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In "American Quilt," Finn (Winona Ryder) comes to spend the summer with her grandmother Hy (Ellen Burstyn) and great aunt Glady Jo (Anne Bancroft) in Grasse, California. Her plan is to finish her master's thesis while considering the marriage proposal of her long-time sweetheart, Sam. Finn's inability to stick with a project--she's changed thesis topics countless times--seems about to derail her relationship with Sam. Amazon.com's main review criticizes the movie adaptation of the Whitney Otto novel for focusing too much on Finn. I thought that Finn's attempt to sort out her feelings about relationships, while talking to the other women in Hy and Glady Jo's quilting group, sewed the story together quite well. As Finn is pondering whether a modern, intelligent woman can preserve a sense of self within a marriage, one by one, her grandmother, aunt, and their friends share the stories of their marriages or their most significant relationships. Older women sharing their life experiences to help guide a younger woman rang very true to life.
Poet Maya Angelou turns in a surprisingly powerful performance as the leader of the quilting group. Her story of how, as an unwed mother, she came to work for Hy and Glady Jo's mother, is one of my favorites.
... Read more ›I found the setting of the story, an agriculture region of California, beautiful, and the cinematography quite good. It is a pleasant and aesthetic picture for the eye.
The cast is dynamite, Ellen Burstyn, Maya Angelou, Anne Bancroft,
and all the others! The acting I found superb. Other reviewers who criticize Winona Ryder I do not agree with. I found Ryder's
acting and portrayal of a confused graduate student, not quite knowing what to do and where to go very credible, and quite believable! I felt the director of the movie was very true to the portrayal of this important point in one's life, where one has to decide who to spend the rest of their life with. I think many in our society don't really examine this aspect of our lives and I believe negative reviewers are those folk who have not experienced this maybe in their lives as of yet. I found the older characters reminiscing to their younger selves a powerful device, powerfully employed by the Director. It is quite easy to critique and blithely say the flashback device was over used. But, such analysis, does not give fair credit to the full employ of the flashback device use with a twist in this film. For me, it was a powerful message. The older women, still with that younger self as a component of their souls, was what the flashbacks were about.
Truly, an erudite portrayal by all the actors and the director of how we "quilt" our love(s) into our lives. Highly recommended only for those who know the meaning of love in their lives and how difficult it can be at times to sort through that confusion.
... Read more ›At a certain point in the film, we come to find out that the theme of the quilt is "where love resides." Every quilter is making a block from her own experience in life. Finn also learns that the quilt is her wedding gift.
HOW TO MAKE AN AMERICAN QUILT is an enjoyable movie. I think that the individual stories could have been a little more informative, but all things considered it's a wonderful movie and worth seeing.