Felicia's Journey

Plot synopsis:
Felicia (Elaine Cassidy), an Irish teenager, travels to Birmingham, England, hoping to find the boyfriend who made her pregnant but who then left Ireland without leaving an address. She accepts the help of a middle-aged man (Bob Hoskins), who appears friendly but whose secret and sinister backstory is gradually revealed. Details of Felicia's relationships with her boyfriend Johnny, who joined the British Army, and her father, who disapproves of her relationship with a British soldier, are also recounted in flashback.
After taking a ferry to England and beginning a hopeless search to find the lawnmower factory in Birmingham where she believes Johnny now works, Felicia encounters an older man, Joseph Hilditch (Bob Hoskins), a catering manager at a factory, who is also the son of Gala (Arsinée Khanjian), an eccentric TV chef who enjoyed fame in past decades. Hilditch regularly watches the old programmes of his presumably-deceased mother while he cooks her recipes and collects material about her. Hilditch offers to help Felicia; however, his motives for doing so are initially unclear, and it is subsequently suggested through flashback sequences that he has in the past befriended but then turned on vulnerable young women.
Hilditch refers Felicia to a bed and breakfast and offers to drive her to a factory that he suggests could be the one she is looking for, which is on the way to the hospital where the unmarried Hilditch claims he is going to visit his wife. Felicia fails to find Johnny at the factory; but, while she is out of the car, Hilditch goes through her bags and steals her money. Subsequently, Felicia comes across a Jamaican Christian witness who offers Felicia a free overnight stay at a church home. While staying at the hostel, Felicia discovers that her money has gone and, after appearing to accuse others at the home of stealing the money, flees the hostel for Hilditch's house.
Hilditch has meanwhile discovered Johnny's whereabouts, in the barracks where he is still serving with the British Army, but does not disclose this to Felicia. He does however tell her that his wife has died and that she suggested that Felicia abort her unborn child. After the abortion, which Hilditch pays for, he takes her back to his house and gives her an overdose of sleeping pills. As she is passing out he explains that he has 'helped' many other vulnerable girls but 'lays them to rest' when they decide it is time to leave him. While digging out in his garden, the Jamaican Christian parishioner and a new convert enter his yard and begin to preach about Jesus. The Christian reveals that Felicia had told her about Hilditch, saying he was a kind but troubled man. Hilditch feels flashes of guilt and confesses that he did, in fact, steal from and cheat Felicia so that she would return to him. He explains that he feels lonely, and the horrified Christians get up and leave. Upstairs in the house, Felicia awakens from her sleep and struggles down the stairs. Hilditch finds her trying to escape the house but allows her to leave. He later walks to his kitchen, where he hangs himself with a pair of tights.

Tags: cruelty, murder, cult, violence, flashback, insanity, romantic, sadist

Review:
12 issue, I think, though I'm not exactly sure), writer-director Atom Egoyan talked about an incident in his life which partly explains why his last three films - EXOTICA, THE SWEET HEREAFTER, and now FELICIA'S JOURNEY - have been about very twisted, almost predatory, relationships.
Unconsciously maybe, in order to understand how anybody could do such a thing, maybe Egoyan has tried since to use film to do that(although I won't state that as a fact; I'm no psychologist).What is clear in FELICIA'S JOURNEY is that, for the first part of the movie anyway, Egoyan is clearly more interested in telling the story of Hilditch, the caterer who is more disturbed than meets the eye, than in Felicia, the young woman he befriends.
But in the novel by William Trevor this is based on, even though Felicia's story is a familiar one(young, somewhat naive girl falls in love with boy her family doesn't approve of, he leaves, she gets pregnant, and tries to find him), her story is of equal importance to the story of Hilditch, and Trevor is interested equally in both of them.
The problem is Egoyan seems disconnected to Felicia's story, even though Elaine Cassidy is quite good in the role, so not only does the story go slack there, we start to question, as you didn't in reading the novel, how she could be so naive.Eventually, though, when Felicia ends up staying with Hilditch and gradually learns about him, the terror of the story, and the fact that, thanks to Egoyan, we're seeing her primarily through Hilditch, makes us care.
And, as I said, Cassidy is quite good.Of course, the movie belongs to Bob Hoskins as Hilditch.
It also helps that Arsinee Khanjian, as Egoyan's wife, is quite good, and funny, as the domineering mother; you may never watch cooking shows the same way again.Egoyan also doesn't make a conventional Hollywood thriller as the movie draws to its conclusion.
