Passion Fish (Amori e amicizie) – John Sayles

uno di quei film che partono piano, poi crescono fino ad affezionarti alle due protagoniste, e non solo.
e poi vorresti sapere come stanno oggi, mica capita con tutti.
John Sayles, per chi ancora non lo conosce, è un regista di serie A, provateci - Ismaele

…At the heart of the movie is the uneasy relationship between May-Alice and Chantelle. May-Alice is used to being willful and spoiled. Chantelle does not find her behavior acceptable. But May-Alice has the money and Chantelle needs the job, for more urgent reasons than we first realize, and so it seems that Chantelle may have to put up with May-Alice's behavior. Yet in a deeper sense, one that only gradually reveals itself to May-Alice, what she needs most of all from Chantelle is the other woman's ability to stand up to her.

There are elements here of a vaguely similar relationship in "Driving Miss Daisy," but Sayles has his own film, direct and original, and in the struggle of wills between these two characters he creates two of the most interesting human portraits of the year.

The struggle at the heart of the movie is lightened by the comic portraits of May-Alice's many visitors (I would have liked to see a whole movie about Uncle Max, and an old friend named Precious deserves a short subject of her own). The romance is handled with a delicate, tentative touch that reflects the character's feelings for one another. "Passion Fish" begins with a scene from May-Alice's soap opera, and by the end we see how far such canned melodrama is from the real lessons of life.

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For feminist film lovers John Sayles's new offering "Passion Fish" is a "must see" film.   Sayles is among the very best U.S. independent filmmakers and though many of his films are about men and their struggles (for example "Matewan," "Eight Men Out," and "City of Hope") when turns his attention to writing films about women such as  "Lianna" and now "Passion Fish," the characters are drawn with such understanding, respect, and compassion that I have to call Sayles a feminist filmmaker…

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…Passion Fish is for those who enjoy watching real-seeming people struggle through everyday crises in the wake of a tragedy. Sayles gets all the details right, and keeps his screenplay away from the worn-out melodrama that always lurks around the corner in films about the injured and infirm. Passion Fish a small movie about changes in attitude and understanding, and it knows when to be serious and when to laugh.

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En la cinematografía mundial no es frecuente hallar obras en las que los personajes protagonistas pertenezcan al género femenino; no me refiero a historias protagonizadas por mujeres: me refiero a que sean las féminas quienes ocupen casi la totalidad de las escenas.
Dejando aparte panfletos supuestamente feministas pero sin calidad, tan sólo en vehículos de lucimiento de grandes actrices hallaremos piezas en las que los varones prácticamente pasen desapercibidos. Podríamos contarlas casi con los dedos de una mano si acotamos la selección a piezas por lo menos interesantes.
Dando muestra una vez más de su carácter de cineasta independiente, ajeno a modas e intereses mercantilistas, John Sayles, como siempre en su amplia labor de guionista, Director y montador, se detiene a primeros de los noventa del siglo pasado en una historia ideada y escrita por él mismo en la que serán dos mujeres, de condiciones muy distintas, las que se enfrentarán y lucharán por salir a flote.
Passion Fish, estrenada en 1992, es una obra diferente desde su planteamiento: May-Alice Culhane (extraordinaria Mary McDonell, justamente nominada al Oscar por su trabajo) es una actriz de fotonovelas que, un buen día, despierta en la cama de un hospital: ha quedado paralítica de piernas a causa de un atropello en las diabólicas calles de Nueva York...

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Delizioso affresco sui valori supremi del rapporto interpersonale, con predominanza di quello dell'amicizia. Qui un'ex attrice, rimasta paraplegica a seguito di un incidente, riesce ad instaurare una sorta di empatia perfetta con un ex cocainomane che le fa da assistente, malgrado il caratteraccio che la contraddistingue. La regia e la fotografia sono di buon livello e il cast altrettanto valido, forse si può obiettare un'eccessiva prolissità ma di pellicole come queste non ci si lamenterà mai.

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