Editing The Hanging Garden (film)

{{Short description|1997 British-Canadian film}}
{{for|other films|Hanging Garden (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = The Hanging Garden
| image          = The_Hanging_Garden_movie_poster.jpg
| caption        = Promotional poster
| director       = [[Thom Fitzgerald]]
| writer         = Thom Fitzgerald
| producer       = Thom Fitzgerald<br>[[Louise Garfield]]<br>[[Arnie Gelbart]]
| starring       = [[Chris Leavins]]<br>Troy Veinotte<br>[[Sarah Polley]]<br>[[Peter MacNeill]]<br>[[Seana McKenna]]
| cinematography = [[Daniel Jobin]]
| editing        = [[Susan Shanks]]
| music          = [[John Roby (composer)|John Roby]]
| distributor    = [[Alliance Communications]] (Canada)<br>[[Momentum Pictures]] (United Kingdom)
| released       = {{film date|1997|09|05|[[1997 Toronto International Film Festival|TIFF]]}}
| runtime        = 91&nbsp;minutes
| language       = English
| budget         = $1,500,000 [[Canadian dollar|CAD]]
}}

'''''The Hanging Garden''''' is a British-Canadian drama film, written and directed by [[Thom Fitzgerald]] and released in 1997.<ref name=canenc>[[Wyndham Wise]], [https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/the-hanging-garden "The Hanging Garden"]. ''[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]'', October 8, 2009.</ref> Fitzgerald's feature debut, the film was shot in [[Nova Scotia]].

==Plot==

The film's central character is Sweet William, as both a thin adult and a fat teenager. Its plot hinges on a fateful incident from his teenage years, when his grandmother caught him attempting to have sex with his bisexual friend Fletcher, involuntarily outing him to his dysfunctional family as [[gay]].

As a consequence of the ensuing rejection, particularly by his alcoholic father Whiskey Mac, Sweet William faced the difficult decision of whether to run away to live in a big city far away from his family, or to commit [[suicide]] by hanging himself from a tree in the family garden. The film's themes about the duality of life and death, and the way seemingly very different choices in life can lead to similar outcomes, are portrayed through [[magic realism]] in the film's depiction of a complex merged reality in which William appears to have successfully made both choices at the same time.<ref name=magical>"Magical Garden: Thom Fitzgerald used creative thinking to nurture debut feature that opens Perspective Canada series". ''[[Toronto Star]]'', September 5, 1997.</ref>

The film is told as a [[triptych]]. In the first segment, set in the present, the adult Sweet William has returned home to rural Nova Scotia for the first time since leaving ten years earlier, to attend the wedding of his sister Rosemary to Fletcher. However, upon his return, he makes two unexpected discoveries: he can still see his younger selves living there and walking around the house, and he also has a new young pre-teen sister named Violet, whom he has never met because she was born after he left. The second segment, set in the past, tells the story of Sweet William's teenage years leading up to the critical decision, including his bond with Rosemary and their mother Iris's struggles to protect her children from Whiskey Mac's abuse, as well as revealing the truth of Violet's origins, before ending with Sweet William's suicide. Returning to the present, the final segment features both the living adult and dead teenage Sweet William present in the same reality{{spnd}}and the dead body is not just in his imagination, because the rest of his family can also see it still hanging from the tree.<ref name=variety>[https://variety.com/1997/film/reviews/the-hanging-garden-1117341167/ "The Hanging Garden"]. ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', September 12, 1997.</ref>

According to Fitzgerald, "To every event in the film there are two interpretations. He left home and now he's back and his memory is haunting them. Or he did commit suicide when young and his homecoming is a fantasy?"<ref>"Filmmaker's money problems may end with new movie". [[Canadian Press]], September 7, 1997.</ref>

