In America
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | In America |
| Original title | In America |
| Country of production |
Ireland Great Britain |
| original language |
English Spanish |
| Publishing year | 2002 |
| length | 101 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jim Sheridan |
| script | Jim Sheridan Naomi Sheridan Kirsten Sheridan |
| production | Jim Sheridan Arthur Lappin |
| music |
Gavin Friday Maurice Seezer |
| camera | Declan Quinn |
| cut | Naomi Geraghty |
| occupation | |
| |
In America is an Irish - British feature film from 2002 . The award-winning drama was directed by Jim Sheridan , who also wrote the semi-autobiographical screenplay with his daughters Naomi and Kirsten . The main roles were played by Paddy Considine , Samantha Morton and Sarah and Emma Bolger . The film was produced by Hell's Kitchen Films and East of Harlem (UK) Ltd.
action
An Irish family consisting of the trained actor Johnny and his wife Sarah as well as their two young daughters, the six-year-old Ariel and the ten-year-old Christy, emigrated illegally to the United States via Canada in the 1980s . Frankie, the third child, died in Ireland. The five-year-old had suffered from a brain tumor diagnosed after falling down stairs at the age of two. The family wants to leave all problems in Ireland with the move and start a new life in America.
The family initially cannot find a place to stay in New York , but eventually finds accommodation in a shabby apartment building in Hell's Kitchen , known locally as the Junkie House. The family is doing some renovation work. Johnny auditions at numerous theaters, but does not get a job because, as he and his wife say, he has not felt anything since the death of their son. Since money is tight, Sarah starts to work in an ice cream parlor and Johnny tries his hand at driving a taxi for a short time.
On Halloween , the kids are the only ones with homemade costumes at the school event and learn that kids in the U.S. go door to door for candy. When they go from apartment to apartment in the "junkie house", only the fourth opens the door, the obviously bitter black Mateo, who is known in the house as a screaming man; his apartment is full of self-painted pictures and other works of art. The two children quickly become friends with the man, while Johnny remains suspicious of him and only develops sympathy for him when - angry about the death of his son - he learns that Mateo suffers from HIV and does not have long to live.
Sarah is pregnant. However, complications arise with pregnancy and the baby has to be born before the nine months. If it came later, Sarah's survival would not be guaranteed, while if the baby was born prematurely, the baby could have difficulties. After all, Sarah has to go to the hospital weeks before the birth, and Mateo's condition is also deteriorating. However, the hospital costs are too high for the poor family, so Johnny is desperately looking for a job as an actor.
When the baby is born prematurely, his condition is initially unstable. However, it is saved by a blood transfusion from his sister Christy. She wakes up the moment Mateo dies, who, without letting the family know, has paid the entire hospital costs. Sarah and the baby are released from the hospital, and Johnny finds work in the theater.
Johnny sits on the balcony of the apartment in the evening, stares at the moon and calls the two children over. They call Mateo farewell greetings into the night. Christy manages to get her father to finally say goodbye to Frankie; only then can he feel pain and grief crying again.
History of origin
Jim Sheridan dedicated the film to his brother Frankie, who fell down the stairs and died when he was nine. He actually wanted to make a film about his brother, but then mixed the story with his own life and that of his father. In 1981 Sheridan emigrated illegally to the USA with his family via Canada because he had had problems in his home country Ireland because of his work on the theater. Sheridan experienced several scenes in the film himself. After the director had written two script drafts and was not satisfied with them, he called on his daughters Naomi and Kirsten, who then supported him with the script. Since his daughters would have focused more on the children, he wrote the children's part. Nevertheless, the film is told from the point of view of ten year old Christy, who likes to film with her camcorder . Some parts of the film are shown from the wobbly view of this camcorder.
After Ariel had been cast with Emma Bolger , she advised Sheridan that he should let her sister Sarah audition for the role of Christy, which was eventually cast. The original idea was to cast a twelve- or thirteen-year-old for the role of Christy, but Sarah, who was ten at the time of the casting, impressed the film team so much that they took her on.
reception
America premiered on September 13, 2002 at the Toronto Film Festival . In the following months the film was shown at several film festivals, such as the Sundance Film Festival and the Hamburg Film Festival . It wasn't until October 31, 2003, over a year after its premiere, that the film was released in British cinemas, where it was seen 397,098 times. This was followed by cinema releases in other European, as well as Asian and North and South American countries. In Germany the film was released in theaters on 11 December 2003, in Austria a day later and in German-speaking Switzerland on January 15, 2004. A huge commercial success was the film in the US, where he fifteen million dollars grossed .
The majority of the critics received the film positively. Above all, the actors were praised and that the film was not cheesy despite the emotionally stressed plot. For example, the Lexicon of International Films wrote : "The excellent performance and the captivating visual implementation condense the excellent script into a film that has a long-lasting effect and encourages reflection on the topics of death, family and home." Negative voices said the film be docile and tearful.
Awards
The film won the audience award at the High Falls Film Festival and the AFI Fest 2003. The film received the Golden Trace at the Flanders International Film Festival and the Heartland Award of Excellence at the Heartland Film Festival . At the Bangkok International Film Festival 2004 Sheridan won the Golden Kinaree Award for Best Director.
At the Oscar ceremony in 2004 , the film was in the category Best Original Screenplay nomination, but could not against Lost in Translation by Sofia Coppola prevail. Samantha Morton won for her portrayal of Sarah a nomination as Best Actress , Djimon Hounsou for his performance of Mateo an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor . However, both had to admit defeat to other actors. For the song "Time Enough For Tears" Bono , Gavin Friday and Maurice Sneezer were nominated for the Golden Globe in the category of best movie song . The three scriptwriters were nominated for Best Screenplay.
The Independent Spirit Award winning Declan Quinn for Best Cinematography and Djimon Hounsou as Best Supporting Actor . The film was also nominated in the categories of Best Film , Best Director , Best Actress (Samantha Morton) and Best Supporting Actress (Sarah Bolger). At the Satellite Awards the film won in the categories of Best Drama , Best Director and Djimoun Hounsou for Best Supporting Actor . Further nominated Paddy Considine , Samantha Morton and Emma Bolger. The entire cast was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award .
Djimon Hounsou was nominated for the Image Award and won the San Diego Film Critics Society Award . The film's script was recognized by the National Board of Review , and it was nominated by the Writers Guild of America . The Online Critics Society Awards Film was in America also in the category Original Screenplay Best nominated. The Stanley Kramer Prize went to Jim Sheridan and producer Arthur Lappin at the PGA Golden Laurel Awards . Emma Bolger won the Young Artist Award in the category Best Acting in a Feature Film - Actors up to 10 Years or Younger . The film itself was also nominated for Best Family Film - Drama .
The German Film and Media Assessment FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the rating particularly valuable.
Web links
- In America in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official website (English, requires Flash)
- German-language site about the film
Individual evidence
- ^ Film on Bavarian TV ( Memento from January 6, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Hamburger Abendblatt
- ↑ a b "Travolta came begging" - director Jim Sheridan on cheap jobs, humiliation and the film "In America" ( Memento from 23 August 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b Internet Movie Database
- ↑ Lumiere
- ↑ In America. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Wesley Morris in the Boston Globe