Housekeeping (1987)

• Year: 1987
• Released: 05 Feb 1988
• Country: United States
• Adwords: 2 wins & 3 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093225/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/housekeeping
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: PG
• Genre: Comedy, Drama
• Runtime: 116 min
• Writer: Marilynne Robinson, Bill Forsyth
• Director: Bill Forsyth
• Cast: Christine Lahti, Sara Walker, Andrea Burchill
• Keywords: based on novel or book, small town, train accident,

	7.2/10
	92% – Critics
	84% – Audience

Housekeeping Storyline

In the Pacific Northwest in 1955, two young sisters, abandoned by their mother, wind up living with their Aunt Sylvie, whose views of the world and its conventions don’t quite live up to most people’s expectations.

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Housekeeping Movie Reviews

Running On Empty

The movie tells the story of two young girls whom their mom brought to her home town in the Pacific Northwest and committed suicide at the same day. The girls stay with their proper and respectable grandmother but after her death, their aunt, eccentric, literally out of this world Sylvie arrived after long time to take care of her nieces. There is a mystery behind Sylvie’s smile, behind her strange for the most population of the small town behavior – she collects empty tin cans and used newspapers, she loves to walk alone and to visit train station and a nearby mountain lake. Christine Lahti is the center of the movie as a lonely gentle woman who has lived through many disappointments and failures it seems and learned how to choose what is really important for her and not to pay attention what anyone would think of her. It is easier to live this way but Sylvie will have to learn how to get closer, to connect, and to love again. As time passes, one of the girls, Lucille is embarrassed by her aunt and leaves the house to live a normal life. Her sister, Ruthie, a shy, quiet and insightful girl identifies with Sylvie’s longing for freedom and chooses to stay with her. There are gentle kindness, quiet sadness, the spirit of freedom and adventure, unspoken words, bitter disappointments, failures, search for love, for understanding and belonging in this movie. Christine Lahti is great – watching her reminded me of two remarkable movies, “Running On Empty” where Lahti played one of the main characters, the mother and wife in the family that had to be on the run and the devastating and profoundly moving “Vagabond” by Agnes Varda, the tragic search for absolute freedom.

Housekeeping: A Ghost Story

Bill Forsyth is a Scottish-born director and writer of great insight with a whimsical view of the world. His movies tend to focus on low-key characters and obscure places rarely seen in filmdom. “Local Hero” is one of my all-time favorites. I now add “Housekeeping” to the list.

The movie is adapted from a novel by Marilynne Robinson. It takes place in the tiny town of Fingerbone, located in the Cascade Mountains of what I assume is Eastern Washington or Idaho, given many references to Spokane and Portland. I have lived in Seattle for many years, and I adore the scenery featured in this movie. One can almost smell the pungent, bracing aroma of decaying logs, fir trees, and smoldering campfires in the outdoor scenes.

Christine Lahti is an actress of rare gifts. Her basic decency and warmth comes through in every film I have seen her in. She plays rootless Sylvie, who comes to be the guardian of two adolescent orphaned nieces, Ruthie and Lucille. The story takes place in the 1950s, and the fashions, cars, and social mores are all dead-on. She and the girls live in a large house on the outskirts of Fingerbone, the same home Sylvie and her deceased sister Helen grew up in. The story explores the relationships of these three women, and the shifting dynamics of those relationships. There is an implied parallel of Ruthie and Lucille with Sylvie and Helen. “Housekeeping” supplies a rich family history for these off-beat characters, and provides a context for their behavior and development.

There are very few men in this film. It is resolutely about the lives of women among other women. The story unfolds over several years, and we see how Lucille (the younger sister) comes to be the responsible one, who yearns to live ‘like other people’. Sylvie exists in a dream world, and Ruthie is gradually drawn into that land of longing and detachment. Eccentric is how most people would describe the behavior of Sylvie, but I prefer haunted. Haunted by the lingering presence of dead siblings and parents, haunted by the inability to fit in to modern society, haunted by the endless possibilities of other places and times. To me, “Housekeeping” is a ghost story, but these ghosts yet live.

“She IS sad. I mean, she should be sad.”

Housekeeping

It featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I may not have recognised the stars names, but it doesn’t matter, it sounded worth trying, from director Bill Forsyth (Gregory’s Girl). Set in the 1950’s, in the Pacific Northwest, after being abandoned by their mother, sisters Ruth (Sara Walker) and Lucille (Andrea Burchill) wind up living with their eccentric aunt Sylvie (Christine Lahti). They get on for quite a while, but eventually Lucille can’t take the eccentric lifestyle much longer and moves out, but Ruth sticks with Sylvie, even after a flood spoils quite a bit. The relatives want Ruth to get the best out of life, and life with Sylvie might not be doing her any favours, so Sylvie retorts by wanting to live on the road again, taking Ruth with her. That’s about all I could grasp I’ll be honest, not that I didn’t get it all. Also starring Anne Pitoniak as Aunt Lily, Barbara Reese as Aunt Nona, Bill Smillie as Sheriff, Wayne Robson as Principal, Margot Pinvidic as Helen and Georgie Collins as Grandmother. Walker and Burchill were pretty good as the sisters, but I think the key reason I would watch something like this again is because of the curious but charming scene-stealing performance by Lahti, I suppose it is a must-see book-based comedy drama. Very good!