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Starring Bob Hoskins, Elaine Cassidy, Arsinee Khanjian, Peter McDonald, Danny Turner, Gerard
McSorley. Written and Directed by Atom Egoyan.
Felicia (Cassidy) has arrived in Birmingham, England looking for her boyfriend (McDonald), who left her bleak Irish village for England without leaving his address. She believes he is working in a lawnmower production factory, and is roaming the industrial areas trying to find him. Her gruff father (McSorley) has heard the boyfriend has joined the British Army, the Army who killed several of their relatives, and has forbidden her daughter from pursuing him, on threat of banishment from the family. Hilditch (Hoskins) is a fastidious, proper English gentlemen who runs the cafeteria at a large factory. He lives alone in the large house he grew up in. His mother Gala (Khanjian) was the star of a 50's TV cooking show, which was filmed in the kitchen and on the grounds of his home. Hilditch religiously prepares lavish meals based on old tapes of his mom's show, exactly copying his mother's every move. As a boy, Hilditch (Turner) often appeared on Gala's show, bumbling his way around the kitchen, and consistently being embarrassed. Hilditch meets Felicia, and offers to help her find her boyfriend. But his motives are not as genuine as he suggests to her. She meets a sincere Bible-thumping woman who tries to recruit her into her ministry. But a dispute over money lands her back on the street. Hilditch creates a fictitious wife to create a trust between himself and Felicia, and she eventually takes shelter in Hilditch's home. Hilditch actually finds her boyfriend at the British Army barricks, but we soon find out Hilditch has no interest in helping her. He wants her for himself. Felicia's Journey is a low-key thriller in the tradition of Hitchcock's Vertigo and Spellbound. It deals with a mild-mannered, gentle, but acutely lonely man who turns out to be a monster, killing several prostitutes and "lost ladies" who threatened to leave him after his "chats" with them were finished. There is not a drop of blood shed - the young women's demises are only hinted at on video that Hilditch rigged in the front seat of his car. As with most of Egoyan's work, much of the action is internal, where characters make slow but sure realizations about people and the world around them. Felicia slowly begins to realize that her father wishes to control her life based on Irish history before she was born. She realizes her boyfriend may never be found, and that she must choose what to do next. And she realizes the seemingly generous and affable older man is not at all what he seems. And with most of Egoyan's films, characters are drawn in shades of gray, with their morality ambigious and not cut and dried. Hilditch may be a monster, but Felicia suggests he has "a soul", and is certainly not all bad. And even he obtains a degree of redemption by the end of the film. The character of Gala was not in the original William Trevor novel. Her pictures dominate Hilditch's home, an eery presence highlighting her dominance in the life of this mama's boy. Much of the two characters' backgrounds are revealed by flashback, and it is very effective, especially in adding to the somewhat unreal feel in Hilditch's home - almost like Mrs. Havisham's cloistered existence in Great Expectations. Hilditch never received enough of his mother's attention for his liking, and what he did receive led to humiliation and unhappiness. While the Gala character might have suggested that working mothers cannot provide their children with the attention they need, the film does not force a conclusion. In fact, while Gala is quite self-absorbed and not above using her son to enhance her show, she doesn't appear overly abusive or neglectful. We never know exactly why Hilditch is the way he is, but he is capable of genuinely loving behaviour towards others, especially his underlings at his cafeteria. His being totally alone, extremely lonely, and going after very young girls offer a better explanation for his problems. Like his The Sweet Hereafter, the cinematography is exceptional. The shots taken of the Irish countryside and the Birmingham industrial landscape are often glowing, and the interior of Hilditch's home add greatly to the movie's atmosphere. Exceptional performances also add greatly to the film. Newcomer Cassidy magnificently exudes innocence and vulnerability, as the trusting young woman who believes her boyfriend isn't keeping his whereabouts hidden from her on purpose, and that if she ever found him she would live happily ever after because he said he would always love her. Veteran Hoskins ditches his usual rough and gruff characterizations to provide a beautifully controlled and nuanced portrayal of a man so repressed and lonely, he must create elaborate fantasies to communicate and gain love from a woman. If you require the usual jarring and manipulative action in a thrilller, you will be disappointed, but if you can appreciate a quieter, thoughtful, character driven film, Felicia's Journey will not disappoint.   
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