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The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972) Plus avec IMDbPro »

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24 utilisateurs sur 25 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
This film did reconfirm Newman's stature as a director…, 3 juillet 2005

Auteur : ironside (robertfrangie@hotmail.com) de Mexique

*** Ce commentaire peut contenir des spoilers ***

Joanne Woodward starred as Beatrice Hunsdorfer ("Betty the Loon"), a loud, vulgar, gum-chewing, beer-drinking, unattractive middle-aged woman…

Living in a dilapidated house in a rundown town, abandoned by her husband, unable to face the responsibility of raising her two teenaged daughters' she is disgusted with life… She covers her despair with sarcasm, outrageous jokes and a tough, insensitive treatment of the girls… But she's also pathetic, as she checks the classified ads for business opportunities, and dreams of opening dignified teashops, even though her house is filled with garbage and she's a frightful mess…

The film focuses on the way Beatrice's savage, cynical, often self-deprecating humor and her embittered outlook have affected her daughters. Ruth, the older girl, is a typical adolescent boy-chaser and baton-twirler, who, like Beatrice, employs a tough, sarcastic manner to hide her fears and frustration… Shattered by nightmares and epileptic fits, she sinks hopelessly into defeat…

Matilda is shy, sensitive and introverted… Although it seems that she should succumb, she overcomes her environment and emerges strongest… An extremely intelligent science student, Matilda wins a prize for her experiment on mutated flowers that gives the drama its symbolic title; and she becomes a mutant herself—a delicate flower growing out of arid waste…

The play is transformed from a lyrical mood-piece into a naturalistic slice-of-life in the tradition of the fifties television drama Newman admires… This makes the symbolism somewhat obtrusive, and the emphasis on external squalor—the filthy house, for example—is overdone and superficial…

Newman's attempts to open up the play are largely successful—scenes of Matilda's science teacher explaining the mysteries of the universe, Ruth's accurate imitation of Beatrice in a school skit, and a teenaged mad scientist explaining with sadistic relish how she skinned a cat, are especially memorable…

As in "Sometimes a Great Notion," there's a real feeling for family life, although the emphasis is reversed: here it's a world of women in which men play a marginal role… Newman expertly handles the shifts from vigorous burlesque to black humor to terror to pathos… And as before, he uses the camera functionally, bringing it close to his actresses to achieve intimacy and character revelation…

Woodward again displays remarkable range… As the shrewish, noisy woman, she's at once horrifying and humorous, but her suggestion of underlying vulnerability arouses our compassion… There's even the familiar inner radiance, indicating a beautiful woman beneath the flamboyance… As Ruth, Roberta Wallach is a perfect amalgam of the tough, shallow teenager and the pathetic, defenseless baby…

The standout performance is by Nell Potts, the Newmans' thirteen-year-old, who played Rachel as a child, and here plays a Rachel-like character… As Matilda, she's a model of understatement, with her soft, fragile voice, subtle expressions of nervousness, and luminous blue eyes that, like her father's, seem to be quietly assimilating everything—sometimes disapproving but more often understanding…

The film did reconfirm Newman's stature as a director… In his three features he has shown an ability to work with a wide range of material, and if he lacks an original style, he does have a feeling for constructing powerful images and scenes… Above all, he was one of today's finest directors of performers, which has become almost a lost art…

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22 utilisateurs sur 28 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
The thrill of it has lasted 28 years!, 3 novembre 2000
Auteur : hottentot (hottentot@circuitjam.fsnet.co.uk) de Cambridge, England

I have only seen this film once, at the Tyneside Cinema, an early arts house independent cinema in the UK. I saw the film in the year of its release. I still treasure memories of Joanne Woodward's performance as the tragi-comic loudmouth of a mother, who is desperate to do things right, but also has little time for the opinions of others. I would dearly love to see it again, but on the few occasions that I have enquired, I have been greeted by bewildered expressions from folk who plainly think that I am having them on when I mention the title. Perhaps this is an apt result, given the way that the star of the film played such an alienated role that fans of the film should now find themselves being looked at in a somewhat dubious way! To those who have not seen it, grab this powerful performance with both hands. It truly is a gem, with a fine range of emotions, and a cast that works fully together. Thank you for giving me the chance to write this.

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13 utilisateurs sur 14 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
A Truly Wonderful Film, 6 janvier 2005

Auteur : aimless-46 de Kentucky

"This is an adaptation of Paul Zindel's wonderful but tormented play. This play itself is compelling and has a kind of Tennessee Williams flavor; especially "The Glass Menagerie" and "A Streetcar Named Desire". The adaptation is very successful as the production designer (Gene Callahan) manages to transfer the book's psychologically oppressive ambiance to film; "shame hangs in the air of this house" like a cloud of poison gas.

