''Misunderstood'' is a 1984 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Jerry Schatzberg Jerry Schatzberg (born June 26, 1927) is an American photographer and film director. Career Schatzberg was born to a Jewish family of furriers and grew up in the Bronx. He photographed for magazines such as ''Vogue'', '' Esquire'' and '' McCalls ...

, based on the 1869 novel ''Misunderstood'' by

Florence Montgomery Florence Montgomery (1843–1923) was an English novelist and children's writer. Her 1869 novel ''Misunderstood'' was enjoyed by Lewis Carroll and George du Maurier, and by Vladimir Nabokov as a child. Her writings are pious in tone and set in f ...

. This film stars

Henry Thomas Henry Jackson Thomas Jr. (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor and had a lead role in the film ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), for which he won a Young Artist Award and received Golden Globe ...

as a young boy who struggles with family, friends, and relationships after his mother's death. The novel ''Misunderstood'' had previously been adapted as the 1966 Italian film '' Incompreso'', which starred

Anthony Quayle Sir John Anthony Quayle (7 September 1913 – 20 October 1989) was a British actor and theatre director. He was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting role as Thomas Wolsey in the film '' Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969 ...

Plot

Ned Rawley is an American shipowner established in Tunisia where his business thrives and monopolizes him. He lives in a beautiful villa with his two sons, Miles and Andrew, who are cared for by a newly arrived housekeeper because their mother has just died in a hospital abroad. The father decides to hide this tragedy from the youngest, inventing an extended trip for his mother. For the older one, he continues to treat him as a "man", revealing to him the disappearance of his mother but remaining cold with him, being afraid to express his feelings. He does not realize that his son lacks affection and suffers from the absences and the harshness of education imposed on him by his father who transfers all his attentions to the youngest. Finally, it is only during an accident caused by Andrew that the father and son will get closer.

Cast

Reception

Box office

Made on a budget of $10 million, the movie was also relying on A-List success of Gene Hackman and

, the latter of which was a successful child star who appeared in several blockbusters during that era. But the film flopped at the box office, opening at #11 with $916,967 in 741 screens, and went on to gross just $1,525,532 in its entire domestic run.

Production

Shooting took place over four months in 1982. The director shot two endings, and wanted to use the more tragic one. The producer, Tarak Ben Ammar, then assembled his own more upbeat version of the film, adding extra flashbacks. This was then changed by MGM/UA.

References

Citations

Sources

External links

* * * 1984 films 1984 independent films 1984 drama films American drama films American independent films American remakes of Italian films Films about brothers Films about children Films about dysfunctional families Films based on British novels Films directed by Jerry Schatzberg Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films with screenplays by Barra Grant United Artists films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films English-language drama films {{1980s-drama-film-stub