The House of Tomorrow

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Movie
Original title The House of Tomorrow
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2017
length 85 minutes
Rod
Director Peter Livolsi
script Peter Livolsi
production Danielle Renfrew Behrens ,
Tarik Karam
music Rob Simonsen
camera Corey Walter
cut Brian Williams
occupation

The House of Tomorrow is an American coming-of-age drama by Peter Livolsi , which premiered on April 8, 2017 at the San Francisco International Film Festival . The film is based on a book by Peter Bognanni inspired by the life of the American architect, visionary and writer Richard Buckminster Fuller . In the film, the grandmother of 16-year-old Sebastian (played by Asa Butterfield ) is a great admirer of Fuller and wants her grandson to change the world in his life like this one.

action

After the death of his parents, Sebastian Prendergast grew up with his grandmother Josephine. This is a great admirer of the architect and visionary R. Buckminster Fuller, which is why she lives in a retro-futuristic house, which is also a magnet for tourists and serves as a training center, where the philosophy of the visionary architect is spread. Josephine wants her grandson to change the world in his life like her beloved Fuller, but for Sebastian the building is like a kind of prison and his grandmother's expectations are increasingly overwhelming him. Sebastian has now lived with her for eleven years, was tutored by her at home and almost isolated from the outside world. A lot of aggression and anger, but also creativity and sexual desire have built up in him. His grandmother disagrees with her grandson's growing desire for independence.

After Josephine collapses through the dome while touring with a church youth group, Alan, the group's leader, takes her to the hospital. It turns out that she had a stroke. Alan offers Sebastian his fatherly support and regardless of his superficial appearance he has a good feeling for other people's needs and understands that he cannot leave the shy boy alone with the house. He tries to get his son Jared and Sebastian, who has a heart condition, to befriend each other, but at first he just finds the strange boy boring. Although Jared is waiting for a heart transplant, he smokes constantly. The 16-year-old spends more and more time with Jared in the big Whitcombs house in the suburbs and increasingly takes a liking to his older sister Meredith. More than that, Sebastian wants to know something about this strange and wonderful thing called punk that Jared is playing for him.

Jared teaches Sebastian everything and shows him what he has missed so far. Sebastian takes guitar lessons, they get drunk together and after they steal a bass, the two very different boys who have now become good friends start a band to make punk music themselves. Jared and Sebastian realize that they have a lot in common and share a desire to break out of their respective social prisons. In his previous life, Sebastian was shielded from the outside world by his grandmother, while Jared is severely restricted in his social life because of his heart disease. He therefore spent most of the time in his room, listening to music to let go of the pent-up feelings.

Biographical background

Richard Buckminster Fuller in the 1970s

The House of Tomorrow is based on a book by Peter Bognanni , which is inspired by the life and ideas of the American architect, visionary and writer Richard Buckminster Fuller , of whom Sebastian's grandmother Josephine is a great admirer in the film. For the book, Bognanni was awarded the 2010 Los Angeles Times Book Prize .

Fuller came from a wealthy family and his cousin was journalist and writer John Phillips Marquand , who received the Pulitzer Prize in 1938 for his novel The Blessed Mister Apley . Fuller began studying at Harvard in 1912, but dropped out and became a marine. In 1914, Fuller met Anne Hewlett, the daughter of the prominent New York architect James Monroe Hewlett , and married her a few years later. In 1927, at the age of 32, Fuller was bankrupt and after the death of his first child he decided to see the rest of his life as an experiment. He wanted to find out what a single person can do to change the world for the benefit of humanity. Fuller began to work as an architect and later enjoyed great success with his new building concepts, which he presented to the public under the name Dymaxion . Fuller became known for his domes or geodesic domes , also called Fuller domes, which can usually be seen at exhibitions, in science fiction films or as part of military installations. The best known is the Biosphère , the United States' exhibition pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal . Fuller died in Los Angeles in 1983 .

production

Staff and cast

Directed by Peter Livolsi , who also adapted Bognann's book for the film. It is in The House of Tomorrow to Livolsis first feature film in which this film was directed and wrote the screenplay. The House of Tomorrow , the title of his film, refers to the geodesic dome where the main character of the film lives with his grandmother.

Asa Butterfield plays 16-year-old Sebastian in the film, who lives with his grandmother Josephine, played by Ellen Burstyn . Alex Wolff took on the role of Jared Whitcomb, Maude Apatow that of his sister Meredith, and her parents' roles were cast by Nick Offerman and Michaela Watkins . Fred Armisen can be heard as a speaker in the videos shown in the film.

Filming and film music

The shooting took place in Minnesota , so in North Branch, St. Michael, Robbinsdale and in Minneapolis, where one shot among other things in Matt's Bar and at the local Macalester College in St. Paul, where Peter Bognanni, the author of the book, on the the film is based, as a professor. Livolsi also integrated archived footage showing Richard Buckminster Fuller into The House of Tomorrow .

The film music was composed by Rob Simonsen . In addition to the music composed by Simonsen, several songs by new wave , punk and hardcore punk bands were integrated into the film, such as Black Flag , The Stranglers and Wreckless Eric , but also by Stiff Little Fingers and Richard Hell and The Voidoids . Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter explains that these worked in contrast to the film music. In the film itself, too, according to Linden, Livolsi attaches great importance to small details, such as how the two young protagonists practice with their instruments, write their own texts and brainstorm a suitable name for their punk band. The soundtrack is slated for download on October 2, 2018.

publication

The film premiered on April 8, 2017 at the San Francisco International Film Festival and was released in selected US cinemas on April 27, 2018.

reception

Reviews

The film was rated rather positively by 75 percent of Rotten Tomatoes critics . Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter speaks of a self-confident and perfectly cast feature film debut by Peter Livolsi .

Awards

San Francisco International Film Festival 2017

  • Nomination for the Golden Gate Award - New Director ( Peter Livolsi )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Sheri Linden: 'The House of Tomorrow': Film Review | San Francisco 2017 In: The Hollywood Reporter, April 8, 2017.
  2. ↑ Tracy Mumford: Nick Offerman, Ellen Burstyn film 'The House of Tomorrow' in Minnesota In: mprnews.org, July 27, 2016.
  3. ↑ a b c Dennis Harvey: Film Review: 'The House of Tomorrow' In: Variety, April 8, 2017.
  4. ↑ Sheri Linden: 'The House of Tomorrow': Film Review | San Francisco 2017 In: The Hollywood Reporter, April 8, 2017.
  5. ↑ http://filmmusicreporter.com/2018/09/26/the-house-of-tomorrow-soundtrack-album-to-be-released/
  6. ^ The House of Tomorrow. In: Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 28, 2018.