== Cast ==
* [[Chris Leavins]] as adult Sweet William
** Troy Veinotte as teenage Sweet William
* [[Kerry Fox]] as Rosemary
** [[Sarah Polley]] as teenage Rosemary
* [[Joel S. Keller|Joel Keller]] as Fletcher
* [[Peter MacNeill]] as Whiskey Mac
* [[Seana McKenna]] as Iris
* Christine Dunsworth as Violet
* [[Joan Orenstein]] as Grace
* [[Heather Rankin (singer)|Heather Rankin]] as Black-Eyed Susan
* [[Ashley MacIsaac]] as Basil, the wedding musician

==Critical reception==
[[Roger Ebert]] favourably reviewed the film, writing that "It may be magic realism, but isn't it also the simple truth? Don't the ghosts of our former selves attend family events right along with our current manifestations? Don't parents still sometimes relate to us as if we were children, don't siblings still carry old resentments, aren't old friends still stuck on who we used to be? And don't we sometimes resurrect old personas and dust them off for a return engagement? Aren't all of those selves stored away inside somewhere?"<ref>[[Roger Ebert]], ''The Hanging Garden''. RogerEbert.com, May 29, 1998.</ref>

For ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', Brendan Kelly wrote that "'The Hanging Garden' is often in danger of seeming overly pretentious, but Fitzgerald wisely undercuts the formal artiness with strong, emotional storytelling. In many ways, this is a simple yarn of a son dealing with the usual family demons and, on that level, is an affecting piece of filmmaking. Beyond that, the mix of film-school formalism and down-to-earth drama makes the pic a unique offering."<ref name=variety/>

In 2001, an industry poll conducted by ''[[Playback (magazine)|Playback]]'' named it the 11th best Canadian film of the preceding 15 years.<ref>[[Michael Posner (journalist)|Michael Posner]], "Egoyan tops film poll". ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', November 25, 2001.</ref>

==Awards==
The film premiered at the [[1997 Toronto International Film Festival]],<ref>"Festival gets Maritimes perspective Nova Scotia director Thom Fitzgerald's first feature kicks off Toronto film event's special series". ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', July 30, 1997.</ref> where it won the [[Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award|People's Choice Award]] and was cowinner with [[Atom Egoyan]]'s ''[[The Sweet Hereafter (film)|The Sweet Hereafter]]'' of the juried award for [[Toronto International Film Festival Award for Best Canadian Film|Best Canadian Film]].<ref name=tiff>"Hanging Garden wins two awards". ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', September 15, 1997.</ref> It was only the second film in the history of the festival, following [[Denys Arcand]]'s ''[[The Decline of the American Empire]]'' in 1986, to win both awards.<ref name=canenc/>

It subsequently screened at the [[Atlantic Film Festival]],<ref>"Garden lives up to the buzz: Fitzgerald's film brave story of love, redemption, rescue". ''[[Halifax Daily News]]'', September 19, 1997.</ref> where it won the Audience Award, the Best Canadian Film Award, the Best Atlantic Film Award, Best Writing and Best Direction nods for Fitzgerald, Best Actor for Veinotte and Best Actress for Orenstein.<ref>"Hanging Garden tops at awards". ''[[Waterloo Region Record]]'', September 30, 1997.</ref> It also won the awards for Best Canadian Film at the [[Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival]],<ref>[https://playbackonline.ca/1997/11/03/19895-19971103/ "Journal"]. ''[[Playback (magazine)|Playback]]'', November 3, 1997.</ref> and at the [[Vancouver International Film Festival]].<ref>"The Hanging Garden provocative, realistic and darkly comic". ''[[Waterloo Region Record]]'', November 13, 1997.</ref>

