May Blogathon: Living in Season
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?
Images: Atonement, Focus Features, 2007; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Sony Pictures Classics, 2000.
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8 opinions for May Blogathon: Living in Season
Jill Adams
May 13, 2008 at 12:41 pm
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.
Elizabeth
May 13, 2008 at 12:43 pm
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.
Elizabeth
May 13, 2008 at 12:51 pm
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.
Charmian Christie
May 13, 2008 at 2:49 pm
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.
Claudine Jalajas
May 13, 2008 at 4:47 pm
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. :)
Jen A. Miller
May 14, 2008 at 5:28 am
I was going to mention Much Ado, too! The grounds they used in the film are gorgeous…
Karen M Jones
May 15, 2008 at 9:42 am
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.
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