The Cider House Rules

The movie, set in a time period where many children were orphaned by the various changes the era had to offer. The children grow up, and learn the feeling of disappointment. It was so sweet when a little girl with blond hair and blue eyes is chosen by a family before a little boy with a runny nose and charming smile. Fuzzy Stone, a small boy with lung problems, never got a chance to have the family of his dreams. Homer, a young man who grew up in the orphanage, leaves to find his future and earns a living an apple orchard. He learns about life, the kind of love he never experienced, and where he truly wants to belong. There was excellect performances by each of the cast members in the movie. You could feel their feelings and were drawn into the story. The soundtrack also gave the movie a great warmth. Interview with Director, Lasse Hallström: “The Cider House Rules was plainspoken, answering charges that his movies are too sentimental, denouncing the New Puritanism and offering praise for Robert Redford and Tobey Maguire. Box Office Mojo: Is it true you were the fourth director on The Cider House Rules? Hallstrom: Before me, there was a Canadian and there was [director Michael] Winterbottom and—yes, I think I was the fourth. I don't think [the author and screenwriter] John Irving would mind too much if I told you we had collaborated on that script, and [Mr. Hallstrom's producer] Leslie Holleran and I got together with John and changed it radically. Throughout the course of our commitment, it really changed around. It's John Irving's story, but he was helped through collaboration. Box Office Mojo: How do you respond to the charge that your movies are too sentimental? Hallstrom: I can see why I get that response. I've been interested in pushing for sentiment and I may have steered into sentimentality—I think I may have gotten a little too influenced by the American acceptance of the symphonic score with The Cider House Rules—but I'm very interested in being able to move an audience. This is key. I refuse to see myself as a sentimentalist. My Life as a Dog was very gently scored. Chocolat is sort of a distant cousin to Casanova. That polished style is something I'm trying to get away from but I admit I'm a bit tidy and I still like the polished look, with camera work that really supports the performance. I've been working with [photography director] Oliver Stapleton and I'm very much in sync with him. I still want to learn the conventional approach. [Mr. Hallstrom's upcoming movie] Hoax [starring Richard Gere] may be an example of a wilder and crazier, less formal approach. Box Office Mojo: Your pictures have been restricted by arbitrary Motion Picture Association of America standards, which prohibited breasts in The Cider House Rules and gave a 'restricted' rating to Casanova for a suggestive scene. Do you see Puritanism in movies getting worse or better? Hallstrom: It's getting worse. Had it not been for [singer Janet] Jackson's Super Bowl [incident], we would have had a 'parental guidance' rating [on Casanova] for sure—and it was already getting ridiculous. I remember the ridiculous hours we spent trying to negotiate the number of thrusts in [Charlize Theron's and Tobey Maguire's sex scene in] The Cider House Rules. Generations of American Puritanism have held everybody back. Box Office Mojo: Why did you move to America? Hallstrom: For the adventure. In 1987, I think I had the fantasy of becoming an American filmmaker. Doors and possibilities opened for an American adventure. I was hooked. I had kids who went to school here and had roots. And, then, suddenly I had no strong [pangs] for Sweden. We go [to Sweden] for three months of the year and it doesn't feel as dramatic when we have to go back [to the United States]. I may soon become an American citizen with dual citizenship. Box Office Mojo: Would you work again with Cider House Rules lead Tobey Maguire? Hallstrom: There is a project I want him to consider. He's a lovely actor. I watched him again in Spider-Man 2—such an expressive man. Box Office Mojo: Whose movies have influenced your work? Hallstrom: Early Chaplin. John Cassevetes. Annie Hall. Milos Forman [One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest] and his earlier [European] comedies. Box Office Mojo: Is there one idea that serves as the standard by which you judge whether to make a movie? Hallstrom: In the end, I can't see when I will stop caring for character—and I am less interested in plot for some reason than in character-driven movies. It has to have characters that have some life and they have to be characters who are layered that I connect to based on experiences I've had. It's about having true stories with characters or range. Box Office Mojo: What is your greatest reward in making movies? Hallstrom: Confirmation, through laughter, that I am not as alone as I thought I was. I started out doing films that confirmed I was not alone in having the emotions of an outsider. I realize I am not as much of an outsider as I thought.” (http://boxofficemojo.com/features/?id=1987) Questions that remain? Was the love between Toby and Charlize real? Or was Toby just a means for her to satisfy her physical and emotional desires? Charlize returned to her original boy friend to take care of him, but is this out of love or duties? In fact, was the affair between her and Toby really necessary? Director Lasse Hallstrom deserves high praise for the fine performances he has drawn from his excellent cast. Tobey Maguire brought a quiet, understated niceness to his role. The young boys in the early scenes of the movie were full of life and emotion. They were cute, adorable and very realistic. Hallstrom also captured the landscape of Maine perfectly. It was absolutely beautiful. There were wonderful moments in the movie; "Goodnight you princes of Maine, you kings of New England." The cinematography, art, costumer were gorgeous. The conversation between the apple pickers was realistic. Also the management of life and death, the King Kong movie show, the nurses at the orphanage. I admired the on going sacrifices of the Doctor made for the orphans and his sincere feelings. This is an extremely fascinating movie, complete with a great cast, great writing, a great score and wonderful setting. This movie tackles controversial issues and shows very graphically the repercussions of both. A movie filled with lessons of what is right and wrong, love and hate, and an overall feeling of family at the end of the day. The title is intriguing because when Homer reads the Cider House rules to his fellow apple-pickers, they all laugh because they have already broken majority of those rules except the one stating; “not sitting on the roof.” Prior to Home reading that rule about no sitting on the roof; none of the apple-pickers had ever done so. Well, after he read that rule to them, we see them on the roof numerous times. As Mr. Rose states "Those ain't our rules. They was written by folks that don't live here. We live here. We make our own rules." Which is basically the plot of this story. Dr. Larch had been "making his own rules" every time that he decided to perform an abortion or when he forged a Harvard diploma with Homer's name on it. He was doing things his way and, in the end, the best way for everyone. Homer "made his own rules" when he decides to hep Rose and perform an abortion for her. I think the film tries to make us not to see people as either good or bad. It delivers the message that it is not only human to make mistakes, but being human will also mean that we will suffer, as a result of our guilty conscience, from the consequences of making mistakes.