Before Women Had Wings

A poor working class woman and widow can't handle the suicide of her violent husband and turns her despair violently against her own two daughters. When the younger daughter is seeking friendship with a black neighbor widow, her mother runs amok. This very slow and silent working class family drama is one of the best of its genre that I've seen for a very long time. It's intense, touching, thrilling, although sometimes a bit too "schmaltzy" and teardrop-dominated.

The male actors like Jon Savage and Burt Young are only playing supporting roles in this movie, and the all-female main actors are all brilliant - Ellen Barkin as an alcohol-addicted, children-beating and depressed housewife in one of her best roles, Julia Stiles and Tina Majarino as her suffering children and Oprah Winfrey as the lonely, elderly widow. This is no mainstream nostalgia like "Fried Green Tomatoes" but a breath-taking, silent family drama.