In their modesty, Canadians are often reluctant to tell their own stories. Look at Argo for a great example. So we should be thankful to hear about the story of Maud Lewis as portrayed in Maudie.
Maud Lewis was a Canadian folk artist in Nova Scotia whose story is as impressive as her art. Lewis suffered from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Her medical condition lent itself to working on smaller pieces.
The love story where there isn't much love is covered in the film. Everett Lewis put up an ad in a local store looking for a live-in woman as a housekeeper. The house they had was quite small.
She lives with a brother who outsources care for Maud and an aunt who wants to be in her business. He grew up in an orphanage looking for love but not always sure how to get love.
The story in Maudie is a hard one, sometimes a difficult one to watch. Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke has strong acting challenges in the portrayal of people who lived hard lives. Hawkins loses herself more in her role than Hawke does in the film. Both actors won Canadian Screen Awards for their roles in the film. We do get to see the actual people in footage at the end of the film.
Kari Matchett delivers a nice performance as Maud's initial art patron.
The quiet, slow pace to the film fits the area and the time of the story. You might cringe a bit at some of the rough moments but sticking through to the end is worthwhile, along the lines of the real-life story.
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Maudie is a Nova Scotia story though the Canadian portions of the film were shot in Newfoundland and Labrador because of the elimination of the Nova Scotia film credit. The film was also shot in Ireland, a concession to being a Canada-Ireland co-production that included Irish director Aisling Walsh, who also won a Canadian Screen Award.
You can almost think of Maudie as a documentary with really good acting and beautiful scenery with straight forward folk art and a nice history lesson, too. If nothing else, you'll be inspired to check out the real-life folk art of Maud Lewis.
video credit: YouTube/Sony Pictures Classics
photo credit: Maudie film
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