Passion Fish (1992)

Synopsis: Mary McDonnell stars as May-Alice Culhane, a New York-based soap opera star who is paralyzed in a road accident. She returns to the Louisiana bayou where she grew up and becomes the patient from hell, discharging one caretaker after another. Then along comes Chantelle (Alfre Woodard), a... Mary McDonnell stars as May-Alice Culhane, a New York-based soap opera star who is paralyzed in a road accident. She returns to the Louisiana bayou where she grew up and becomes the patient from hell, discharging one caretaker after another. Then along comes Chantelle (Alfre Woodard), a take-no-sass nurse with her own issues to deal with. Together the women rediscover themselves and what it means to live within limitations. PASSION FISH comes after three "guy" films in a row for director John Sayles. His wife and longtime producer, Maggie Renzi, encouraged him to develop a script with female leads. Drawing upon his work as a hospital orderly in high school and college as well as Ingmar Bergman's seminal 1966 film PERSONA, Sayles created this script about the complexities of the caretaker-patient relationship--a relationship that has all the intimacy of a married couple and yet is motivated more by mutual need rather than love. PASSION FISH is languorously paced but pays dividends in many beautiful shots of the bayou, excellent zydeco music, and thoughtful insights into the intricacies of an evolving friendship. [More]