Revisiting Rewatchables, week 13: “The Company of Strangers”
Through a dense mist we see figures approaching and slowly they take shape and become a group of elderly women who are making their way along a lonely road in the middle of nowhere, accompanied by haunting bird calls. Thus, this story starts.
I was in Portland, Oregon, in October 1991 when I read a review of this film in a local paper. I was intrigued and went to see it in an arthouse cinema. I was utterly enchanted and went back a week later so see it a second time.
Sometimes you meet films (or books or art of any kind) that touch you in a way you can't really describe. You want to share your pleasure but can't say more than: “Isn't this just wonderful?” and you are afraid that the others will shake their heads. I feel I'm part of a secret community of worshippers. There must be many more like me who were captivated by “The Company of Strangers” but we seem to be destined never to meet.
If “Zelig” is a mockumentary, then “The Company of Strangers” is docu-fiction.* There is hardly any plot. The fiction part tells of a group of elderly women plus a young female bus driver who are on an excursion to somewhere and take a detour to look for a summerhouse that one of the women remembers from her childhood. The bus breaks down, the women take refuge in an abandoned house. They are stuck in the wilderness and have to find a way to survive while they wait for help to arrive. Eventually help does arrive and they return back to civilization. The whole thing is a very gentle adventure. They are not in any danger; they manage to cope with the help of what they find at the house and the surroundings.
The narrative is the scaffolding that holds various small or more elaborate scenes in place. It is in these scenes, conversations over a game of cards or during a foraging expedition or while trying to fall asleep, that we get to know these women. And what we get to know is the documentary part. The women were carefully chosen to build a diverse group that would lead to interesting interactions. The women (the oldest 88, the youngest 27) play themselves.
Watching these women, you fall in love with them, because they are genuine. They talk about the hardships and joys of their lives, their fear of death and of abandonment, and they can be exuberant and sad. They are old, but they are full of grace and dignity in the way they meet the indignities of old age.
When I rewatched the film I watched it twice, the second time with the director's commentary, because I really didn't want to take farewell from these women and their magical house somewhere in the Canadian wilderness. The one woman I liked best is Cissy. “Cissy is a true innocent, an honest, wise, simple, gently cheerful, enchanting human being,” is the way the film's writer, Gloria Demers, describes her. Cissy radiates innocence and goodness, and it is a rare gift to meet someone like this.
After watching the film again, I simply had to reread Mary Meigs' memoir of the making of the film. It's not so much a technical diary of what happened and how, although there is that part as well. The main part consists of portraits of the people involved. How they differ from what we see on film (it seems just about all of the women would have worn more colourful clothes) and details from their lives we don't get to know in the film. It makes you think about the personas we show in various settings. When are we "authentic" and when are we putting on a show? Are we ever authentic? It's a lovely book. Poetic and insightful. Highly recommended.
“The Company of Strangers” has a female sensibility. It was written and directed by women and had an all-women cast. In her commentary, Cynthia Scott mentions that they didn't really know how to rescue their protagonists. They had to be rescued somehow but by which means? She said that the men in the film crew all advocated helicopters. She was adamant that there should be no helicopters. It would have destroyed the mood of the film if noisy helicopters had invaded the set. The solution they opted for in the end is perfect, and the film ends the way it began: figures vanishing into the mist.
Go see it! It’s on YouTube (the link is below)
* The original title is “The Company of Strangers” but it had to be changed in the United States to avoid confusion with the similarly titled film “The Comfort of Strangers”.