In 1974, Art Carney won the Best Actor Oscar for Paul Mazursky’s Harry & Tonto as a retired New Yorker who sets out on a cross-country journey to visit family with his cat after his building is being torn down. Ellen Burstyn played his daughter then, and the same year also won the Best Actress Oscar for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
Now, 56 years later, the 93-year-old Burstyn has her own Harry & Tonto as she plays a widow and mother who has her life upended in Chicago when an intruder breaks into her home. Well, actually it is a wayward pigeon she eventually names Intruder who just doesn’t seem to want to fly with the flock. He has his own mind and life, much the same as Burstyn’s character Brooke, who is being forcefully hounded by her grown son Ron (Murray Bartlett) to move into a retirement home. Her daughter Molly (Pamela Anderson) is more empathetic, but Brooke is a woman who does things her own way, and when she discovers through a homing device that Intruder actually belongs to a man in New Jersey, she impulsively sets out to return him to his rightful owner. So off she goes.
On the train the pigeon catches the eye of another passenger, Nelson (Taika Waititi), and this leads to a friendly relationship that turns into a life-changing journey for the pair as Brooke makes her way to the Jersey address she was given in order to deliver Intruder. It is on and off though since Nelson, a real estate agent, has his own somewhat messed-up life, but though they separate at different points somehow they are always brought together again to continue the journey with Intruder, who it turns out is a racing pigeon owned by a mover and shaker (David Wenham) in that “sport” who doesn’t have much use for this pigeon other than making money with it. Brooke moves on, accompanied by Intruder, and once again Nelson, who out of guilt for leaving her behind, tracks them down to continue a journey neither will soon forget.
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Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó — who made one of my favorite films White God, the Oscar-nominated Pieces of a Woman (which featured Burstyn in a supporting role) and many others including this year’s Berlin Film Festival disappointment At the Sea — is back in top form here with a simple story about life and living, the ups and downs along the way, and the importance of being true to yourself and finding dignity and purpose no matter what age you are — whether person or bird.
In the rare leading role for a veteran star in her 90s, Burstyn, who received the Golden Lion Life Achievement Award at this year’s Venice Film Festival where Place to Be had its world premiere today out of competition, is in almost every frame in a part that requires quite a bit of physical dexterity as she carries that pigeon around everywhere. Not only is she up to the task, she again proves she has few peers in a career that has lasted more than seven decades and is still going strong. She gives a sterling and memorable performance here as a woman who refuses to give up her freedom to live out her life on her own terms just as she wants that pigeon to do the same.
It’s also nice to see Waititi in a straight acting role as a middle-aged man who is now a bit lost in his own life, with business and personal failures having him a bit on the ropes, as this unexpected new friendship also gives him renewed purpose and self worth. Bartlett’s greedy son gives us someone to root against, and Anderson, though in a understated role, continues her career resurgence in style. Lena Waithe is effective briefly as an understanding construction worker who helps Brooke once she gets to Jersey.
The screenplay from Mundruczó’s personal and professional partner Kata Wéber keeps this story simple and focused on simple but important things in life, fortunately avoiding cutesy movie clichés and contrivance. There’s even great dignity given to the pigeon, who is every bit as key to this journey of discovery as its human stars are. A total of 25 pigeons were used by the filmmakers in order to get Intruder’s performance, and they all contribute to the success of this lovely little film that deserves to find its audience, if only to rediscover something we already knew: Ellen Burstyn is an acting treasure.
Producers are Joman Thomas, Megan Wynn, Alexander Rodnyansky and Craig McMahon.
Title: Place to Be
Festival: Venice (Out of Competition)
Director: Kornél Mundruczó
Screenwriter: Kata Wéber
Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Taika Waititi, Pamela Anderson, David Wenham, Lena Waithe, Murray Bartlett
Sales agent: CAA
Running time: 1 hr 50 mins
