Did anyone else notice how much the actress who played Old Philippa resembled Young Martina while the actress who played Old Martina looked much more like Young Philippa? Given the strong resemblence, I am wondering why the casting directors chose to "reverse" their roles.
Yes. It was so obvious that it must have been deliberate. But why?
shareI completely agree! I noticed that the first time I watched the film when it was first released, and having watched it tonight, I once again wondered about this!
shareYes, I was thinking at first that the two older ladies were the younger ones in make-up. Then I thought it strange when the older sister got interested in the general and not the other. The director really screwed up on this point.
Maybe it had to do with the singing at the piano. They needed an actress who could sing, but I suppose they could have dubbed that bit.
Another thing that bothered me was how dry Babette was when she arrived in the pouring rain.
Yeah I was really confused at that too. It distracted me very much from the movie. Well if you see "De Tweeling" at the end the skinny sister becomes the larger of the two twins.
I want to be the hero of the day
This was such a beautifully thought out film in so many ways that I don't believe these actresses resembling one another's later selves "being reversed" was an accident. I think it was done to emphasize how our lives and desires for our lives are so interwoven that in the end we all become one in a way.
I love the last post on http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092603/board/nest/15772741?p=1
"Point of Film" by johndawson1
Johndawson1 is so right on but I would go farther to say that we are all artists. Both sister's were artists. One of course was a lovely singer but the other had such physical beauty(matter of opinion I guess) and obvious sweet soul beauty that she became an artist through her presence.
One way this film moved me was in the way it showed how people have such lovely talents that are often not seen by the world. For many reasons....Remote location, life circumstances, not believing in themselves, the world isn't ready for them, etc, etc.....But in the end all that really matters is experiencing this beautiful gift called life, and expressing our art, talents, and love however and whenever we can.
The first time I watched the movie I was greatly confused at the end of the movie... I thought the sisters were opposite who they were and was thus confused by 1) the readinig ot the letter from Achille Papin (the one sister looks so affected by the letter, as well as resembles the younger, that I thought she was the singer, and 2) I thought that I must have been mistaken in my memory of their earlier "matchups": for a moment I thought just the one sister had had two suitors! I had to go back and watch the movie again to straighten the story out! I am glad I am not the only one who sensed that the actresses were sortof mis-matched and reversed.
shareI was confused too and had to play that scene where they introduced the women and time-lapsed them to old women. Then, I realised I had mistakenly switched them around too!
shareI just watched it and thought the same thing. I kept getting the characters confused! I would love to hear from the filmmakers as to why they did it that way.
shareI am glad to know that I wasn't nuts in thinking that the actresses physical appearances were mis-matched to their roles. Thanks for your responses.
share
Absolutely! :)
I thought so since the first time I saw it.
I am glad others have noticed it, too.
And thank you, Lebellue, for that fascinating explanation.
Since the older versions of the sisters were on screen more and had more dialogue, they were probably cast first. The younger versions of the two would then have been cast. Most likely they just picked the two prettiest actresses that had whatever the director was looking for, with little regard to physical resemblance. The younger one didn't have to have any singing ability since she lipsynched to someone else's singing.
Personally, I didn't think either of the younger versions looked like either of the older versions. I told the older ones apart by which one sang at the piano.
"My name is Paikea Apirana, and I come from a long line of chiefs stretching all the way back to the Whale Rider."