For a while at least, this is mary bee cuddys movie, and in her. Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldnt be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesnt know it so it goes on flying anyway. One of swarthouts skeletons, the old colts, the melodeon, etc. When three of the townswomen are driven to the brink of insanity, a respected and middleaged maiden by the name of mary bee cuddy offers to. The movie was a little disappointing in that marys workmate, briggs, is played by tommy lee jones, so you have a man in his late sixties playing a man who is just a touch on the wrong side of forty. When three women living on the edge of the american frontier are driven mad by harsh pioneer life, the task of saving them falls to the pious, independentminded mary bee cuddy. If saw was based on a true story dont you think you would have heard about it somewhere other than the special features. Jones and cowriters kieran fitzgerald and wesley oliver privilege their female perspective from the outset, introducing stalwart yet plain 31yearold mary bee cuddy. In the homesman, why did mary bee hang herself screenprism. Mary bee was depicted as a successful, strong frontier woman who could ride, hunt and farm like a man but set a good table, kept a clean home, was musically talented in voice and piano and sympathetic to the plights of her neighbors. In the bitter end, i think, after george briggs has passed on the memory of mary bee cuddy as best he can, he rejects the civilization that has shown him such a lack of respect after all his trialstribulation, and he, like moses, cannot truly enter the formerly mentioned promised land.
Shes as strong and smart and as capable as any man, her neighbors reluctantly admit. It is a reverse trajectory of the typical western path, the wildness of the prairies and plains reverting, startlingly, to a tame village perched on the edge of the placid missouri river. Why hilary swank breaks your heart in the homesman indiewire. Mary bee cuddy is a 30ish spinster, tough as nails but yearning for a man, who has set up a nice homestead out near the town of loup, in oklahoma territory.
Mary bee cuddy hilary swank is an independent and resourceful frontier woman, conditioned to living a life of solitude and hard work in americas west in the 1850s. A dull western with bizarre characterizations, it throws together upright homesteader mary bee cuddy hilary swank and scruffy drifter george briggs tommy lee. Does anyone know the true story that mary and max is. The homesman aims for a story thats poignant and told sparely, but. This is true of a scene featuring the story s principal female character, mary bee cuddy hilary swank, and bob giffen evan jones, her neighbour in a small farming community in nebraska territory.
The story centers on mary bee cuddy played by hilary swank, strong and independent but longing for a husband, a single woman going it alone in a mans world, after the rest of her small town turn their backs shes tasked with transporting three women, driven insane by the rigors of the wild west, across country so. Mary bee cuddy hilary swank is an upright, single pioneer woman in the nebraska territory, unable to find a husband on account of being plain and bossy. For a while at least, this is mary bee cuddys movie, and in her universe, diphtheria and white dudes run amok pose a more lethal threat than do snakes. Dont miss nprs best stories, investigations and discoveries, sent weekly. She then offers to marry this man, bob giffen evan jones, gangster squad, but he declines, calling. Swanks mary bee cuddy has proven herself a more capable farmer. The other women in the story the ministers wife, the daughter who runs the inn, are mary bee cuddy types. The homesman, written and directed and starring tommy lee jones tells the story of mary bee cuddy hilary swank a spinster who takes on the responsibility of bringing three insane women to iowa where they can be taken care of. When three local women go insane and need to be transported to iowa for special care, mary bee volunteers for. In 1854 mary bee cuddy is a 31yearold spinster from new york, a former teacher who journeyed to the midwest for more opportunity. In the film, hilary swank plays mary bee cuddy, a resourceful landowner and respected member of the community who gets along fine on her own but would really like to have a husband.
Spoilers a question about the ending of the homesman. I loves me a strong female protagonist, so when i saw hilary swanks strong performance as mary bee cuddy in the movie the homesman i knew i had to read the source material for the movie. Didnt they say that the blair witch project was real, too. Rape culture, rolling stone, and the homesman adobeairstream. It is hard to say where in this movie one can really start paying attention to the facts of the plot which put hilary swanks achievements as a single woman effectively to the front of your memory only after all the other plot lines are through. Taking charge of the trio is another woman, mary bee cuddy hilary swank, who, far from having lost her mind, knows it very well. He informs her of cuddys death but does not disclose the true cause. Why hilary swank breaks your heart in the homesman. Storytelling tips from the homesman 2014 slap happy larry. The homesman, which begins in a frontier settlement in nebraska, around 1835, tells the tale of the courageously independent, unmarried mary bee cuddy played by hilary swank, who. She is an active member of the small farming community of loup in the nebraska territory, and has significant financial prospects and sizable land ownership. Mary bee cuddy is a prime example of the female maturity principle in storytelling. Mary bee cuddy hilary swank tells buster shaver barry corbin shes determined to take a group of mentally ill women across the country to a hospital, in the homesman, written and directed by tommy lee jones, from glendon swarthouts novel.
