One Paragraph Movie Review: Housekeeping

Two hundred and thirty-ninth film: Housekeeping, an odd 1987 film about orphaned girls looked after by their unusual aunt that I don’t know how to feel about. The themes are clear — that eccentricity and madness are two sides of the same prism, that well-meaning judgement of people can blind you to their harmless charm, and that hoarders are people too — but we’re intentionally just left to decide how we feel about those themes and the people who illustrate them. The final scene feels very much like it’s about to be resolved by a sudden tragedy but it’s not — it just disappears gradually and, like its two main aunt/niece characters, skips town and leaves us to figure out what to do with the remains. Very little happens in this movie — one sister moves out, townsfolk are concerned about the other’s welfare, Aunt Sylvie borrows a fishing boat — yet everything that does happen is unexpected. I think that’s the point? That we’re supposed to not be frightened of oddness, and left to its own devices it won’t cause any harm? That, or to remind us to always wear gloves (it’s cold out). Hmmm. Two and a half pocket fish out of five.