White Oleander (2002)

Regisseur:

Peter Kosminsky

Drehbuchautoren (WGA):

Janet Fitch (novel)
Mary Agnes Donoghue (screenplay)

Premierendatum:

11. Oktober 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Werbezeile:

Where does a mother end and a daughter begin?

Plot:

A teenager journeys through a series of foster homes after her mother goes to prison for committing a crime of passion.

Plot Keywords:

Barbecue | Daughter | Baptism | Meditative | Women's Prison

Filmpreise:

3 wins & 4 nominations

Nutzerkommentare:

light review of weighty material

Besetzung

Alison Lohman	...	Astrid Magnussen
Michelle Pfeiffer	...	Ingrid Magnussen
Robin Wright Penn	...	Starr
Renée Zellweger	...	Claire Richards
Amy Aquino	...	Miss Martinez
Billy Connolly	...	Barry Kolker
Svetlana Efremova	...	Rena Gruschenka
Patrick Fugit	...	Paul Trout
Cole Hauser	...	Ray
Liz Stauber	...	Carolee
Noah Wyle	...	Mark Richards
John Billingsley	...	Paramedic
Elisa Bocanegra	...	Girl in Fight
Darlene Bohorquez	...	Prisoner
Solomon Burke Jr.	...	Guard

Alternativ:

Weißer Oleander (Deutschland)
Weißer Oleander (Österreich) [de]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements concerning dysfunctional relationships, drug content, language, sexuality and violence.

Länge:

109 Min

Produktionsland:

USA | Deutschland

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Farbe (Technicolor)

Seitenverhältnis:

1.85 : 1

Tonverfahren:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Altersfreigabe:

Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:16 | Canada:PG | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-11 | Germany:12 | Iceland:12 | Netherlands:AL | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:12A (original rating) | UK:12 (video rating) (2004) | USA:PG-13

Drehorte:

Airport Courthouse - 11701 S. La Cienega Blvd., Ladera Heights, Los Angeles, California, USA

Firma:

Gaylord Films

Dies und das:

In the film, Astrid's mom is an artist, while in the book her mom is a writer - showing an artist working would make the movie more interesting then showing a writer write.

Pannen:

Abfolgefehler: Astrid is blonde throughout most of the movie (until she turns Goth and dyes her hair while fostered to the Russian woman), but in some of the scenes at McKinney Hall after Claire's suicide, before and after visiting her mother in prison, her eyebrows are dark and dark roots are showing in her hair.

Dialogzitate:

Astrid: Never let a man spend the night, she said. Never apologize, never explain. She was breaking all her rules, and it would change everything.

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Verweis/Anspielung/Erwähnung in "Game K N B: (2006-11-29)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

What's Inside Me

light review of weighty material

The white oleander looks beautiful but its poison kills. Social service agencies take children from their abusive parents but place them in homes and institutions where violence reigns. Ingrid Magnussen (Michelle Pfeiffer) puts her daughter, Astrid (Alison Lohman), in the center of her artwork but pushes her to the perimeter of her reality. Life is a contradiction in which nothing is purely good or purely evil.

White Oleander is a story about life's contradictions and the complexities of control, power, loneliness, betrayal, loyalty, and love. Janet Fitch won rave reviews in 2000 for this novel; screenwriter Mary Agnes Donoghue did not match Fitch's brilliance, but turned a weighty narrative-both in terms of content and size-into an admirable film blueprint.

Director Peter Kosminsky and accomplished actresses Pfeiffer, Robin Wright Penn, Renée Zellweger, and newcomer Lohman used this blueprint to create a gripping film that both readers and nonreaders of the original text will appreciate.

Pfeiffer is as cool and controlling as she is stunning even in prison garb, and her mastery of personality subtleties deserves acclaim. Audiences will hate the character because she is too smart, too manipulative, and too real.

And anticipate an Oscar-worthy breakthrough performance from Lohman. She shines in her portrayal of a daughter who worships her mother until she realizes the superficial nature of her beauty and the cruelty of her heart. Ingrid Magnussen is not as perfect as she thinks, and her love is as poisonous as the white oleander.

Stereotypes cheapen some of the film's richness and choices made to avoid an `R' rating sap some of its strength, but overall the film is as compelling as its sad and truthful characters.