May Blogathon: Living in Season
May 13, 2008 by Jane Boursaw
Some writer-pals and I decided to do a fun thing and blog about each others’ blogs. So for the next few weeks, I’m going to weave in posts about their blogs (with a movie theme, of course!).
Today’s entry is for Amy Grisak’s blog, Living in Season. It made me think of movies with a gardening theme, so here are my Top 5 Movies with a Garden Theme:
1. Atonement (2007). This British romance from author Ian McEwan follows the life of Briony Tallis and her family. As a young girl, she irrevocably changes the course of several lives after accusing her older sister’s lover of a crime he didn’t commit. The Tallis family lives on a beautiful English estate, complete with sprawling gardens and a fountain that plays heavily into the storyline. Stars include James McAvoy and Keira Knightley.
More after the jump…
2. Green Card (1990). Andie MacDowell stars as Bronte Parrish, a New Yorker and horticulturist whose dream is to find the money to build beautiful gardens around the city. She has a great flat complete with a greenhouse, but unfortunately, the lease specifies that only married couples can live there. Thank goodness for George Faure (Gerard Depardieu), a Frenchman who needs a green card — and thus, a wife. To convince the immigration officers they’re in love, these two opposites move in together. One of my favorite scenes is when a distressed Bronte turns to her greenhouse garden and starts mindlessly potting up plants to take her mind off her troubles.
3. Howard’s End (1992). Most of the Merchant-Ivory films include a garden of some sort, and this one is no exception. The story is about social classes in England at the beginning of the century, including a beautifully gardened estate called “Howard’s End.”
4. A Walk in the Clouds (1995). Not a garden per se, but this movie starring Keanu Reeves and Aitana Sánchez-Gijón features a beautiful old-world vineyard that takes your breath away. Well, the love story and Keanu Reeves help, too.
5. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). Ang Lee’s lovely film is set against 19th-century China’s breathtaking landscape and gardens. One of the most stunning scenes - which still has people talking - is where the main characters “fly” above a forest, fighting their way along the treetops. I still don’t know how they did it!
Other garden-themed movies mentioned by friends: The Secret Garden, Steel Magnolias, and The Constant Gardener.
Now it’s YOUR turn! What are your favorite garden movies?
Much Ado About Nothing with Kenneth Brannagh and Emma Thompson leading the romp in a formal garden with lots of hedges for hiding and eavesdropping.
I recommend The Secret Garden — a great film for kids as well as adults.
Another film with a garden aspect (but that I hated
is American Beauty.
I almost mentioned Much Ado About Nothing too! GREAT movie. (I was devastated by the breakup of Branagh/Thompson.)
Pretty much any Jane-Austen-based film has garden aspects to it as well. I believe Emma has quite a few garden-based scenes.
I enjoyed The Milagro Bean Field War and Greenfingers. Both were quiet little indie films if I recall correctly.
Widow’s Peak had neighbours fighting over prize roses.
I recommend Saving Grace (not everyone’s type of gardening but it’s a riot) and also Green Thumbs (or Green Fingers?) It’s another Irish movie that is funny and full of gardening.
I was going to mention Much Ado, too! The grounds they used in the film are gorgeous…
It’s more farming than gardening, but it’s one of the most gorgeous earth-focused, soil-celebrating sensory experiences I can remember on film: Days of Heaven, from 1978, with Richard Gere, Brooke Adams and — added bonus — Sam Shepard.