‘Soldier’s Daughter’
The Facts
Title: ”A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries”
Stars: Kris Kristofferson, Barbara Hershey,
Leelee Sobieski, Jesse Bradford
Director: James Ivory
Rating: R
Grade: B
Five Words: “Soldier’s Daughter” an honest
portrait
I
By Diane Broderick
Staffwriter
The title “A Soldier’s Daughter
Never Cries” perfectly conveys the
film’s dramatic core.
it is a
highly emo
tional family
drama that
manages to
sidestep over
ly tragic
scenes.
Currently
showing at
the Mary
Riepma Ross
Theater, the
film focuses
on an American ramily iivmg m Pans m
the ’60s. Kris Kristofferson (“Convoy,”
“Blade”) plays Bill Willis, a soldier
tumed-writer who is constantly working
on this and that, but seemingly never a
big project.
His daughter Channe (Leelee
Sobieski, a ringer for a young Helen
Hunt), and adopted son Billy (Jesse
Bradford) reap the benefits of having an
understanding father. He always has the
right thing to say and is always around,
working in his den.
This seemingly constant presence is
akin to Mike Brady’s on “The Brady
Bunch,” but the same can’t be said for
Bill’s wife.
Barbara Hershey (“Portrait of a
Lady”), who sports disturbingly short
bangs coupled with various hair lengths,
plays Channe’s and Billy’s mother,
Marcella.
Though she commits no serious
wrongdoings to her children, aside from
having a constant drink
| in her hand, it’s clear that
I Bill is the more fostering
* parent.
Directed by James
Ivory and produced by
Ishmail Merchant,
known for “Howard’s
End” and “Remains of
the Day,” “Soldier’s
Daughter” is easier to
relate to and more con
temporary than their
previous works.
The story centers on Channe and the
men in her life. As she grows from a
young girl in Paris to a teen whose fam
ily has moved back to the United States,
the film is divided into three chapters,
titled for her brother, her father and her
friend Francis (Anthony Roth
Costanzo).
These divisions highlight the highly
episodic story line. More than a con
crete plot, it has the feel of simply being
about a family.
Small touches make things in the
movie feel like real family memories: In
one scene Bill watches a John Wayne
movie on television dubbed in French.
He makes fun of the dubbing while his
son laughs in the background.
' Other television shots nod to some
thing a lot'of other movies skim over:
the ubiquitous presence of the running
television in most households.
More dramatic scenes are undercut
with comic touches that make the movie
true-to-life.
While Channe has her period during
class, it just happens to be during a sing
a-long to a very bouncy version of the
Beatles’ “Let it Be.” A goofy teacher
watches Channe excuse herself to leave,
then picks up with another verse.
Even tense hospital scenes leave a
comic rather than depressing aftertaste.
But perhaps the most lasting
impression the film gives is its portrayal
of Paris in the ’60s.
Children sit at a kitchen table and
smoke cigarettes. An opera Channe
attends with her entertaining though
unusual friend Franqis features drug
use, masturbation and homicide.
When Bill’s health begins to fade,
the family moves to the United States,
the unorthodox upbringing the children
had in France really comes through.
After growing up in a highly sexual
ized culture, Channe finds reactions to
her casual attitude toward sex startling,
and Billy is shunned by classmates.
I
The only real drawbacks of the story
are the sporadic subtitling and the some
what slow-moving plot line.
At the start of the film, it settles into
subtitles, but then jumps to
English and then continually
and abruptly goes back
and forth.
This
makes
watching
the film
slightly try
ing, and
only adds to
how long it
feels. The
rather
jum
bled
organi
zation
of the
movie
also
make
it
drawn out.
But the end results
are simply realism and
authenticity, because *
feeling a bit trapped or
confused is
all part of
being in a
family. >
Husker sports farte, it’s not too late to become a member of
HuskerFury -- the UNL student body support group for Husker
Athletics. Our first meeting for second semester will be
Thursday, January 21 at 6:30 p.m. at the Nebraska Union.
For more information contact the Athletic Marketing Office
at 472-9839 or huskerfury@huskers.unl.edu.
HuskerFury is open to every full-time student, except student-athletes.
'
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