The Farmhouse . Austin Chronicle . 03-30-98

The Farmhouse

DIRECTED BY: Marcus Spiegel

REVIEWED: 03-30-98

Adapting stage plays to the screen is a problematic task for even the most experienced filmmakers. The respective natural rhythms of cinema and theatre are at complete odds with one another, and it takes considerable skill to bring the two to a reconcilable plane. That is why it should come as no surprise that The Farmhouse, based on the play of the same title, feels like one long scream, literally, against the artificial cinematic constraints imposed upon it. The plot offers ample enough opportunity for screaming. Set on a family farm in rural Kansas, a mentally disturbed mother shoots and kills her daughter, leaving the questionably sane father and grown son to try to cover up the murder, thus tipping the scales of the already unbalanced family even further. All of these emotions and pathos are put through the ringer via long monologues stacked up against each other from beginning to end. While this dénouement-less structure can work on the stage, it feels like a shrill, single-note train whistle when applied to the more sensitive properties of the film medium. The acting is adequate and the storytelling attempt is an honest one, but what is left at the end is a former play that's still a play that should have been left on the stage.

--Jerry Johnson

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