Also a special mention should be given to Claire Benedict who plays Miss Calligary...a missionary who never quite knows when to quit...even for her own good.The story does unfold in a series of flashbacks, so those with short attention spans may need to avoid this film.
And this plot is character-driven (like "Next of Kin") -- and not always shouting at you "Hey, I'm a strange and brilliant director presenting all this odd stuff for you." Egoyan's penchant for films within films and pictures within pictures and other eccentricities don't distract,this time -- they remain, but much diminished, muted.
Gradually we learn that the man has a much darker side than what we and Felicia at first assume...Even though he could easily have made a horror movie out of this subject or perhaps even worse, a TV-movie (it has something to do with having a bad youth, murder,...), Atom Egoyan has made the excellent choice of focusing on the drama and studying the characters with flashbacks.
He was so good in his role as Hilditch, that it took me quite some time to believe that it was really this man who did those horrible things.Overall this is a very fine movie with some excellent performances and a very interesting story.
If I had to make a top five list of the most consistent of contemporary film directors, then Atom Egoyan would certainly be included.Felicia's Journey adds another notch to a terrific portfolio of films.
Hoskins gives the performance of his career as this very controlled man with a very dark secret while Elaine Cassidy impressed me with her simplistic portrayal of Felicia.
Brilliant acting, an interesting use of direction (which worked very well), and a story that allowed itself to be build upon during each scene are just a few of the great moments (that overshadow the poor) in this movie.Felicia's Journey would not have been the powerhouse that it was if it was not for the powerful acting by Bob Hoskins who completely engulfed this character and showed us this rare glimpse of evil humanity.
The acting is what kept this film high above water, while the story (as simple as it was) only helped build Hoskins and Cassidy further into the world of impressiveness.Finally, there was Egoyan behind the camera doing what he does best.
Like Mark Lewis, the protagonist of the Michael Powell classic, Bob Hoskins' character was subject to torment from a parent's profession (The Psychologist father in PEEPING TOM, the cooking show mother in this film) and has video records of his crimes (Here, videotape).
Angel-faced Elaine Cassidy is suitably innocent as an unwed Irish teen naively searching England for the boyfriend who deserts her, and Bob Hoskins is effectively controlled and creepy as the serial-killing caterer who comes to her "assistance"; but this is a mostly uncomfortable smashing together of coming-of-age drama and "Silence of the Lambs".
At times the film has a mesmerizing pull, but director Egoyan too often stalls things with needless flashbacks that provide information the audience has already come to understand, or tries to invest trite scenes with a revelatory significance that just isn't there.
Egoyan labors to establish some pre-conscious link between the girl and the killer, contrasting Hilditch's (Hoskins) warped, twisted innocence with Felicia's pure, unspoiled variety.
Luckily, it wasn't made in the land of the rehash, so it was a somewhat challenging movie that stayed true to its roots from start to finish.Aside from leaving Canada, I don't see why people think this is so different from Egoyan's other famous films, Exotica & The Sweet Hereafter.
I've never seen a portrayal of a serial killer done with such meticulous care--Bob Hoskins is at his finest in this film.
If you've seen the similar minded film The Minus Man, you'll appreciate the soft spoken manner Egoyan takes with unfolding the story and its madness.
Atom Egoyan's film, 'Felicia's Journey', is set in the late 1980s; but like so much of writer Willaim Trevor's work, it feels set in an older time.
Bob Hoskins' character lives under the shadow of the memory of his monstrous mother, a 1950s TV cook; but the film's other themes also appear dated: an Ireland in the continued grip of Catholic insularity, first generation Jamacian-British immigrants, even Birmigham as a manufacturing centre; all of these seem subjects that belong to another time.
And while Egoyan assembles a visually satisfying picture of this world, the soundtrack is sometimes intrusive and the plot is stymied by the fact that Hoskins' character is just too odd to attract the sympathy necessary to balance that which the viewer naturally has for the eponymous Felicia.
Despite a slow start, acclaimed director Atom Egoyan's drama "Felicia's Journey" soon picks up, and before you know it; the film has gone from an unremarkable little drama to a very dark psychological portrait of a very lonely and sick man.
The way that Atom Egoyan changes to the focus of the film really helps it, in that it's so skilfully done that you don't realise the change until it's already happened, and by then; it's easy to be captivated by the central character.
However, appearances can be deceiving and it isn't long before it becomes apparent that this man has abducted a string of young girls, and he now has his sights on this one...The main reason that this film works is courtesy of a brilliant creepy performance by Bob Hoskins in the role of the sinister Hilditch.
