''Shy People'' is a 1987 American drama about two branches of a family that reunite, with tragic results. It stars

Barbara Hershey Barbara Lynn Herzstein, better known as Barbara Hershey (born February 5, 1948), is an American actress. In a career spanning more than 50 years, she has played a variety of roles on television and in cinema in several genres, including weste ...

Jill Clayburgh Jill Clayburgh (April 30, 1944 – November 5, 2010) was an American actress known for her work in theater, television, and cinema. She received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Act ...

, and

Martha Plimpton Martha Plimpton (born November 16, 1970) is an American actress. Her feature-film debut was in '' Rollover'' (1981); she subsequently rose to prominence in the Richard Donner film ''The Goonies'' (1985). She has also appeared in '' The Mosquito ...

. It was directed by

Andrei Konchalovsky Andrei Sergeyevich Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky (russian: link=no, Андрей Сергеевич Михалков-Кончаловский; born 20 August 1937) is a Russian filmmaker. He has worked in Soviet, Hollywood, and contemporary Russian ...

, written by Konchalovsky, Marjorie David and

Gérard Brach Gérard Brach (23 July 1927 – 9 September 2006) was a French screenwriter best known for his collaborations with the film directors Roman Polanski and Jean-Jacques Annaud. He directed two movies: ''La Maison'' and ''The Boat on the Grass''. ...

, and features music by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

group

Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup ...

. Hershey won the

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

award at the

1987 Cannes Film Festival The 40th Cannes Film Festival was held from 7 to 19 May 1987 in film, 1987. The Palme d'Or went to the ''Under the Sun of Satan (film), Sous le soleil de Satan'' by Maurice Pialat, a choice which was considered "highly controversial" and the prize ...

for her performance. It was one of the last film roles for actor

Merritt Butrick Merritt R. Butrick (September 3, 1959 – March 17, 1989) was an American actor, known for his roles on the teen sitcom ''Square Pegs'' (1982), in two '' Star Trek'' feature films, and a variety of other acting roles in the 1980s. Early lif ...

, who died from

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

in 1989. It was filmed by the bayous of South

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

Plot summary

Diana Sullivan is a successful

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

writer and photojournalist, seemingly oblivious to the serious cocaine addiction that her wild child daughter, Grace, has developed. A commission by ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'' magazine to write an article about a lost branch of Diana's family leads them deep into the

bayou In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...

s of

, where they encounter Diana's distant cousin, Ruth. Married at 12 to an abusive man whose current whereabouts are an increasingly troubling cipher, Ruth rules over her three adult sons, all less than perfectly cogent, with equal parts protectiveness and ferocity, while a fourth, disowned son adds to the volatility of the situation. As the fascinated Diana and wary Ruth circle one another, Grace, bored and in grip of her addiction, toys with her naive cousins with devastating consequences.

Cast

as Diana Sullivan *

as Ruth *

as Grace Sullivan *

as Mike *

John Philbin John Philbin (born April 27, 1960) is an American actor who is best known for his appearances in the films '' North Shore'', ''Return of the Living Dead'', ''Point Break'' and '' Tombstone''. Early life Philbin began surfing at 12. He studied a ...

as Tommy *

Don Swayze Donald Carl Swayze (born August 10, 1958) is an American character actor, noted for acting in dramatic series and soap operas as well as several feature films, and theatrical work. Early life Swayze was born in Houston, Texas, the middle child of ...

as Mark *

Pruitt Taylor Vince Pruitt Taylor Vince (born July 5, 1960) is an American character actor. He became best known for his roles in the films '' Shy People'' (1987) and ''Mississippi Burning'' (1988). He also appeared in ''Jacob's Ladder'' (1990), '' Nobody's Fool'' ...

as Paul *

Mare Winningham A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four y ...

as Candy

Soundtrack

''Shy People'' is the thirty-third major release and eleventh soundtrack album by

. It is the soundtrack to the 1988 movie of the same name.

Track listing

Personnel

Edgar Froese Edgar Willmar Froese (; 6 June 1944 – 20 January 2015) was a German musical artist and electronic music pioneer, best known for founding the electronic music group Tangerine Dream in 1967. Froese was the only continuous member of the group ...

* Chris Franke *

Paul Haslinger Paul Haslinger (born 11 December 1962) is an Austrian musician and composer. He lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Life and career Early life Haslinger was born and raised in Linz, Austria. He attended high school at Kollegium Aloisi ...

* Jacquie Virgil — vocals on "Shy People" and "Dancing On A White Moon" * Diamond Ross — vocals on "The Harbor" The movie's actual sound track uses different versions of "Shy People" and "The Harbor" with different sets of lyrics, sung by Michael Bishop.

Cinematography

''Shy People'' was shot by two-time

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-winner Chris Menges, who also worked on '' A World Apart'', a film for which Barbara Hershey was recognized at the

1988 Cannes Film Festival The 41st Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 23 May 1988. The Palme d'Or went to the '' Pelle erobreren'' by Bille August. The festival opened with ''Le Grand Bleu'', directed by Luc Besson and closed with ''Willow'', directed by Ron Howard. ...

Reception

Critical response

''Shy People'' has an approval rating of 64% on

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on 11 reviews, and an average rating of 6.18/10.

Awards and nominations

*Winner:

- Best Actress - Barbara Hershey *Nominee: 1987 Cannes Film Festival - Golden Palm *Nominee: 1988

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with Poly(methyl m ...

- Best Supporting Actress - Martha Plimpton

References

External links

* *
New York Times review by Vincent CanbyChicago Sun-Times review by Roger EbertScreen Slate write-up by Cosmo Bjorkenheim
{{Andrei Konchalovsky 1987 films 1987 drama films Golan-Globus films Films directed by Andrei Konchalovsky Films set in Louisiana Films shot in Louisiana Southern Gothic films Films scored by Tangerine Dream Films produced by Menahem Golan Films about writers Films produced by Yoram Globus 1980s English-language films 1980s American films