The Hanging Garden
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- See Hanging Gardens of Babylon for the World Wonder.
- For the 1998 Ian Rankin novel and television adaptation see The Hanging Garden.
| The Hanging Garden | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Thom Fitzgerald |
| Produced by | Thom Fitzgerald Louise Garfield Arnie Gelbart |
| Written by | Thom Fitzgerald |
| Starring | Chris Leavins Troy Veinotte Sarah Polley Peter MacNeill Seana McKenna |
| Music by | John Roby |
| Cinematography | Daniel Jobin |
| Editing by | Susan Shanks |
| Distributed by | Alliance Releasing |
| Release date(s) | 1997 |
| Running time | 91 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,500,000 CAD |
| IMDb profile | |
The Hanging Garden is a 1997 British/Canadian movie written and directed by Thom Fitzgerald that is about the duality of life and death and the way seemingly very different choices in life can lead to similar outcomes.
25-year-old Sweet William (Chris Leavins) returns to his parents' house after ten years of absence to attend the wedding of his sister Rosemary (Kerry Fox). It is revealed that he was once a gay, obese teenager (played by Troy Veinotte), who was caught having sex with his bisexual friend in the garden by his grandmother when he was 15.
As a consequence of the ensuing rejection, particularly by his father (Peter MacNeill), Sweet William had the choice of either running away to live in a big city far away from the family or committing suicide by hanging himself from a tree in the garden.
In the movie, both the alive, now slender and self-assured Sweet William and the obese, suffocated teenage Sweet William, hanging as a fresh corpse in the garden, are present and interacting. In the version of reality where Sweet William dies, his family members cannot shed their memories of his death and carry on with their lives, whereas in the other version Sweet William is haunted by memories of his father's misbehavior and is unable to reconcile with him.
As well, a new family member, Violet (Christine Dunsworth) is subsequently revealed to have been fathered by Sweet William, from an incident when Sweet William's mother (Seana McKenna) took him to a prostitute in an attempt to cure his homosexuality.
The cast also includes Sarah Polley, Joan Orenstein, Heather Rankin and a cameo appearance by Ashley MacIsaac.
See also The Hanging Garden for the film's soundtrack album.
[edit] Awards
- Genie Award (nomination) - Joan Orenstein, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
- Atlantic Canadian Award (win) - Joan Orenstein, Best Acting - Female
[edit] External links
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