Chantilly Lace (film)

Chantilly Lace
Chantilly Lace
	Promotional poster
Genre	Drama
Written by	Gisela Bernice
Directed by	Linda Yellen
Starring	JoBeth Williams; Helen Slater; Martha Plimpton; Ally Sheedy; Jill Eikenberry; Talia Shire; Lindsay Crouse;
Music by	Patrick Seymour
Country of origin	United States
Production
Producers	; Linda Yellen;
Production locations	Sundance, Utah
Cinematography	Paul Cameron
Editor	Christopher Cooke
Running time	101 minutes
Production company	Showtime Networks
Distributor	Columbia TriStar Home Video
Release
Original network	Showtime
Picture format	Color
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	July 25, 1993

Chantilly Lace is a 1993 American made-for-television drama film shot in Sundance, Utah, for the Showtime Network and eventually released on video via Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment.^[1] The film was directed by Linda Yellen and features dialogue that was largely improvised by its ensemble cast.

Plot[]

Over three seasons, seven friends gets together at a cabin in the Colorado Rockies to connect, grow and cope with life.

Cast[]

JoBeth Williams as Natalie
Helen Slater as Hannah
Lindsay Crouse as Rheza
Talia Shire as Maggie
Jill Eikenberry as Val
Ally Sheedy as Elizabeth
Martha Plimpton as Anne
Matt Battaglia as Chris the Pizza Boy

Production[]

Inspired by Christa Wolf's Cassandra, Yellen said she originally conceived of Chantilly Lace because of the preponderance of "incomplete roles for women, who are sketched instead of developed" in the movie business. She further developed it at the Sundance Film Institute, while Showtime provided production financing.^[2]

Yellen worked from a 40-page outline — instead of a screenplay — to extract improvisation from her performers.^[3]

The film, often compared to The Big Chill, was shot over eight days. Parts of the film were shot at Sundance Resort and Provo Canyon in Utah.^[4]

In addition to the all-female ensemble cast, the film has to be considered notable for the complete absence of any men in the film whatsoever, except for the brief appearance of a pizza-delivery man, who remains faceless to the camera, while the song 99.9F, from the album of the same name by Suzanne Vega, is playing as the accompanying track during this vignette. Literally, there is no time in the film where a man's face appears.

Themes[]

The Sundance director of feature film, Michelle Satter, said the film explores the landscape of contemporary women's issues with humor and honesty "unlike any American film" that she had seen.^[3]

Reception[]

Ken Tucker wrote, for Entertainment Weekly, that the film was "the only kind of feminist slant that gets much exposure on television: well-to-do white women grousing about horrible men and about their mostly unfulfilled needs to be creative."^{[citation needed]}

Emanuel Levy gave it a C+ and described it as "Amiable, well-acted but middlebrow femme-driven melodrama".^[5]

References[]

^ Tucker (1993). "Chantilly Lace".
^ Leonard (1993). "One Hundred Years of Altitude".
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Frook (1993). "Yellen's 'Lace' gets blue ribbon".
^ D'Arc, James V. (2010). When Hollywood came to town: a history of moviemaking in Utah (1st ed.). Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN 9781423605874.
^ http://www.emanuellevy.com/review/chantilly-lace-2/

External links[]

Chantilly Lace at IMDb

This 1990s drama film–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

[Entertainment_Weekly-1] Tucker (1993). "Chantilly Lace".

[New_York_Magazine-2] Leonard (1993). "One Hundred Years of Altitude".

[Variety-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b Frook (1993). "Yellen's 'Lace' gets blue ribbon".

[4] D'Arc, James V. (2010). When Hollywood came to town: a history of moviemaking in Utah (1st ed.). Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN 9781423605874.

[5] ttp://www.emanuellevy.com/review/chantilly-lace-2/

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