When three local women go insane and need to be transported to iowa for special care, mary bee volunteers for the unpleasant, dangerous job. She finds an even more unlikely assistant in george briggs at least thats the name he gave mary when she rescued the claim jumper from a lynch mobs noose. The early scenes of the homesman, set in the american midwest in the 1850s, show the men mostly as nasty andor feeble, the women as decent andor suffering. The homesman yify movies torrent magnet and the homesman. Cuddy declares she can ride, handle a wagon, shoot, cook, and care for the. But for all its laddish title, the homesman may be the first to retool this terrain into an arena that drove women to insanity.
Ragghianti, a single mother and political appointee, was hounded for. She yearns to buy a piano and comforts herself by playing hymns on a cloth keyboard. A true story is a 1985 american biographical film starring sissy spacek as marie ragghianti, former head of the tennessee board of pardons and paroles, who was removed from office in 1977 after refusing to release prisoners on whose behalf bribes had been paid to aides to governor ray blanton. She is seen early on proposing marriage to a farmer who owns land adjacent to hers.
Three women who have been driven mad by pioneer life are to be transported across the country by covered wagon by the pious, independentminded mary bee cuddy, who in turn employs lowlife drifter george briggs to assist her. Plain as a tin pail mary bee may be, but jones and briggs too understands that she, and not her male companion, is the true hero of the homesman. Tommy lee jones on the homesman the new york times. She saves or spares the life of george briggs tommy lee jones and enlists him on her arduous five week journey. The story dealt mainly with the characters of mary bee cuddy and homeman, george briggs.
The homesman is the story of mary bee cuddy swank, an independent pioneer woman on the prairie tasked with transporting three women driven mad by the hardships of frontier life back to the. For a while at least, this is mary bee cuddy s movie, and in her universe, diphtheria and white dudes run amok pose a more lethal threat than do snakes, burning hot days and freezing nights, or. Homesman, the set in 1854 in the harsh nebraska frontier, a lowlife drifter george briggs oscarwinner tommy lee jones is rescued by a pious, independentminded woman named mary bee cuddy oscarwinner hilary swank. A thirty one year old spinster, mary bee cuddy hilary swank is a rare example of an independent woman in the 1850s midwest. The homesman tells the story of religious homesteader mary bee cuddy played by hilary swank who hires homesman george briggs jones to. Story of the bumblebee aerodynamically, the bumblebee shouldnt be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesnt know that so it goes on flying anyway. The homesman is the story of mary bee cuddy swank, an independent pioneer woman on the prairie tasked with transporting three women. Im impressed by the story of mary bee cuddy played by hilary swank, the courageous and compassionate leading female character in the. This is a gritty and tragic western directed by and starring tommy lee jones. Cuddy is a stalwart spinster who has kindly offered to transport three women driven crazy by their punishing pioneer existence across the nebraska territories to iowa, where they can be reunited. The four rounds in the gun are urged on mary bee cuddy as a saveyourselfforlast instruction.
As mary bee cuddy, a pious, independent woman31yearold spinster spurned by multiple men for marriage but still managing a farm more efficiently than most men while living by herself. Mary bee cuddy hilary swank, a seemingly strong and independent spinster, volunteers for the task of transporting these women. Hilary swank as mary bee cuddy, tommy lee jones as george briggs, grace gummer as arabella sours, meryl streep as altha carter, miranda otto as. That said, i have seen the case made that hilary swanks mary bee cuddy could be true grit s mattie ross. She just cant seem to find a man who wants to marry her. However, every man she meets lets her know how ugly and bossy she is. His characters are heartwrenchingly believable because they are drawn from truelife pioneer experiences. Still, the only way she can woo a man is with a vision of wedlock as a solid business. Cuddy on the other hand is a strong believer and all her actions are firmly based on her strong ethical and religious principles, no matter how damaged cuddy could have emerged after the girls burial and the distressing and frightening experience of being lost and ridden in circles missing camp, it is a bit of too unexpected mental. The story attempts to show how hard it was for women in the old west, but it. Hilary swank is a real looker in ways that tend not to get her cast in what the.
She could plow, she could shoot, and she wasnt afraid to take on duties that other men shied away from. The homesman official us release trailer 2014 tommy. Swanks mary bee cuddy has proven herself a more capable farmer, homemaker, and citizen than her single or married neighbors, male and female. Mary bee cuddy hilary swank is a middleaged woman, born in upstate new york, who has bought land in the nebraska territory. The homesman is a 2014 historical drama set in the 1850s midwest, directed by tommy lee.
Mary bee cuddy is a new yorker who has set up a homestead in precivil war nebraska. Mary bee cuddy, an ironwilled spinster tough enough to manage a claim by herself, cant bear to see the demented women left to their fates. In 1854 mary bee cuddy is a 31yearold spinster from new york, a former. Shes got financial stability and is a devout follower of the christian faith. The story takes place in 1850s nebraska where a small community of homesteaders decides to send three mad women to a home in iowa. Mary bee cuddy is simultaneously gritty and fragile in other words, utterly human. And yet, she seems to want nothing more than to find a husband.
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