Violet (1981)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
Original title Violet
Country of production USA
Canada
original language English
Publishing year 1981
Rod
Director Shelley Levinson
script Susan Baskin
Doris Betts (story)
production Paul Kemp
Shelley Levinson
music Don Peake
cut Lynne Southerland
occupation

Violet is a 1981 American - Canadian short film directed by Shelley Levinson that won an Oscar .

The script is based on Doris Betts' story The Ugliest Pilgrim , first published in 1969.

action

Young Violet goes on a pilgrimage to Tulsa , Oklahoma , hoping that a prominent television preacher can help her. Violet's face is disfigured by an accident in her childhood. The young woman records in a diary what happens to her on this trip. During her bus ride, Violet made the acquaintance of three fellow passengers, an elderly white woman, the black soldier Flick and the white parachutist Monty. With every new acquaintance, Violet feels that she wishes to be accepted, but it also reveals to her that everyone is looking for recognition.

The elderly white woman tells Violet that she is on her way to see her son, who works in a cellophane plant in Nashville. She doesn't seem to notice Violet's scar at all. Then Violet talks to Flick. He doesn't seem to care either that Violet's face is deformed. When the bus stops to give the passengers a break at a snack bar, Monty engages Violet in conversation.

When you get back on the bus, you discuss Violet's motives for her trip. Is Violet's problem really solved if the preacher can help her? Above all, Monty made it clear to the young woman that he accepts her for who she is and does not turn away just because her face is disfigured. Violet wonders if he accepts her as she is, why can't she herself? Is your real problem your lack of self-esteem? She thinks of the sleeping old woman, whose skin looked thin and like wrinkled paper, but hold onto a lovely face, or of the soldier's black hand that lay on hers, which she found beautiful, although at first it wasn't just that Saw people in him, but someone with black skin.

Arriving in Tulsa, Violet made the experience that the preacher is not her savior, he cannot give her satisfactory answers to her questions, but remains abstract in his statement. Your needs remain unsatisfied. When she gets back to the Fort Smith quarters, Monty is waiting for her there, as he had promised. By showing her that she has something that makes her attractive to him, he helps her to recognize herself and to head in the right direction. Violet realizes that the real problem lies more in her self-perception than in her face. Isn't all of life a quest or a pilgrimage?

Production and Background

It is a production by the American Film Institute (AFI), The Center for Advanced Film Studies.

The composer and arranger Jeanine Tesori adapted the template by Doris Betts for a musical at the American Airlines Theater. She said that she loves and loves the character Violet as described in the short story. This story convinced her to turn it into a musical; what goes on in Violet, her inner life and the way she thinks, was so unusual. The play itself is about many things: beauty, the journey of life, viewing life as a bus ride, be it a driver or a passenger.

Soundtrack
  • Hand Painted Day by Molly-Ann Leikin and Charlie Black
  • We Could Get a Good Night's Sleep by Molly-Ann Leikin, Charlie Black and Rory Bourke

Award

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Ugliest Pilgrim by Doris Betts at eng3014, accessed January 30, 2016.
  2. ↑ Ted Sod: Interview with Composer, Jeanine Tesori at roundabouttheatre.org (English), published. on March 25, 2014, accessed January 30, 2016.
  3. ↑ The 54th Academy Awards | 1982 at oscars.org (English)