Wildrose (film)

{{short description|1984 film by John Hanson}}

{{For|films with similar titles|Wild Rose (disambiguation)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Wildrose

| image = Wildrose_press_photo.jpg

| caption = Eichhorn as June Lorich

| director = John Hanson

| studio = New Front Films

| distributor = Troma

| based_on =

| screenplay = {{Plainlist|* John Hanson

  • Eugene Corr}}

| story = {{Plainlist|* John Hanson

  • Sandra Schulberg}}

| producer = Sandra Schulberg

| cinematography = Peter Stein

| starring = {{Plainlist|* Lisa Eichhorn

| editing = Arthur Coburn

| music = {{Plainlist|* Gary Remal

| released = {{Film date|1984|2|22|Berlin International Film Festival|1984|3|25|United States}}

| runtime = 95 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget = < $1 million

}}

Wildrose is a 1984 American independent drama film directed by John Hanson, produced by New Front Films, and distributed by Troma. It stars Lisa Eichhorn and Tom Bower supported by a cast of largely nonprofessional actors, and is predominantly set and filmed in Minnesota's Iron Range.

Plot

Recently divorced from her abusive alcoholic husband (Stephen Yoakam), June's (Lisa Eichhorn) job as a miner in Minnesota's Mesabi Range becomes more challenging because of harassment from her male colleagues and a lack of support from her mother. She considers her independence, her family, and her future with fellow miner Rick (Tom Bower) as she develops a romantic relationship with him.{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-11-07-ca-3336-story.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|title=Movie Review: 'Wildrose': Love in Mining Country|first=Kevin|last=Thomas|author-link=Kevin Thomas (film critic)|date=November 7, 1985}}{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220909010553/https://metrograph.com/film/?vista_film_id=9999002843|url=https://metrograph.com/film/?vista_film_id=9999002843|title=Wildrose|website=Metrograph|archive-date=September 9, 2022}}[https://www.bam.org/film/2015/wildrose BAM]

Cast

{{Cast listing|

  • Lisa Eichhorn as June Lorich
  • Tom Bower as Rick Ogaard
  • Jim Cada as Pavich
  • Cinda Jackson as Karen
  • Dan Nemanick as Ricotti
  • Lydia Olson as Katri Sippola
  • Bill Schoppert as Timo Maki
  • James Stowell as Doobie
  • Stephen Yoakam as Billy
  • Vienna Maki as Vienna Lorich
  • Frankie Smoltz as Frank Lorich
  • Clinton Maxwell as Chris Ogaard
  • Ernest Tomatz as Nolan
  • Marie Nelson as Marie Ogaard
  • Father Frank Perkovich as himself

}}

Production

The film was shot on location in Minnesota's Mesabi Iron Range, including town scenes in Eveleth. Other scenes were filmed in Bayfield, Wisconsin.{{cite news|newspaper=New York Times|page=46|title='Wildrose' by Hanson|author-link=Janet Maslin|first=Janet|last=Maslin|date=April 5, 1985|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/05/movies/wildrose-by-hanson.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171128065957/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/05/movies/wildrose-by-hanson.html|archive-date=November 28, 2017}}

It was made for under $1 million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|1|1984|r=2}} million in {{Inflation/year|US}}).{{cite magazine|magazine=American Film|date=November 1982|url=https://archive.org/details/AmericanFilm198211/page/n47/mode/1up|first=Phil|last=Anderson|title=Prairie Film Companion|page=48}}

Release and reception

The film was selected for the Museum of Modern Art's New Films/New Directors series,{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/behindcamerasmin0000cant/page/38/mode/1up?view=theater|chapter=Directors|page=38|title= Behind the Cameras: Minnesotans in the Movies, Volume II|last=Canton|first=Rolf J.|date=2007|isbn=9781932472530}} and was a finalist for the Critics Prize at the Venice Film Festival. Tom Bower was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/filmstarstheiraw0000lesl/page/36/mode/1up|page=36|title= Film Stars and Their Awards: Who Won What for Movies, Theater and Television|last=Leslie|first=Roger|year=2008 |isbn=9780786440177}} It screened out of competition at the Berlin Film Festival and at the Boston Film Festival.{{cite news|title='Wildrose' Is Rich and Rare|last=Carr|first=Jay|newspaper=Boston Globe|location=Boston, Massachusetts|date=September 27, 1985|page=58}}

Ms. magazine called it "[as] visually rich as it is emotionally resonant."{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/ms13janmsfo/page/n470/mode/1up?view=theater|last=McHenry|first=Susan|title=Media: Five One-of-a-Kind Films...|page=53|date=May 1985|magazine=Ms.}} The Los Angeles Times review wrote that the "small core of professional actors creates collides with the film's numerous self-conscious non-professionals, who inadvertently remind us that Eichhorn, Bower and others are, after all, 'acting' ... But the pluses outweigh the minuses." Variety called Eichhorn's performance "moving, natural ... in a decidedly unglamorous role" and praised the camerawork as "extraordinary, vivid."{{cite news|newspaper=Variety|title=Pictures: Berlin Film Fest Reviews – Wildrose|location=Los Angeles|volume=314|issue=7|date=March 14, 1984|page=24}}

See also

References

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