Ordinary People
Short description
Ordinary People is a drama about a well-off American family struggling in the wake of the death of the older of two sons. The surviving brother, Conrad, is haunted by guilt over the accident that killed his brother and has attempted suicide; he is seeing a psychiatrist while trying to resume his life at school and in the choir. His mother, Beth, who had always favored the son who died, cannot offer him the support he needs, and his father, Calvin, finds himself caught between the two, trying to keep the family from falling apart. The film was adapted by screenwriter Alvin Sargent from Judith Guest's novel of the same name.
It was directed by Robert Redford, and it was the first film he directed, ahead of A River Runs Through It and the six other features that followed. Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore play the parents, Judd Hirsch plays the psychiatrist Dr. Berger, and Timothy Hutton plays Conrad; Elizabeth McGovern appears as Jeannine. Produced by Ronald L. Schwary for Paramount and Wildwood Enterprises, the film runs 124 minutes.
Made for about 6 million dollars, it took roughly 55 million dollars worldwide, a strong return on its budget. On IMDb it holds 7.7 out of 10 from around 62,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7.4 from about 724 votes, showing broad approval from viewers. A critics' rating of 8.6 from 105 reviews places it higher with reviewers than with the general audience.
What's left behind the scenes
- Filming took place from October 9, 1979, to January 10, 1980.
- The film is based on the novel of the same name by writer Judith Guest.
- For Timothy Hutton and Elizabeth McGovern, this film was their first work in cinema.
- Timothy Hutton's father, actor Jim Hutton, died shortly before filming began.
- Gene Hackman was considered for the role of Dr. Berger, and Lee Remick for the role of Beth Jarrett. Bruce Dern and Ken Howard auditioned for the role of Calvin.
- While filming was underway, Elizabeth McGovern attended the Juilliard School. With the permission of the school administration, she was allowed to film only on Saturdays – the girl would leave school on Friday evening and return on Sunday morning.
- Michael J. Fox auditioned for the role of Conrad.
- The Jerrett family's house is located around the corner from another house that would be used in the filming of 'Risky Business' two years later.
- The composition that became the main theme of the film – Johann Pachelbel's 'Canon in D major' – played a very important role. The canon is heard performed by a choir at the very beginning of the film and an instrumental version during the end credits.
- While filming, Elizabeth McGovern was studying at Juilliard. She was allowed to continue her studies on the condition that she leave for Chicago every Friday evening and return on Sunday, filming only on Saturdays. It was the first time a student at that institution had been allowed to film during the school semester.
- It took Robert Redford a year and a half to write the first draft of the screenplay and another year to refine it, as the original novel by Judith Guest consisted only of dialogue and lacked descriptions of the characters’ internal experiences.
- Richard Dreyfuss was initially considered for the role of the psychiatrist, but he experienced a nervous breakdown around that time.
- The final scene in the dining room with characters played by Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore was originally shot on location. However, during editing, Sutherland disliked his own performance, so he and director Robert Redford reshot the scene on a dining room set in a studio pavilion. Moore was performing in theater in New York, so Redford had to read her lines aloud.
- Gene Hackman was initially cast as Dr. Berger, but he was unable to participate in the project due to reshoots for Richard Lester’s science fiction action film “Superman 2” (1980). Judd Hirsch took on the role, but on the condition that he would film all his scenes in 9 days, as he was then scheduled to work on the “Taxi” series (1978-1983).
- During the scene describing the death of his son, Donald Sutherland’s character stumbles slightly over his words. The stumble happened accidentally, but when Robert Redford reviewed the footage for the day, he liked this nuance so much that he decided to leave it in the film.
- Dina Manoff’s filming took only one day. Costume designer Bernie Pollack saw her in a store, decided she would look perfect in the role of Karen, and immediately offered her $20 to buy whatever she wanted in the store.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
