''First Love, Last Rites'' is a 1997 American
romantic drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
film directed by
Jesse Peretz
Jesse Peretz (born May 19, 1968) is an American film and television director, TV producer and former musician. He first rose to prominence as a bass guitarist and founding member of The Lemonheads, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based band which for ...
and starring
Natasha Gregson Wagner
Natasha Gregson Wagner ( Gregson; born September 29, 1970) is an American actress. She is the daughter of film producer Richard Gregson and actress Natalie Wood. She has appeared in films including '' Lost Highway'' (1997), ''Two Girls and a Guy ...
and
Giovanni Ribisi
Antonino Giovanni Ribisi (; born December 17, 1974) is an American actor known for his starring roles in the TV series ''Sneaky Pete'' and the films ''Avatar'' (2009), '' Lost in Translation'' (2003), ''Ted'' (2012) and its sequel ''Ted 2'' (201 ...
. It is based on the short story of the same name by
Ian McEwan
Ian Russell McEwan, (born 21 June 1948) is an English novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, ''The Times'' featured him on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 19 in its list of th ...
and centers on the passionate love affair between a young couple over one Louisiana summer.
The film premiered at the
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...
in 1997 and received a limited release on August 7, 1998.
Plot
During a summer In Louisiana, Joey and Sissel are two young lovers fresh out of high school entangled in a consuming love affair. How the couple met is not disclosed, but Joey is originally from Brooklyn and Sissel is a local. In a house on stilts by the river, the couple do little more than talk and have sex, with the occasional interruption by Sissel’s younger brother Adrian. Sissel’s parents are divorced. Her father Henry, a
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
veteran, befriends Joey, and the two men look into trapping eels with the aim of selling them to sushi restaurants. Jealousy and communication issues start to creep into Joey and Sissel’s relationship.
Cast
*
Natasha Gregson Wagner
Natasha Gregson Wagner ( Gregson; born September 29, 1970) is an American actress. She is the daughter of film producer Richard Gregson and actress Natalie Wood. She has appeared in films including '' Lost Highway'' (1997), ''Two Girls and a Guy ...
as Sissel
*
Giovanni Ribisi
Antonino Giovanni Ribisi (; born December 17, 1974) is an American actor known for his starring roles in the TV series ''Sneaky Pete'' and the films ''Avatar'' (2009), '' Lost in Translation'' (2003), ''Ted'' (2012) and its sequel ''Ted 2'' (201 ...
as Joey
*
Eli Marienthal
Eli David Marienthal (born March 6, 1986) is an American actor.
Family & Personal life
Marienthal was born in Santa Monica, California in 1986, the son of Penny Marienthal and Joseph Cross. He has two siblings, actors Harley Cross and Flora Cr ...
as Adrian
*
Robert John Burke
Robert John Burke (born September 12, 1960) is an American actor known for his roles in ''RoboCop 3'' (1993), '' Tombstone'' (1993), and '' Thinner'' (1996). During the 2000s Burke became well known for his portrayal of Mickey Gavin on '' Rescue ...
as Henry
*
Jeannetta Arnette
Jeannetta Arnette is an American actress. She became known for her television role as Miss Meara on the situation comedy ''Head of the Class''. She has also appeared in numerous films, including 1992's ''Ladybugs'' and 1999's '' Boys Don't Cry'' ...
as Sissel's Mom
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack was composed and performed by
Shudder to Think
Shudder to Think was an American alternative rock band. Formed in 1986, they released three albums on the Washington, D.C.-based label Dischord Records, and two on Epic Records. Their early work was largely influenced by post-hardcore although ...
, with singers such as
Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen and ...
's
Robin Zander
Robin Wayne Zander (born January 23, 1953) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the rock band Cheap Trick, but is also a solo artist. Zander was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016 as a ...
and
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins (also referred to as simply Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, bassist D'arcy Wretzky, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamb ...
'
Billy Corgan
William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the lead singer, primary songwriter, guitarist, and only permanent member of the rock band the ...
providing vocals for many of the tracks. Despite the film's poor reception, the soundtrack received positive reviews.
Release
The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and went on to play the festival circuit, including the
London Film Festival
The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...
, the
Seattle International Film Festival
The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...
, and the
International Film Festival Rotterdam
The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Since its foundation in 1972, it has maintained a focus on independent and experimental fi ...
, where it won the
FIPRESCI Award
The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...
for Best Direction.
It also screened at the 1998
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
.
Reception
On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
the film has an approval rating of 40% based on reviews from 10 critics.
Criticisms hinged on the film’s narrative and heavy-handed symbolism.
''
AllMovie
AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne.
History
AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...
'' opined, "The lack of a sufficient narrative doesn't help as the two characters become unable to communicate with each other, resulting in a heavily symbolic climax with a pesky rat. After the initial scene is set, ''First Love, Last Rites'' becomes almost painful to watch as it heads toward the inevitable conclusion, but at least it contains lush scenery and convincing atmosphere."
Emanuel Levy of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' wrote the film "is good at illustrating how initial thrills of freedom and lust gradually turn into confusion, fear and anxiety", and "It’s always a challenge to make an excitingly dramatic film about
ennui
In conventional usage, boredom, ennui, or tedium is an emotional and occasionally psychological state experienced when an individual is left without anything in particular to do, is listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occup ...
, a task that is only partially achieved by helmer Peretz", but ”In switching the locale of McEwan’s short story from an industrial seaside town in England to the hot Bayou country, Peretz…has also aborted the poignancy, irony and black humor that the original material possessed."
Though the story was criticized, the film’s atmosphere and visuals were praised. Stephen Holden wrote of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote, "Although the geographical shift makes for a film that is steeped in local color (this world of ruddy tattooed fishermen and houses on stilts and crushing humidity is so richly evoked you can almost smell the thick summer air), its main characters seem distinctly out of place."
Ethan Alter of ''
Film Journal
''Film Journal International'' was a motion-picture industry trade magazine published by the American company Prometheus Global Media. It was a sister publication of ''Adweek'', ''Billboard'', ''The Hollywood Reporter'', and other periodicals.
Hi ...
'' complimented Jesse Peretz’ camera work and said he "has designed some very nice shots and his interesting use of color highlights his background in music-videos", but said the plot "bored him to tears" and criticized the lack of chemistry between its two leads.
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References
External links
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{{Jesse Peretz
American romantic drama films
1997 films
1990s English-language films
Trimark Pictures films
Films based on short fiction
1997 romantic drama films
Films set in Louisiana
Films shot in Louisiana
Films directed by Jesse Peretz
1997 directorial debut films
1997 independent films
1990s American films