Director Paul Newman gets performances from his cast that pull together parallel stories of how a "strong, strange, and beautiful" flower can unexpectedly spring from an environmental wasteland. His most difficult task is restraining or masking Joanne Woodward's earthy likability so that we waste little sympathy on her character. But using Woodward as the mother allowed him to get a once-in-a-lifetime performance from their daughter (Nell Potts as Matilda-Tillie in the play). Potts abandoned acting after this movie but her ethereal take on Matilda is right on the money and a big reason why the film works so well.

This is really just a story about Matilda's science fair project in which marigold seeds are subjected to varying amounts of gamma ray radiation (the independent variable in her experiment). Those flowers receiving a moderate amount of radiation bloom in amazing and wonderful ways. However, those flowers subjected to additional radiation either have their growth stunted or whither and die.

Meanwhile Tillie and her older sister Ruth are living an analogous story with their mother Beatrice in an extremely emotionally abusive household. In the play it is stated that Beatrice is insane but not how or why she became this way. In the movie the viewer soon reaches this same conclusion. Older daughter Ruth (an amazing performance by Eli Wallach's daughter Roberta) maintains a fairly normal lifestyle at school, she is a majorette and popular but is very selfish and demanding of attention. Notably she is also an epileptic, which is subtly significant because it is analogous to receiving an excessive amount of radiation. Tillie is very different (analogous to receiving a moderate amount of radiation), seemingly shy and withdrawn, she is actually very independent and has found an outlet from the family in her science projects. This outlet serves as a protective niche in which she can bloom.

A truly great scene is Matilda's acceptance speech at the science fair. She explains the results of her project and really lays out the main theme of the story for the viewer. Watch as she mentions how excessive radiation causes dwarf plants, at that point they cut to a closeup of Ruth in the audience. Both the experiment and the family illustrate that while a reasonable degree of adversity can actually be beneficial, too much of the same adversity will poison life.

While this would be a good film if focused solely on Matilda, it is elevated to extraordinary because Newman chooses to also make Ruth a central part of the story. The conventional "movie-way" to tell this story would be to make it an inspirational tale of triumphing over adversity; of free-will overcoming destiny. But fortunately Newman elects to show both sides of the story, in Ruth he shows someone who never has a chance, who cannot recognize her destiny or ever hope to overcome it.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

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11 utilisateurs sur 14 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
a very bitter pill that won't go down with ease., 15 avril 2004
Auteur : bukakkefriedchicken de fabulous Las Vega$!

The old saw "there are no guarantees in life" is given a sad example in this film, wherein we find Joanne Woodward, mother of two girls, slipping through the cracks of her own life(with children in tow). Through a bleary haze of booze-soaked self-defeat, she commands change in her life but is unwilling(and/or possibly unable)to grab the reins. Woodward's performance is outstanding, unrestrained but not at all stagy or hammy. For people who enjoy strong character studies, this film is a must-see...but be forewarned- it is relentlessly depressing and may touch a bit too close to home for many viewers. Regardless, this stands as an exceptional and well directed minor classic, presenting a sad, realistic portrait of human wreckage.

7/10

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7 utilisateurs sur 7 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
They don't make em like this anymore..., 1 septembre 2000
Auteur : Neff-3 de Arkansas

This film has the same wonderfully subtle direction as "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter," "Diary Of A Mad Housewife" and "Goodbye Columbus." The lost 60s/70s style for dialogue films with immediately profound social messages is probably best exampled in "EGROMMM" -- Newman's daughter (Nell Potts) plays the stoic, life-dampened child who refuses to let her drunken slob of a mother destroy her brilliance.. at least for now. We're just slightly distant observers in this style of filmmaking. You won't get under anyone's skin or into anyone's head. But you may have grown up in similar circumstances, god forbid. An excellent film about the subtleties of abuse without coming across preachy in the slightest. Deeply moving.

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8 utilisateurs sur 10 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
Provacative and reminiscent of teenage agnst, 13 août 2002

Auteur : tgladek de Austin, Texas

It's tempting to revist a "favorite" film from one's teenage years. It's fascinating and more than a little intimidating to see how much of it you do or don't relate to as an adult. This was the defining movie of the "in" crowd of which I was a member. We were so full of angst (and ourselves) that we were just insufferable. Having said that, I can now look back and say that although the story did not meet our life's expectations or our predict how our lives would turn out, it was very accurate about how we felt and was able to portray all those awful teenage emotions we were feeling. It's all about perceptions. I would suggest that any parent of a teenager, especially a girl, watch this and then read the novel. As an adult, you might think it melodramatic and extreme, but I promise you, I remember how it felt, and Paul Newman poignantly and heartbreakingly captures every single tear shed by these two sisters and their mother. An under-rated gem and a teenage must-see film.

