An Artisan Entertainment Presentation; Executive Produced by Paul Tucker and Ralph Kamp; Produced by Bruce Davey; Co-Produced by Robert Lantos; Based on the novel by William Trevor; Written and Directed by Atom Egoyan
Opens on November 12, 1999
Felicia?s Journey is an exquisite little film that once again proves Atom Egoyan is one of the film industry?s most incisive directors. Known for his searing character portraits, Egoyan isn?t afraid to expose human nature at its basest level, and this is what makes his movies so powerful.
The strength of this film lies in the remarkable casting of Bob Hoskins as Joseph Hilditch, a Midlands catering manager whose meek fa?ade conceals the soul and actions of a serial killer. Hilditch?s obsessions with both food and women began in his childhood with his mother (Arsinee Khanjian), a celebrated television cook named Gala. Hilditch?s mother was an odd amalgam of kindness and cruelty, parading little Joey for her TV audiences, but abandoning him when the cameras weren?t rolling. Now, as an adult, Hilditch still watches videos of his mother?s show, recreating her elaborate meals for himself in a vain attempt to rediscover the ?love? she symbolized. In Hoskins? and Egoyan?s own words, Hilditch is ?an emotional cripple? with ?the heart of a child.? Far from being violent, he is psychologically damaged and desperately lonely, seeking comfort by offering aid to displaced young women, then killing them when they try to leave him.
Felicia?s (Elaine Cassidy) innocence interrupts Hilditch?s ordered world. Like him, Felicia is locked in an endless battle with her past, having come to England from Ireland in order to find her first and only love Johnny (Peter McDonald), who has left their small town to work in England. In point of fact, Johnny was making plans to join the British army, but Felicia refused to believe this and continued to see him despite her father?s warnings. To Felicia?s dad (Gerald McSorley), the past is a powerful master that he forces his daughter to embrace as well. Felicia?s great-grandfather was executed at the hands of the British army; for her to continue seeing Johnny would be an affront to their history, a history she must never forget.
Pregnant and cast out by her father for sullying the family, Felicia is as much a lost soul as Hilditch, and she trusts him as a child would a parent. As Hilditch insinuates himself into her life -- stealing her money so she will need his help -- he struggles with his primal desire to kill her even as he desperately grows to care for her. As for Felicia, she is seduced by Hilditch?s kindness.
Hilditch has managed to convince Felicia that she needs his help, offering to pay for an abortion and then putting her up in his home, where he intends to kill her. It?s interesting to note that Hilditch is almost obsessed with the idea of getting rid of Felicia?s child; to kill a woman on the verge of motherhood would be a violation of his own mother?s memory in some bizarre way. Once Felicia has been ?cleansed?, Hilditch?s resolve hardens and he prepares for her death with the ritualistic thoroughness that pervades his life.
For a filmgoer unused to Egoyan?s languid style, Felicia?s Journey may come as something of a shock because very little really happens. The point is that everything in an Egoyan film is important; the finest brush strokes can carry the greatest weight. With Hoskins and Cassidy, Egoyan has found the perfect foils for his more intellectual style, allowing his characters the more telling private moments that give this movie its richness. Hoskins is remarkable as Hilditch. His performance is certainly a front-runner for the Academy Award, and he brings a deep sadness and regret to his actions; Hilditch is a man caught up in an irreversible spiral in which memory controls his actions. Elaine Cassidy?s Felicia is understated and endearing, providing the p