LIFE DURING WARTIME

The Jordan sisters, ten years on. Joy has married Allen, who still cannot shake off his obscene phone calls. Trish has raised her three children alone since her husband Bill went to prison as a child molester; she is now with the divorced Harvey, who finally seems normal to her, and she has told her youngest son Timmy that his father is dead. Helen writes screenplays in Los Angeles. Then Bill is released, and the question of whether and how one can forgive catches up with the whole family. Todd Solondz’s “Life During Wartime” (USA 2009) continues the characters from “Happiness”, now set in Florida and with an entirely new cast, including Allison Janney, Shirley Henderson, Ally Sheedy, Ciarán Hinds and Paul Reubens.

Solondz keeps to his tone, a mixture of cruel comedy and unexpected compassion that neither denounces nor spares any character. At the Venice Film Festival in 2009 the film won the Osella for best screenplay. “Life During Wartime” was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2010.

Shown at the 2010 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.

All films 2010 · Film Archive