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Discussion » Questions » Television and Movies » Another movie question from me! Have you seen "Frances" from 1982?

Another movie question from me! Have you seen "Frances" from 1982?

~ based upon the life actress Frances Farmer
~ stars a fantastic Jessica Lange in the title role
~ sad movie yet beautiful; just like this music from the movie composed by John Barry!!

~ few movie scores emit such sadness and beauty
~ if you haven't heard the music or haven't seen the movie, I recommend both!
~ this video clip is only four minutes -- I recommend entering

:)

Posted - June 20, 2017

Responses


  • 17620
    Yes.  Fantastic!!
      June 20, 2017 6:54 PM MDT
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  • 23647
    Agreed!!
    Thanks, Thriftymaid!
    :)
      June 20, 2017 6:59 PM MDT
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  • 3463
    Yes, I love John Barry and have the soundtracks for Somewhere In Time and Out of Africa as well.
    His death has caused a great void in the music industry.
      June 22, 2017 9:18 AM MDT
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  • 23647
    I'm sorry for my late response; somehow I missed the alert. Thanks for answering, Lulu'sMom!
    I've not seen "Out of Africa" and I admit not remembering so much the exact music in "Somewhere in Time," though I remember the movie's strong sense of romance. And I bet Barry's music had a lot to do with that.

    I think the subject matter of "Frances" is what strongly entices it to my memory. And Barry's music almost makes me cry just listening to it. It sounds beautiful but oh-so-lonely and sad.



    I agree - - Barry is great. And I bet there are many movies that I don't even realize he scored.

    :)
      June 27, 2017 9:58 AM MDT
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  • 3463
    The movie "Frances" is a great movie and yes it is very sad.
    But if you google Francis Farmer you will see that the movie has a lot of fiction in it for drama effect.
    I saw a movie with her in it a while back and she was beautiful and Jessica Lang looks a lot like her.

    Barry also scored, "Dances With Wolves." This post was edited by Lulu'sMom at June 27, 2017 1:39 PM MDT
      June 27, 2017 10:59 AM MDT
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  • 23647
    Yeah, I had read a biography about her. I can't remember all the details but I remembered that the movie had added/changed some things. Like adding that male friend character of hers, actor Sam Shepard's role, I believe. I don't think Farmer had such a friend in real life.
    I've not seen a movie with Farmer in it but the pictures I've seen of her are beautiful. And I agree with you, Jessica Lange resembles her a lot.

    I have seen "Dances with Wolves." Thanks for your help there.
    :) This post was edited by WelbyQuentin at June 27, 2017 12:35 PM MDT
      June 27, 2017 12:33 PM MDT
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  • 23647
    I read the IMDb biography sketch about Frances just now. There is more fiction than I thought in the movie. What I read in the sketch makes for a somewhat better real life for Farmer. But even what I read would have made a good movie if it had stayed more to what seem to be the facts. 

    I'm already confused on the sketch details but I know I read two biographies about Farmer and they, by chance, were the two which have been highly questioned and contested.

    HUGE, HUGE PLOT SPOILER!!!!! "FRANCES" MOVIE!!!!!!!
    The lobotomy is highly questioned and probably false as you already probably know. But it helped make for a wonderfully dramatic movie. But, weird, I'm now thinking that I had already known about the lobotomy being fictionalized. I only saw the movie once. And I'm trying to remember if both of the biographies I read both said a lobotomy occurred or if one of the books questioned the lobotomy.

    Anyway, she seems to have had some challenges in her life for sure.

    I sit here wondering if my liking the movie so well, and LOVING Barry's score, is somehow being cruel to Farmer's memory. That music fits an emotional bulls-eye in fitting the movie's version of France's life. And the movie's ending scenes, and Lange's performance in them - - it's all so compelling to me. For seeing the movie only once, the emotions brought up in me from the movie's ending remain strong. And I somehow enjoy that "wonderfully sad" element to my experience of the movie-version of "Frances" 's life.

    but in the long run, of course, I would wish no one some of the harsh details the movie portrays of having occurred to Farmer.
      June 27, 2017 1:09 PM MDT
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  • 3463
    Farmer may have had a drinking problem, but I don't think she was crazy.
    I think she was more of a free spirit hindered by an overbearing mother.
    At least the is the impression I got from watching the movie.
      June 27, 2017 1:46 PM MDT
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  • 23647
    Yes! That comes back quickly to my memory now, thanks! Yeah, she didn't strike me as crazy, either. I forgot how good Kim Stanley was in the movie, too, as her mother.

    Farmer as a person seemed not to be a good fit for the big Hollywood studios machine.
      June 27, 2017 1:51 PM MDT
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  • 23647
    Hey, I admit it - - I was looking around the site and came across one of my questions and I'm answering -- simply because I liked this movie a lot.
    And the music here --  four minutes of pure beauty to me.

    :)


      May 23, 2019 6:44 PM MDT
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