SLIFF 2014 Review- NORTHERN BORDERS

NORTHERN BORDERS screens as part of the 23rd Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival at Landmark’s Tivoli Theatre on Sunday, November 16 at 5:45 PM. Get ticket information here

Bruce Dern follows up his Oscar-nominated performance in last year’s NEBRASKA with his starring role here as family patriarch Austen Kittredge, Sr in writer/director Jay Craven’s adaptation of Howard frank Mosher’s acclaimed novel. While his character in the former film was endearingly befuddled, this man is bitter and abrasive. This tale begins in 1956 as ten year-old Austen III ( Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick) is picked up by his estranged grandfather at a rural Vermont train station. They’ve never met, but the lad is to spend a few weeks with them at the old family farm/sawmill until his father picks him up. The boy soon meets his grandmother, the eccentric, ethereal Abiah (Genevieve Bujold), a nurturing contrast to her stern, surly husband. She’s obsessed with ancient Egypt, decorating a room with trinkets and tchochkes, and referring to her grandson as “Tut”. The couple have an adversarial relationship and soon enlist the boy as a messenger/ go-between (“Tut, ask Mr. Kittredge to pass the salt.”). The old man and his grandson soon bond doing chores and hunting as the elder reveals the secret story of his long-lost love (maybe that’s why he’s so cranky). Austen III stays longer than expected and eventually enrolls at the one room school ,befriending one girl and making an enemy of another. When most of the family reunites for Thanksgiving (maybe the most unpleasant meal since AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY), AK, Sr. delights in re-opening old wounds while stories swirl about the missing, perhaps criminal sister. In the last act a family tragedy reunites them as Austen III begins see all of his relatives in a much more mature light.

Craven directs in a sure, steady hand eschewing showy film making flourishes that may distract from this leisurely look at New England life and loss. He elicits solid performances from veterans Dern and Bujold (we don’t see her on screen nearly enough) and promising newcomer (Davey-Fitzpatrick). A superb supporting cast is assembled including John Shea as a local doctor, Jay O Sanders as a pesky “G-man”, and Jessica Hecht as the prodigal daughter. The photography of backwoods Vermont is lovely as the seasons slowly change. NORTHERN BORDERS is an engaging, nostalgic coming of age story that showcases two of the cinema’s most accomplished actors