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4 utilisateurs sur 4 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
Well-directed, affecting character study..., 27 décembre 2006

Auteur : MarieGabrielle de Etats-Unis

Paul Newman again surprises (along with "Rachel, Rachel") as Joanne Woodward is presented in the unglamorous role of Beatrice Hunsdorfer, a bitter widow living on the fringe in an anonymous Connecticut suburb.

Nell Potts and Roberta Wallach in diametrically opposed roles, Ruth, the epileptic popular daughter, and Mathilda, the science-project sensitive daughter who relates to her pet rabbit.

While some is a bit overdone it is no stretch to imagine a bored housewife trying to make ends meet; Woodward is sympathetic and annoying at the same time. A brilliant performance.

This film was made in 1972 and it would truly amazing to see real character portrayals in film again. Today we have to visit the theater for such affecting performances. Well worth more than one viewing. 9/10.

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5 utilisateurs sur 6 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
#1 on my favorites, 4 juin 2002
Auteur : Troy (troybear@aol.com)

Number one on my list of favorites. An exceptional drama, based on the metaphor of society's role on human condition and the effect of radiation on life.

Joanne Woodward plays an unemployed eccentric divorcee Beatrice Hunsdorfer, who is raising two young daughters. For income, she takes in boarders (in this case, a neglected elderly women).

One daughter Ruth, a rebellious adolescence, and an epileptic, is heading into the same footsteps as her mother (a downward spiral into society's misfits). She mocks her mother after she overhears some teachers discussing her mother's past zany antics.

Matilda, the younger daughter is an introvert, smart and a loner. She seeks refuge in her school work, mainly her science projects. Matilda for the most part is the only character in the film who has any redeeming social graces.

I've looked for this video to purchase, but its out of print. If anyone happens to know when or where I can get one, please email me the details. I have a copy that I recorded many years ago when it played one night on a late movie show, so I have that to fall back on. But I would really like to get this movie on DVD.

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6 utilisateurs sur 9 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
intense real life drama, 1 janvier 2005

Auteur : John Frame (jvframe@ozemail.com.au) de Brisbane, Australie

This film captures with unflinching accuracy the anguish caused to a family by a parent with a severe alcohol problem. However alcohol abuse is just one symptom displayed by this particular family unit which is struggling to survive economically disastrous times, from a severely disadvantaged position. The daughter's school science project "The Effect Of Gamma Rays On Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds" mirrors the ongoing American social experiment of economic rationalism.

Joanne Woodward's character Beatrice is not evil, though she does some of the most cruel and demeaning things imaginable to her children. I believe that it's a great credit to both the playwright and director that we are able to develop empathy for her in spite of these actions. Much of what has happened to Beatrice in life has been out of her control, and yet she struggles to support her family and she holds desperately to hope of a highly unlikely avenue of economic escape (an as yet unformulated cheesecake recipe).

This is one of the most demanding, highly impacting and yet compulsive films I've seen. It's a window to the interpersonal relationships of good people who are struggling to respond with vigour to a system that delineates winners and losers.

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3 utilisateurs sur 4 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
An interesting drama, 4 août 2006

Auteur : killerjim4 de Etats-Unis

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (Wow! Long title...) is an interesting drama about an awful mother and her two teenage daughters. The mother, Beatrice (Joanne Woodward), is a widow who doesn't really work. She instead chain smokes, complains about everything, insults everyone, including her kids, and doesn't seem to know how to raise children. Her oldest daughter Ruth (Roberta Wallach) is a popular cheerleader, who occasionally has convulsions. Youngest daughter Matilda (Nell Potts, Woodward's real life daughter) is good at science, but is very shy and has no friends (despite being more attractive, in my opinion). They have an old woman as a border to earn some money. This movie is very sweet and deals realistically with family problems. Beatrice is obnoxious and self-centered and Ruth is the same. The only character one can sympathize with is shy Matilda. The film was directed by Paul Newman, husband of Woodward and father of Potts. It was based on a play by Paul Zindel, who wrote a book, "The Pigman", that I had to read for high school. I think the movie was once available on VHS, but it's probably out-of-print. I hope someday the Newman family will take some time off from making spaghetti sauce to collaborate with 20th Century Fox to give this movie the deluxe DVD treatment.

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