Falling Angels

Falling Angels is a 2003 independent film by Scott Smith, based on the novel of the same name by Barbara Gowdy and adapted for the screen by poet and author Esta Spalding. It is the second feature film by Scott Smith, writer, producer and director of Rollercoaster (1999). Set in the late 1960s, the film is a dark comedy focusing on the coming of age of three sisters and their struggle for independence in a dysfunctional family. It is also a story about the destructive effects of secrecy between parents and children. Plot The first few days of 1970, in an Ontario suburb, and the Field family's fragile domestic peace has come to an end with the death of mother Mary. The story is told in loops and flashbacks over 10 years, opening and closing with the water flowing over Niagara Falls, while the bulk of the film depicts the fall and winter of 1969 leading to Mary's funeral. In the background looms the tragedy of the suspicious death years ago of the first-born child, three-month-old Jimmy; a pervasive and never spoken of subject, Jimmy's existence is only revealed through a single newspaper clipping the (then adolescent) girls find in Mary's purse. The household is ruled by father Jim Field, modeled on his experiences in the military, as is illustrated by a flashback sequence to the two weeks he forced his family to spend trapped in his self-built backyard bomb shelter, for "practice". Jim works as a used-car salesman and he is keen on keeping up appearances in front of the neighbors. He is psychologically unstable, drinks heavily and cheats on his wife (which she accepts) although he is also oddly protective of her, insisting that his daughters watch her all the time. His depressed wife Mary, a onetime dancer, has escaped into apathy and alcoholism a long time ago. She lives a catatonic life on the living room couch, staring absently at the television, her ever-present coffee cup full of whiskey impassively filled by one family member or another. Each of the three teenaged daughters has her own way to cope with the deleterious family atmosphere. They try to find their own experiences while struggling with weight of their family duties and concern for their mother. Norma is the eldest daughter and the most responsible element of the family; quiet, subdued and selfless, she overburdens herself with domestic tasks and responsibilities, and patiently puts up with her father's antics.