RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
US, 2008, 116 minutes, Colour.
Anne Hathaway, Rosemary De Witt, Bill Irwin, Tunde Adebimpe, Mather Zickel, Anna Deavere Smith, Anisa George, Debra Winger.
Directed by Jonathan Demme.
After some remakes (turning Charade into The Trouble with Charlie and a new Manchurian Candidate) which received mixed responses and after some excellent documentaries (The Agronomist about Jean Dominque in Haiti and Man from Plains about Jimmy Carter) Jonathan Demme has returned to an original film (with a screenplay by Sidney Lumet's daughter, Jenny).
The action takes place over a couple of days with the preparations for Rachel's wedding, the ceremony, the day after. There is a lot of good cheer in these sequences. The large gathering of friends of the bride and groom, a meal where each sings, speaks or makes tributes, offer a very genial marriage preparation as does the rehearsal. The ceremony is given a great deal of attention, especially the recitation of the vows and the groom (from the music business) singing to his wife and then the meal and dancing afterwards.
However, underlying the celebration is a great deal of family animosity, mood swings from love to hate and the clear necessity for conflict resolution and the healing of memories. In fact, the central character is not Rachel at all. Rather, it is her sister, Kym, whose life is beset by very serious problems. Rachel is played by Rosemarie de Witt and Kym is played, in a departure from her sweet and good-natures roles, by Anne Hathaway. And quite effectively.
The film opens with Kym being released from drug rehab for the wedding, being picked up by her good natured but always concerned and protective father (Bill Irwin). Kym wanders the house, ignored by Rachel's many friends, remembering her life. Her initial meeting with Rachel is a mixture of affection and deep recriminations. And these continue throughout the film, especially as we get to know more about Kym's drug-taking, her role in her young brother's death and her inability to forgive herself. Rachel is studying psychology and pulls this authority on Kym several times. Kym, in desperate need of affirmation, tends to see things revolving around herself and sometimes tries to steal the limelight even as she makes a speech about making amends.
She attends some drugs anonymous meetings and has been clean for nine months. However, events and characters from her past combine to disrupt her equilibrium and she drives her father's car recklessly.
The cast were encouraged to improvise on the basis of the screenplay and this is highly effective and confronting at times, especially about her relationship with Rachel and their father's different attitude to each of his daughters. A further complication is that their father is remarried as is their mother (Debra Winger) and, while Rachel does not have issues with her mother, Kym does (which also leads to some dramatic confrontations).
There is a great deal of music throughout the film, there is a comfortable Connecticut setting with quite a range of characters. The wedding is a happy event but the family needs a great deal of healing. Audiences, thinking of their own families and relationships, will find much to observe, much, perhaps, to identify with and much to think about. How would we handle these situations?
1.A portrait of families? Love and hate? Suffering? In the context of the wedding and its preparation?
2.The Connecticut setting, the mansion? The AA and drug addict meetings? An authentic feel?
3.The range of the score, the variations on the classics, the jazz, the various cultural songs, the range?
4.The title, the focus on Rachel and the family? The film being about Kym? The interactions with Rachel, with her parents?
5.Kym, in rehabilitation, an addict, her anger, her talking with Walter at the beginning and his insults? Rose as her supervisor? Audience gaining information? Her father picking her up, giving her a lift, talking about the wedding, the house full of guests?
6.The portrait of Kym: as a person, her anger, her relationship with her father, his watching over her and supervising, with Carol as stepmother? Her arriving at home, meeting people, walking all through the rooms, looking? Hearing the music? Hurrying to the meeting by bike, giving the sample, going to the meeting, listening, praying? Meeting Kieran? The quick sexual encounter? Back home, the strangers? Her clashes with Emma? Discussions with Rachel, Rachel not knowing whether she cared or not? The past, the memories of the two sisters, Ethan and his age, playing, his death? Kym being on drugs? Her need for pardon, not being able to pardon herself? Her wanting to be maid of honour?
7.Kym and her discussions, the screenplay and the improvisations of the cast? Paul, his love for his daughters, protective, focusing attention on Kym, Rachel and her being upset at this? Rachel as the centre of the wedding, Kym upstaging her? Their absent mother, Kym and the discussion about responsibility for Ethan, putting her in charge when she knew her condition? Her mother saying that Kym was best with Ethan? The harsh discussion, the mutual slapping? Wanting to be reconciled, the formal farewell, not being able to talk to her mother? The ups and downs with Rosemary? In the kitchen, the interrupted conversation and the news of the baby? Rachel’s psychological background? Her studies? The washing machine episode and her bringing out Ethan’s plate? The hairdresser and his revealing the story of her fiction during therapy? Rachel’s upset and leaving? The photos of Ethan? Her speech at the rehearsal dinner, rambling, the talk about amendment? The going to the meeting, her telling her story about Ethan? Her crash? Being injured but saved? Going back for the wedding, dressing? Together with Rachel? Talking with Kieran? The farewell, going back to Rose and rehabilitation?
8.Rachel and the wedding, her relationship with Sid, love, the preparations, wondering whether Kym would come or not? Her angers? Emma and her being made of honour, taunting Kym? The meals, the speeches, the songs? Everybody participating? Emma telling the story about Rachel and embarrassing her? Rachel and her father, upset with him? Upset with her mother, talking with her, Abby doing the flowers, Rachel offering any other job she would like? At the hairdresser’s, attacking Kym as a liar? The ceremony, her wedding vows, joy, the dance? Sid and Rachel together? Sid, his story, the non-mentioning of race differences? Americans at ease with race differences? His friends, coming from Hawaii, the military? His talent as a musician? His song at the wedding? The genial family and their presence?
9.Paul and Carol, Paul divorced from Abby, Ethan’s death, protective, making everything nice, enjoying the speeches and the entertainment, the rivalry with Sid in filling the washing machine and the competition? His conversations, his grief, happiness?
10.Abby, absent, the divorce? Remarrying? Her professional life? Discussions with Rachel, arranging the flowers? Her presence at the wedding, the ceremony, the reception? The discussion with Kym, the slapping? Her leaving the wedding and the farewell?
11.The range of guests, the range of musicians, the range of family? The Chinese supervisor? The singers? The military man and the consciousness of Iraq?
12.The importance of the music, pervading the film?
13.The marriage ceremony, rituals, the witnesses, the vows, the rings, the song?
14.Themes of love and hate, love and hat coexisting in the same person, needs and attention, affirmation and self-worth, therapy, the twelve steps, conflicts and resolution?
