Georgia

Sadie is an ambitious singer of limited talent, whose dependence on alcohol and drugs wreaks havoc within her life and on her interpersonal relationships, particularly with her sister, Georgia, whose happy marriage and thriving music career, principally in country and western, contrasts with Sadie’s incessant struggle. Ulu Grosbard’s film (originally slated to be directed by Robert Altman) is a raw and affecting portrait of a woman, whose ambition and lust for life is compromised by addictions and a self destructive nature, compounded by living in the shadow of her urbane and successful sister. The contrast between the sisters is constantly driven home by the inter-cutting of their parallel lives - Georgia is well dressed, orderly, mannered, emotionally controlled, living in a pristine country home, in a safe, assured, if passionless, existence; Sadie is slovenly, emotional, irrational, psychologically raw and barren, drifting between filthy abodes and unsavoury friends. A powerful examination of sibling dynamics, “Georgia” is challenging in its brutal evocation of the destructive impulses and unfortunate circumstances that underscore life’s many inequities. Mare Winnginham was nominated for Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in the title role.