Dancing in the Dark (1986) [PG-13]
Featuring:
Martha Henry, Neil Munro, Anne Butler
Written by:
Leon Marr
Joan Barfoot
Marjorie Schwartz Nielsen
Directed by:
Leon Marr
Release Date:
May 14, 1986
Original Title:
Dancing in the Dark
Genres:
Drama
Production Companies:
Brightstar Films
CBC
Production Countries:
Canada
Ratings / Certifications:
US: PG-13
Runtime: 97
Via the New York Times: "To all outward appearances, Edna Cormick (Martha Henry) is the perfect housewife.... She's married to a man who'll stand up in public and say, "This is my wife," so that there'll be no confusion as to who she is. Edna has no identity without Harry, an ambitious, successful salesman who seems to love and care for Edna long after other men might become worried about her housewifely obsessions... Edna is reviewing her life - in neatly chronological flashbacks - from the room in the psychiatric hospital where she's been confined ever since Harry's sudden death."
The present unfolds along with scenes from the past in this intense psychological drama about Edna (Martha Henry), a woman in the hospital who each day writes down her memories. Edna cannot (or will not) talk to her doctor, and nurses have to take care of her ordinary needs, including making her eat when meals arrive. Edna's stark hospital surroundings give way to the bright colors of her home-life as her memories surface while she writes. She is a devoted housewife, an excellent cook, and in love with her husband. Her husband Harry often compliments her on her cooking, fills their conversations with his life at work, and they seem quite normal if perhaps a little boring. But then something happens that will change Edna's attitude toward herself, resulting in a hospital stay, and her stubborn unwillingness to talk.
