of Christian faith. Biography Lax was raised in an Episcopalian ...
, where he quotes
Ralph Rosenblum Ralph Rosenblum (October 13, 1925 – September 6, 1995) was an American film editor who worked extensively with the directors Sidney Lumet and Woody Allen. He won the 1977 BAFTA Award for Best Editing for his work on ''Annie Hall'', and publish ...
, the film's
editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...
: Later, while watching the film with an acquaintance, Allen reportedly said "It's always been my fear. I think I'm writing '' Long Day's Journey into Night'' and it turns into ''
Edge of Night ''The Edge of Night'' is an American television mystery crime drama series and soap opera, created by Irving Vendig and produced by Procter & Gamble Productions. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that networ ...
''." Looking back on the film in 1982, Allen said:


Accolades


Soundtrack

*"Keepin' Out of Mischief Now" (1932) - Written by
Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz pi ...
&
Andy Razaf Andy Razaf (born Andriamanantena Paul Razafinkarefo; December 16, 1895 – February 3, 1973) was an American poet, composer and lyricist of such well-known songs as " Ain't Misbehavin'" and " Honeysuckle Rose". Biography Razaf was born in Washi ...
- Performed by Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra *"Wolverine Blues" (1923) - Written by
Ferdinand Morton Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer. Morton was jazz's first arranger, proving that a gen ...
- Performed by
The World's Greatest Jazz Band The World's Greatest Jazz Band was an all-star jazz ensemble active from 1968 to 1978. Dick Gibson founded the group at his sixth Jazz Party, an annual event. The group performed mostly Dixieland jazz and recorded extensively. It was co-led by Ya ...


Popular culture

The plot and characters of ''Interiors'' are alluded to in the Death Cab for Cutie song "Death of an Interior Decorator" (from ''
Transatlanticism ''Transatlanticism'' is the fourth studio album by indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, released on October 7, 2003, by Barsuk Records. At this point in their career, the group had toured and recorded for nearly a half-decade. With tensions risin ...
'' (2003)).


References


External links

* * {{Authority control 1978 films 1978 drama films American drama films Films about depression Films about dysfunctional families Films about suicide Films based on works by Ingmar Bergman Films directed by Woody Allen Films produced by Charles H. Joffe Films set in New York (state) Films shot in New York (state) Films shot in New York City Films with screenplays by Woody Allen United Artists films Films about divorce Films about sisters 1970s English-language films 1970s American films