Back when HBO was new for most I was watching one night when a movie came on I’d heard of but never seen. I decided to give it a watch and was glad I did after. I found the movie thought provoking and hilarious. After that I never saw the movie again though I remembered it. If it was released on VHS I never saw it though it looks like Sony released it in 1994. So when I saw Kino Lorber was releasing it to disc I was excited to see it once more.
Released in 1974 the film takes place in New York City, a time when developers were tearing down parts of the city that had crumbled with no one taking care of the buildings and replacing them with high rise apartment complexes and buildings. Many didn’t want to move but had no choice when the city would condemn their buildings or the owners would sell for top dollar. HOMEBODIES is set during this time.
An old building houses a number of elderly people who love their home. But a developer has been buying the houses up and down the street intending to demolish them and rebuild a new set of more expensive apartments there. One of the tenants, Mattie (Paula Trueman) decides that maybe she should take matters into her own hands. She sabotages the worksite where the first buildings are going up, resulting in the deaths of some of the workers there which stops the building from going up. But this can’t go on forever.
A welfare worker continues to inform the tenants that they must move and if they don’t do so on their own they will be forcibly removed. Making a visit to ensure that they obey, she is stabbed by one of the tenants. As they all stand around her watching her die, they have to decide what to do next. They decide to hide her death and load her into her car which Mattie will dispose of. Except Mattie doesn’t know how to drive which leads to a slapstick style moment as she makes her way to dispose of the car and body.
This continues as the group of tenants are now bound to one another keeping the secret and making sure no one finds out. But one among them is troubled by this and it remains to be seen what the rest will do about her sense of decency. In the meantime they continue to refuse to move while at the same time trying to figure out just what to do. Will they relocate? Or will they just continue to deal with those trying to force them to move? And if so how high will the body count go before someone notices?
The movie works on so many different levels and is both funny, touching and troubling at the same time. The humor here is definitely dark and involves a number of aging character actors at the time who were quite recognizable which made the film work. It was touching in that these characters cared so much about one another, knew everything about and were willing to stick by one another. And it was troubling because all of us reach that age at some point and you begin to wonder, how will I be treated when I find myself in this stage of life?
When the final credits roll on this film you find yourself thinking about what you’ve just watched. You chuckle at those funny moments and the characters and their behaviors. At the same time you begin to think about your treatment of the elderly in your life. And as I said, you wonder how you will be treated. The movie sticks with you long after watching it.
I whole heartedly encourage you to seek this one out. It
will take your emotions from one extreme to the other. You will laugh, you will
worry about the characters and you may cry a little. And hopefully you’ll walk
away thinking a little bit about how to treat those older people in your life.
No comments:
Post a Comment