Review: Still Mine (DVD) 2012
By John Stringer
I watched this relatively new film (2012) on DVD with an old friend yesterday. It stars James Cromwell (Farmer Hoggett, Babe; LA Confidential etc) who I love, and Denevieve Bujold who was new to me.
Cromwell is Craig Morrison, a tall, proud, wiry 89-year-old New Brunswick (Canada) traditional farmer. His strawberries are no longer wanted, because they must now (due to bureaucracy) be delivered in refrigerated trucks. He can’t afford that. “They were on plants 2 hours ago.”
Bujold is Anne his wife of over 60 years. She begins to suffer from early onset Alzheimers and starts smoking again, for example, after 50 years, and forgetting basic things. This was therefore a very poignant film for me. See…
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2012/10/guest_post_living_with_dementia_my_story.html
The title STILL MINE I think refers to his wife and marriage, but also his retaining his honour and credibility as a master craftsman in the face of bewildering and oppressive modern rules, and managing to build a new home on his land for Anne (a bit like Noah inThe Notebook). It is a blend of The Notebook and Man Alone vs the State. It is beautifully filmed, with lovely colour vistas and the sensitivity to humanity, family and relationships Canadian films do so well.
The plot revolves around his building a new, smaller house, after his wife falls down the stairs. But bureaucracy hinders him. So, we have this proud gritty resistance set against the time delays of bureaucracy and modernity. There is also a lovely Babe Ruth baseball sideline.
If you liked the scene, “That’ll do Pig. That’ll do” from Babe, you’ll love this, especially when Craig goes to the funeral of an old community friend. Craig Morrison has the same single determination and self-respect as Farmer Hoggett.
Life-long friends die, the community rolls timelessly along, except that change (modern rules around lumber, farming and building – Craig was taught building by his shipwright craftsman father. Houses in the area are still standing 200 years on), and his wife’s failing memory and their changing relationship.
This is a wonderful movie. It deals with aging, and the humanity of decrepitude. There is passion, love, frustration, anger,disconnection (with his adult children). There are no easy answers, just a story of courage and the nobility of facing death and decline with human dignity.
This was great, and I’d recommend all young people view it in schools, because it’s about aging, which faces us all. This is a perfect film for a wholesome audience, your kids, a chick flick, but also a great date night DVD. Watch it, 8/10.
Here’s a clip.