I Want to Go Home (film)
Encyclopedia
I Want to Go Home is a 1989 French film directed by Alain Resnais
, from a screenplay by Jules Feiffer
. It explores the differences between French and American cultural values through a story about a veteran cartoonist who encounters conflicting reactions to his work during a trip abroad.
, as Joey Wellman
Laura Benson, as Elsie Wellman, Joey's daughter
Linda Lavin
, as Lena Apthrop, Joey's partner
Gérard Depardieu
, as Christian Gauthier
Micheline Presle
, as Isabelle Gauthier, Christian's mother
John Ashton
, as Harry Dempsey, an American film director in exile
Geraldine Chaplin
, as Terry Amstrong
Another source of reference was American musical comedy, underlined by the casting in the central role of Adolph Green
, writer of classic musicals such as On the Town
, Singin' in the Rain
, and The Bandwagon, and by the choice of John Kander
, composer of Cabaret
and Chicago
, to provide the musical score.
The film was made predominantly in English. A dubbed French version was subsequently created (without Resnais's participation).
The film failed to get distribution either in the United States or in Great Britain. Variety described it as a "stillborn satiric comedy".
The producer of the film, Marin Karmitz
, registered a substantial financial loss from the film's commercial flop, and was unable to engage in further production work for the next 18 months. He nevertheless continued to declare his support for what he regarded as one of Resnais's most important films, describing it as "a great film about death, and about the death of certain cultures".
I Want to Go Home was shown at the 1989 Venice Film Festival
, where it won awards for Alain Resnais and Jules Feiffer.
The appearance of the film on DVD two decades after its original release led to some more sympathetic assessments, and recognition of its "blatantly nutty" humour.
Alain Resnais
Alain Resnais is a French film director whose career has extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included Nuit et Brouillard , an influential documentary about the Nazi concentration camps.He began...
, from a screenplay by Jules Feiffer
Jules Feiffer
Jules Ralph Feiffer is an American syndicated cartoonist, most notable for his long-run comic strip titled Feiffer. He has created more than 35 books, plays and screenplays...
. It explores the differences between French and American cultural values through a story about a veteran cartoonist who encounters conflicting reactions to his work during a trip abroad.
Plot
Joey Wellman, an American cartoonist from Cleveland now largely forgotten at home, visits France with his partner Lena to attend an exhibition in Paris about the comic strip (bande dessinée) which features his work. He also hopes to be reconciled with his daughter Elsie who has been a student in Paris for two years, in flight from the American culture of which she sees her father as a typical example. Elsie is naively infatuated with French literature, and is trying to secure an introduction to the brilliant university professor Christian Gauthier, an expert on Flaubert but also an enthusiast for comic books. The meeting of father and daughter goes badly, but Elsie is persuaded to join Joey and Lena for the weekend at the country house of Gauthier's mother, Isabelle. During a comic-themed masquerade party, all of the characters are made to reconsider their present and past relationships.Cast
Adolph GreenAdolph Green
Adolph Green was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved movie musicals, particularly as part of Arthur Freed's production unit at MGM, during the genre's heyday...
, as Joey Wellman
Laura Benson, as Elsie Wellman, Joey's daughter
Linda Lavin
Linda Lavin
Linda Lavin is an American singer and actress. She is best known for playing the title character in the sitcom Alice and for her Broadway performances.After acting as a child, Lavin joined the Compass Players in the late 1950s...
, as Lena Apthrop, Joey's partner
Gérard Depardieu
Gérard Depardieu
Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu is a French actor and filmmaker. He is a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite and has twice won the César Award for Best Actor...
, as Christian Gauthier
Micheline Presle
Micheline Presle
Micheline Presle is a French actress also known in English language films as Micheline Prelle.Born Micheline Nicole Julia Émilienne Chassagne in Paris, she wanted to be an actress from an early age. She took acting classes in her early teens and made her film debut at the age of fifteen in the...
, as Isabelle Gauthier, Christian's mother
John Ashton
John Ashton (actor)
John David Ashton is an American actor born in Springfield, Massachusetts, and graduate of the University of Southern California School of Theatre.John Ashton attended Enfield High School in Enfield, Connecticut....
, as Harry Dempsey, an American film director in exile
Geraldine Chaplin
Geraldine Chaplin
Geraldine Leigh Chaplin is an English-American actress and the daughter of Charlie Chaplin.Chaplin first came to prominence for her Golden Globe-nominated role of Tonya in David Lean's Doctor Zhivago . She received her second Golden Globe nomination for Robert Altman's Nashville...
, as Terry Amstrong
Production
The project initially arose from Resnais's admiration for the plays of the American writer and illustrator Jules Feiffer. Although there was originally no intention of highlighting the comic-strip, Feiffer suggested using the character of a comic illustrator as the means of exploring American and French attitudes towards the appreciation of cartoons and comic-books. This appealed to Resnais's own longstanding enthusiasm for comic-strips, and allowed him to develop a film that was dense with references to cartoon characters and their creators. (Animated characters often appear within the frame to converse with one of the live-actors.) Resnais was also fascinated by the question of whether people could appreciate comics on the same level as a literary work such as one by Flaubert.Another source of reference was American musical comedy, underlined by the casting in the central role of Adolph Green
Adolph Green
Adolph Green was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved movie musicals, particularly as part of Arthur Freed's production unit at MGM, during the genre's heyday...
, writer of classic musicals such as On the Town
On the Town (film)
On the Town is a 1949 musical film with music by Leonard Bernstein and Roger Edens and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. It is an adaptation of the Broadway stage musical of the same name produced in 1944, although many changes in script and score were made from the original stage...
, Singin' in the Rain
Singin' in the Rain
Singin' in the Rain is a 1952 American comedy musical film starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds and directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, with Kelly also providing the choreography...
, and The Bandwagon, and by the choice of John Kander
John Kander
John Harold Kander is the American composer of a number of musicals as part of the songwriting team of Kander and Ebb.-Life and career:Kander was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Bernice and Harold S. Kander...
, composer of Cabaret
Cabaret (musical)
Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions....
and Chicago
Chicago (musical)
Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal"...
, to provide the musical score.
The film was made predominantly in English. A dubbed French version was subsequently created (without Resnais's participation).
Reception
On its release the film met with a largely hostile reception from both critics and the public in France. Resnais attributed the film's failure to the unfamiliarity of the public with the world of the comic-strip and its personalities, which made it difficult to appreciate the confrontation of values which the film explored.The film failed to get distribution either in the United States or in Great Britain. Variety described it as a "stillborn satiric comedy".
The producer of the film, Marin Karmitz
Marin Karmitz
Marin Karmitz is a French jewish businessman whose career has spanned the French film industry, including director, producer, film distributor, and operator of a chain of cinemas....
, registered a substantial financial loss from the film's commercial flop, and was unable to engage in further production work for the next 18 months. He nevertheless continued to declare his support for what he regarded as one of Resnais's most important films, describing it as "a great film about death, and about the death of certain cultures".
I Want to Go Home was shown at the 1989 Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
, where it won awards for Alain Resnais and Jules Feiffer.
The appearance of the film on DVD two decades after its original release led to some more sympathetic assessments, and recognition of its "blatantly nutty" humour.
Further reading
- Durham, Carolyn A. "Comic Strips and Cultural Stereotypes: Alain Resnais's I Want to Go Home", in Double Takes: Culture and Gender in French Films and their American Remakes. (Hanover, NH: Dartmouth: University Press of New England, 1998.) pp.25-48.