Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

Martin Scorsese, USA, 1975, 112 minutes

Alice (played magnificently by Oscar-winning Ellen Burstyn) is a familiar character - a middle-aged woman suffocating in an unhappy marriage who is nevertheless too scared to get out and become independent. However, the unexpected death of her husband forces the penniless Alice and her precocious son Tommy into the real world where she must fend for herself.

Thus, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore follows the liberating journey of a woman accidently set free, and portrays both the hardships and the joys as she finds the self-respect and independence that had been gradually worn away during her marriage.

The script (by Robert Getchell) is full of well-observed details, and is hilariously accurate when portraying such universal experiences as long car journeys, auditions and especially waitressing. The characters Alice meets on her quest to find a job as a singer (a dream she had given up on marriage) are equally colourful and realistic - from a ten year old Jodie Foster, to a foul-mouthed Diane Ladd and a well-meaning Kris Kristofferson, right through to a wonderfully strange performance from Valerie Curtin as a dippy waitress.

As a feminist movie, the ending is a cop-out, but nevertheless it is a joy to find such a female-orientated film from a director like Scorsese, renowned for his macho-dominated movies.

Review by Kathryn Parkerson
Taken from EUFS Programme 1992-93