August: Osage County (Released in 2013) - A modest hit, the starring cast had too many acting experts

When you take a movie with such acting stars as Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Benedict Cumberbatch, etc, then you know that the movie is going to be a big one. What else contributes to the sheer cast and sheen of a movie - well, how about 2 more facts. The first being that the movie was being produced by such people as George Clooney, and the Weinsteins. Further, the movie was based on a Pulitzer Prize winning play (having the same name); all of these would be a recipe that would make a movie a superhit, both commercially and with critics. However, this 2013 had a mixed score - it did not make too much money and if there was praise from critics, there was also criticism by others. For a movie that tried to depict itself as a black drama comedy, there was criticism that there amount of comedy was less, and in fact, it was too dark. And if you have seen the movie, you would also consider this take of a dysfunctional family to be too dark. The movie was nominated for a number of awards, but apart from a few awards (not the Oscars), it remained nominated and did not win.




The movie is about the family (daughters and sister) of a man who has disappeared. Beverly Weston (played by Sam Shepard) is married to a strong willed lady Violet. Violet has cancer of the mouth, for which she is taking drugs to handle the pain, and at the same time, she is a literal pain for Beverly (who is an alcoholic himself). Her drugs and overall disposition ensures that she can be plain nasty at times. Meanwhile, Beverly has just hired a lady to take care of Violet; soon after, Beverly goes missing, and Violet calls her daughters and sister over for help to find Beverly. And that is where the main story progresses.
And the family is an odd mix. Her eldest daughter, Barbara (played by Julia Roberts), who can be equal to her mother in nastiness, is separated from her husband Bill, but for this time, comes along with Bill and her daughter Jean (14 year old). The middle daughter is Ivy lives nearby and is single. Her youngest daughter, Karen, also arrives there (along with a man who she claims is her fiancee, a sleazy businessman). And to complete the list of relatives, Violet's sister, Mattie Fae also arrives there with her husband, Charles, and soon after, their son "Little Charles" (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) arrives there. In the meantime, the Sheriff has declared that Beverly drowned in the lake, and a funeral is planned.
Once the funeral has happened, that is when the dysfunctional family shows the tensions and emotions within. Violet starts to become truthful and also brutal, and Barbara promptly shows that she is not less talented than Violet. The tension in Little Charles family also becomes clear, when Mattie Fae puts him down after he has sang a song for Ivy, and Charles promptly tells his wife that he will no longer tolerate her berating Little Charles, and they can get divorced on this ground. The tensions in the family keep on increasing, with some painful truths coming out, and family members leaving the house.

Maria's Lovers (released in 1984) - Starring Robert Mitchum, Natassja Kinski, and John Savage

Directed by a Russian, scripted by a Franco-Russian team, brilliantly photographed by a Spaniard, brought alive on celluloid by a breathtaking German beauty - they all come together in  the critically acclaimed 1984 period romance ‘Maria’s Lovers’. Starring Robert Mitchum, the beautiful Natassja Kinski, John Savage and Keith Carradine in major roles, the film is set in a small town in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1946, portraying ethnic Yugoslavian life during WWII.
Ivan Bibic (played by John Savage), a soldier, returns home from the War, where he was a imprisoned in a Japanese POW camp; it has left him physically and mentally blemished for life. The veteran had always hoped for a calm and loving life with his childhood sweetheart and fiancée Maria Bosic (Natassja Kinski), instead, his war experiences, coupled with post-traumatic stress – area dark clouds that hover above his horizon. “You dreamed about her too long. She lives in your dreams, not your body.”
His father (Robert Mitchum) wants him to labor on, regardless, believing that his peasant lifestyle and hard work will one day help him forget his travails in War. One day, when Ivan goes to meet Maria, who is living with her deaf grandmother, he is pained to see her in the arms of Al Griselli (Vincent Spano), a captain in the army. Mitchum advises Ian to forget about Maria, she’s ‘out of his league’, and tries to set him up with the eager Mrs.Wynic. Although rendered ‘psychologically impotent’ by the War, he is able to consummate his relationship with Mrs. Wynic, an act that remains unaccomplished with his lady love-Maria.
Al is fond of Maria, but has a roving eye, which Ian chooses to make use of to his advantage. Whilst the Captain is romancing a friend of Maria’s, Ian takes the opportunity to woo Maria - this angers Al, who shuns her. At long last, Ian marries the woman of his dreams.




Maria, her head full of a young bride’s dreams, seeks love and children - but Ian, overwhelmed with having met his dream, now tarnishes reality with the fear that he isn’t good enough for her - thus unable to consummate his marriage. This leaves Maria frustrated, and she is soon embroiled in an extra marital affair with the charming and slick Clarence Butts (Keith Carradine); though despite his love for her, Ian is on the lookout for another relationship as well.
And just like that, Ian leaves for another city, leaving Maria to fend for herself. She has a rendezvous with Clarence, who leaves her pregnant, and she rejects her lover. When Maria tells Ian of her state, he is cold and unresponsive. She is all alone now, even her grandmother is dead. On one of his drunken sprees, Clarence boasts of his prowess and tells of how he seduced Maria, who later left him. Unbeknownst to him, Ian is privy to this information, and at once lashes out at Clarence, who hasn’t recognized him.
Ian’s father is dying and persuades him to come back to Maria - realizing he can’t stop loving her no matter what- the two reunite. Once the two see each other’s foibles, they accept the human side of each other as well - and finally, in a beautiful scene, they consummate their emotional and physical love.
Maria’s Lovers is Andrei Konchalovsky’s maiden foray into Hollywood; he plays it safe by further exploring the clichéd sub genre of the return of the war veteran. However, what is new about the perspective Andrei offers is that there is a separation of the sexual aspect of love, from the emotion-love. Perhaps, its Maria’s quiet plea which highlights the mainstay of the film – ‘You should love me less.’