He obviously likes to star in gritty films as realistic characters, and although this one is over the top in terms of normal social conventions, Hoskins still manages to give the character a grounding in reality, which ultimately makes the horror aspect of the movie all the more potent.
Nobody does thinly veiled violence quite like Bob Hoskins, and nobody does naive but resilient like Elaine Cassidy, so when they both come together in a film, it's going to be electric to watch.Atom Egoyan sticks closely to the original William Trevor story, lifting most of the dialogue directly from the page.
Trevor feels no need to explain Hilditch's behaviour, which makes him more of a monster and much scarier.The only other thing that slightly spoils what is otherwise a superb film is the heavy handed use at times of a mystical sounding, sub Clannad soundtrack, which is meant to invoke "Irishness", but is totally unnecessary.But those really are small complaints.
Felicia's Journey was the first Atom Egoyan film I had the benefit of experiencing, and now I am a proud to admit that I am a devotee.
The Hitchcockesque style (listen for the Psycho music) of a long developing plot and the creation of a character for an inanimate object- like Mr. Hilditch's house- contributes emensely to the films effect.
These contrasts contributed to a theme of creation and destruction that is continued throughout the movie.I would recommend this film to anyone of my friends, it stimulates alot of contemplation and exemplifies why Atom Egoyan should be considered one of the top filmmakers of the past decade..
FJ is not Atom Egoyan's best film (personally, I think "The Sweet Hereafter" is a masterpiece), but it's much better than e.g.
Bob Hoskins is absolutely brilliant in this film as is Elaine Cassidy.
It's the story of a very creepy man (Bob Hoskins) who "helps" an out-of-town girl find her boyfriend.
But like the other two films of Atom Egoyan's I've seen ("Exotica" and "The Sweet Hereafter"), I have a really hard time categorizing it.Hoskins' character is a strange and disturbed man you can't really understand; he can't really understand himself, I'd say.
The young girl does a great job, and I could virtually see the innocence being torn away from her through the film.If you're a fan of Egoyan's, you'll want to see this movie.
- She is a beautiful and super talented actress - She playes her part of the naive but goodhearted girl, Felicia, who in the search of her one true love runs directly into the arms of the innocent looking, but underneath monster beast, catering chief Joe (Bob Hoskins).This one will crawl underneath your skin..
Hoskins and lead actress Elaine Cassidy are both well cast, Mychael Danna's music is very effective and the film is utterly unsettling at its best..
Starring Bob Hoskins and Elaine Cassidy, directed by Atom Egoyan.
Atom Egyan worked on the famous TV-series "Alfred Hitchcock presents" and that can be seen as in this movie Egoyan tells the story about some guy Hillditch who runs a perfect social life, as long as you don't peep through the door.
Egyan chooses the path of mystery...the film is so slow (including with a Bernard Herrmann-like score) that little by little you know what is behind Hidditch, a superb role played by Bob Hoskins.
He's also obsessed with young female runaways, whom he sexlessly befriends--like Felicia (Claire Benedict), an Irish girl searching for the boyfriend who impregnated her, then left for England.The spuddy little mama's boy, and a British variant on Mia Farrow's Rosemary, stuck together in a musty, mother-haunted flat--Roman Polanski would find miles of cruel sniggers in this material.
Egoyan has also fitted the right character to play both roles, Ian Holm and now Bob Hoskins.
But the one weakness of "Felicia's Journey" is that Hoskins plays Joe Hilditch with such gentleness that we forget he is a diabolic killer.
"Felicia's Journey" is, finally, a film about contrasts - from the backdrop of  industrial polluting towers to the pounding noise of a factory where a seemingly civilized man finds time to give the employees the very best in culinary cuisine and from the sweetness of a red riding hood' who realizes only after the fact that she has visited the big bad wolf'..
I use the word "audience-friendly" for lack of a better word; that film was about a tragic school bus accident for goodness sake!I can understand why some people posted comments on this movie complaining that it is "too weird."  There were several weird elements in this film, from Arsinee Khanjian's over-the-top performance as Hilditch's mother to the climactic face-off between Hilditch and Miss Calligary (a.k.a.
For those of you who think "Felicia's Journey" is too weird, you should try watching Egoyan's earlier movies like "The Adjuster" and "Speaking Parts"!Although "Felicia's Journey" did feel long at some points, I must say that I was never bored during it.
I felt completely absorbed in the strangely uncomfortable relationship between Elaine Cassidy's Felicia and Bob Hoskins' Hilditch.
However, I do have to contend with the people who posted comments that complained that this movie was "boring."  Atom Egoyan's films are certainly challenging, but never dull..