The film received 11 [[Genie Award]] nominations at the [[18th Genie Awards]], for [[Canadian Screen Award for Best Motion Picture|Best Picture]], [[Canadian Screen Award for Best Director|Best Director]] (Fitzgerald), [[Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]] (MacNeill), [[Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]] (3: McKenna, Fox, Orenstein), [[Canadian Screen Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]] (Fitzgerald), [[Canadian Screen Award for Best Art Direction/Production Design|Best Art Direction/Production Design]] (Taavo Soodor and Darlene Shiels), [[Canadian Screen Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design]] (James A. Worthen), [[Canadian Screen Award for Best Overall Sound|Best Overall Sound]] (Peter Harper, Phillipe Espantoso, George Hannan) and [[Canadian Screen Award for Best Editing|Best Editing]] ([[Susan Shanks]]).<ref>"Egoyan film leads nominations". ''[[Victoria Times-Colonist]]'', November 5, 2017.</ref> MacNeill and McKenna won the awards for Supporting Actor and Actress; Fitzgerald won for Best Screenplay, as well as winning the juried [[Claude Jutra Award]] for best first feature film.<ref>"Sweet Hereafter wins 8 Genies". ''[[Waterloo Region Record]]'', December 15, 1997.</ref>

The film was runner-up for the [[Rogers Best Canadian Film Award]] at the [[Toronto Film Critics Association Awards 1997|1997 Toronto Film Critics Association Awards]].<ref>Liam Lacey, "Egoyan film top pick". ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', January 15, 1998.</ref>

It premiered in the United States at the 1998 [[Sundance Film Festival]],<ref>"Hanging Gardens director off to Sundance: Four years ago, Thom Fitzgerald quit his day job and began to write a screenplay. Next week, his acclaimed feature film opens at North America's premiere indie film festival". ''[[Montreal Gazette]]'', January 17, 1998.</ref> before going into wider theatrical release. It received a [[GLAAD Media Award]] nomination for [[GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film – Limited Release|Outstanding Film - Limited Release]] in 1999.<ref>[https://variety.com/1999/film/news/glaad-bows-media-noms-1117490393/ "GLAAD bows media noms"]. ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', January 19, 1999.</ref>

==Soundtrack==
A [[soundtrack album]] was released in 1997 on [[Virgin Music Canada]].<ref>"Album captures spirit of award-winning film". ''[[Halifax Daily News]]'', November 14, 1997.</ref>

# [[Ani DiFranco]], "The Million You Never Made"
# [[Ashley MacIsaac]], "Ashley's Reels"
# [[Mae Moore]], "Deep Water"
# [[Spirit of the West]], "Kiss and Tell"
# [[Jane Siberry]], "When Spring Comes"
# [[Holly Cole]], "Petals in a Stream"
# [[The Rankin Family]], "Sir James Baird"
# [[Meryn Cadell]] and [[Mary Margaret O'Hara]], "Wash Down"
# [[Mary Jane Lamond]], "Ba Ba Mo Leanabh"
# [[Lori Yates]], "The Future is Here"
# Deb Montgomery, "The Tale"
# Aether, "Half Light"
# Laurel MacDonald, "Oran na h'eala"
# [[John Roby (composer)|John Roby]], "Theme from ''The Hanging Garden''"
# [[Leahy]], "Colm Quigley"
# [[Wyrd Sisters (band)|Wyrd Sisters]], "If it Ain't Here"

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|id=0125128|title=The Hanging Garden}}

{{Thom Fitzgerald}}
{{John Dunning Award}}
{{TIFF People's Choice Award}}
{{TIFF Best Canadian Film}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanging Garden, The}}
[[Category:1997 films]]
[[Category:English-language Canadian films]]
[[Category:Canadian LGBTQ-related films]]
[[Category:Canadian drama films]]
[[Category:Best First Feature Genie and Canadian Screen Award–winning films]]
[[Category:1997 drama films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Thom Fitzgerald]]
[[Category:Films shot in Nova Scotia]]
[[Category:Films set in Nova Scotia]]
[[Category:1990s LGBTQ-related drama films]]
[[Category:1997 LGBTQ-related films]]
[[Category:Gay-related films]]
[[Category:Magic realism films]]
[[Category:1997 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:1990s English-language films]]
[[Category:1990s Canadian films]]
[[Category:Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award winners]]