ELEANOR THE GREAT Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Scarlett Johansson
Stars: June Squibb, Erin Kellyman, Jessica Hecht, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Will Price, Rita Zohar.
Following its popular screenings at the recent Jewish International Film Festival, Scarlett Johansson’s debut directorial feature gains a cinematic release, and it’s one film worth catching up with.
Eleanor Morgenstein (played by June Squibb, from Thelma and Nebraska, etc) is a 91-year-old Jewish woman living in Florida, where she shares a small apartment with Bessie (Rita Zohar), a Holocaust survivor. Most nights Bessie wakes up from a nightmare, and she shares her horror stories with the compassionate Eleanor. After Bessie dies, Eleanor moves to Manhattan to live with her long-suffering daughter Lisa (Jessica Hecht, from tv series The Sinner, etc) and grandson Max (Will Price).
Lisa arranges for Eleanor to attend activities at a local Jewish community centre to give her something to do to fill in her days. Eleanor mistakenly wanders into a Holocaust Survivors Support Group. She shares one of Bessie’s stories about her horrific childhood experiences during WWII with the group but claims it as her own experience. Listening to the group is journalism student Nina (Erin Kellyman, from tv series The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, etc), who is researching a story she is working on. Nina is moved by Eleanor’s story and presses her to learn more. Nina herself is still grieving over the recent death of her own mother. Her father Roger (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a respected television journalist, but he has grown emotionally distant from Nina and is unable to talk about his late wife, leaving Nina with little support to work through her grief. Eleanor provides a sympathetic ear, and she and Nina grow close.
But soon Eleanor’s innocent deception is exposed in a very public and humiliating way. How will she handle the fall out from her well-meaning deception?
The debut script from Tory Kamen, Eleanor The Great is a character driven piece that explores themes of Jewish identity, memories, aging, death, grief, loss, and how we all process our emotional responses to grief in different ways. The film also explores the importance of still hearing stories from the Holocaust to remind us that we should never forget those dark days from our recent past.
Eleanor The Great marks the directorial debut for Johansson, best known for her work as part of The Marvel Cinematic Universe, and she handles the material with sympathy, sensitivity and intelligence.
Central to the film though Is the strong and nuanced performance from Squibb, a veteran who still has a commanding and feisty presence even at the age of 94 and gives the character depth suffusing Eleanor with a nice mix of fragility, pain, resilience and quiet strength. She brings a sassy quality and snarky humour to her performance. Squibb and newcomer Kellyman develop a strong chemistry that feels natural.
Eleanor The Great is a bittersweet and moving film without becoming mawkish or overly sentimental.
★★★