And so it is no surprise that he meets Felicia, the young Irish girl who really thinks that her boy-friend works at a lawnmower factory and has not joined the British Armee, giving up her love and his pride by living in the enemy' s country.
First, the good things about the movie: - good locations - excellent music - nice cinematography - good actors (specially Bob Hoskins) You'd think i liked it, right?
And, by the way, the movie should really be titled Hilditch's Journey, since it ends up being much more about him then Felicia's.
Somehow he seems unwilling to let her go.In a way, Felicia's Journey is Egoyan's most disturbing film.
Hoskins is superb as the killer who films his victims before they die, the scenes where he relaxes by cooking to old tapes of his celebrity cook mother, gradually reveal where it all went wrong for him.
It's not in the same league as Hereafter, but it is an excellent, disturbing movie.Bob Hoskins plays Joseph Hilditch, who runs a big kitchen operation to feed the employees of a factory.
He also occasionally helps out young women when they are in distress.Felicia (Elaine Cassidy) has come to his city from Ireland to look for her lover, who left to find a better job and promised to write regularly.
He did such a phenomenal job in this role.However, this film at 2 hours was a little too long, not to bad though, the tension really does mount as you wonder what is going to be the fate of the girl and how Hoskin continualy pulls tricks and manipulates her.
Like the book, the movie takes awhile letting you know that you're involved in a thriller, but once you discover what's really going on with Bob Hoskins' character, the tension seems to rachet up 150% in seconds.
Felicia (who, it transpires, is pregnant by Johnny) is befriended by a middle-aged man named Joe Hilditch, who works as a factory catering manager.
Depsite its unfamiliar (for American audiences) Irish setting and the talents of Bob Hoskins, Felicia's Journey is ultimately material we've seen before, laboriously told.
Felicia (Elaine Cassidy) is a desperate young lady from Ireland looking for her boy friend who left her to go to London.This is very much a creepy movie that starts out as a gentle film.
In other words, this is a complex character, someone you are interested in learning more about.That is probably about as much as you should know about this film before you watch it for the first time.
This is a very good film in which he surely gets from Bob Hoskins, the best performance of his life.
FELICIA"S JOURNEY (Atom egoyan)- an irish girl from the country, goes to industrial Birmingham, to find her boyfriend who left her pregnant.
The movie was quietly ominous like the Hoskin character but it never lived up to its potential.
Sadly, the story turns into something one sees coming, hoping Felicia is spared a terrible end.Atom Egoyan, who adapted the original material, made a wonderful transfer of the novel to the screen.
The viewer is supposed to gradually figure out the layers of Bob Hoskin's character, but you just can't when the film is set up the way it is.
From what I could see of the movie, it is another of Atom Egoyan's dark, brooding, inverted films.
Without preconceived ideas, i started to watch the film, letting Atom Egoyan unfold along two hours the characters, masterly played by Bob Hoskins and Elaine Cassidy.
Like (spoiler) Felicia's character says at the end, behind the killer Hilditch there was a soul, a good man, like any other.
A good thing in Egoyan films, is that he tolds a story, but leaving a lot of questions without response.
Today i've seen this wonderful movie, and after a 8 hours o so, i'm still thinking in a lot of thinks, like the *ghost* wife of Hilditch, his love/hate relation with food,or why he looks for Felicia's boyfriend if he didn't intend to say nothing to her.
From the first time I saw Joe Hilditch (Bob Hoskins) helping the innocent Felicia (Elaine Cassidy) after she had arrived nervously from Ireland, I felt uneasy.
In spite of knowing Hilditch's true character well before the end of the movie, it does not deter us from being interested in how the movie turns out because director Atom Egoyan has spun such a suspenseful web.This is really a wonderfully terrifying movie.
Bob Hoskins is terrifying, Egoyan is wonderful, Elaine Cassidy is good as the naive Irish girl.
Atom Egoyan's film Felicia's Journey takes various issues into its hands by telling the story of a young Irish girl looking for her Irish boyfriend who joined the British army.
Joe is ultimately a victim like Felicia and all those who have been left to fend for themselves in a harsh and cruel world, which is the sad case of reality in many families around the world.The director does the right thing in concentrating on the character's emotions rather than pull the same old boring thriller/horror situations you find in so many American movies.
Much as I like the work of Atom Egoyan and Bob Hoskins, this film is a dog which should be avoided at all costs.
Cinematography is fine, setting choices are interesting.Some questions I had about the film are: Did Bob's character kill his mother?