Ethan Frome

New England at the turn of the century. When Ethan Frome's mother dies he takes over the farm and marries Zeena, the mother's young nurse. However, the young nurse wants to be taken care of too, and soon she turns into a professional hypochondriac. Ethan's dreams remain unrealized until Zeena's destitute cousin Mattie arrives to help with the farm. Mattie's presence awakens Ethan's long dead passion. And although their love is doomed from the start, Ethan lives in hope of a new life. Based on a novel by Edith Wharton, whose Age of Innocence has been adapted for the screen by Martin Scorsese.

COMMENTARY
Rev. Smith gets off the train in New England at the turn of the century. He arrives in the small town of Stackfield, where everything is covered by a white sheet of snow: the churches, the horses - and sin. The whole town is run by mortal beings, but not according to their inner desires. Rev. Smith takes pity on Ethan Frome, a man reminiscent of the hunchback of Notre Dame who cannot escape being ostracized. - Have some mercy! Make room in your hearts for this man! the young, beautiful Rev. Smith exclaims, both resentful of and surprised by the callousness of the self-righteous Stackfield.
But there is a history beyond the visible, and an elderly woman tells about the broken dreams of Ethan Frome and about the time before the accident which disfigured him. Ethan married Zeena, the woman who took
care of his dying mother. Zeena turns out to be ''dying'' as well, through permanent illness she escapes living. Enters Mattie Silver, a poor cousin who helps Ethan run the farm, a girl whose red, curly hair takes Ethan's breath away, but instead of killing him she finally makes him come to life.
Ethan Frome makes me wonder why we always make up excuses - my terminal illness, what about other people, life passed me by - in order to escape life. Maybe this is why we love being in love; there are no excuses then. Through love we see the world as we want it to be; alive, loving, conceivable. With Mattie, Ethan finally comes alive, and their strong and melancholy and most forbidden love reminds you both of the excuses and the possibilities of a life lived. It is a terrible experience for two people who love each other to be separated - I think we almost forget in this day and age of the quick divorce - that the destiny that falls upon Mattie, Ethan and Zeena seems almost human in the end. Rev. Smith's kindness leaves him paralyzed and mute when confronted with the significance of Ethan's deformed body. The film ends with the elderly woman, the narrator, whispering to the Reverend as the snow melts away:
- Sschh, don't say a word. Then she turns to Ethan Frome:
- It seems like spring is on its way, doesn't it, Mr. Frome? ':'
Barbara Voors

Medverkande
Liam Neeson, Patricia Arquette: Producent
Stan Wlodkowski: Manus
Richard Nelson: Foto
Bobby Bukowski: Musik
Rachel Portman: Talat språk
English