Eleanor of Illinois (2019)

To create her Eleanor of Illinois, the director Danielle Durchslag spent more than a year making a montage of Katharine Hepburn’s dialogue as Eleanor of Aquitaine in the 1968 film The Lion in Winter, which also starred Peter O’Toole and won three Academy Awards, including one for Hepburn as Best Actress, and two Golden Globe Awards. The film is based on the play of the same name, which tells about English monarchs in the 12 century, including Henry II and Richard the Lionheart. As a result of Durchslag’s work, the speeches of the characters from the two films are synchronized with millisecond precision, yet they have two absolutely different meanings. The heroine of Eleanor of Illinois is brilliantly portrayed by Judy Kuhn (who has had a prolific Broadway career, is a four-time Tony Award nominee who performed in Les Miserables, Metropolis, and many other musicals, received an Olivier Award nomination for her role in Metropolis and was the singing voice of Pocahontas in the animation film of the same name that won two Academy Awards). She is a modern midwestern Jewish mother who is completely disappointed with life and is waiting for her family and friends to gather for Passover in her rich empty house. Kuhn’s character speaks in rhythm with Hepburn’s words, chiding and pleading to the willful child, who is silently played by the cameraman. The words of the modern broken woman and of the English queen sound in unison, and create a link through time, which is strengthened both by the meaning of the words and by the marvelously precise performances of the two mature actresses. These six minutes show both the brilliant postmodern film, created with an innovative method, and artistry which is worthy of two Academy Awards.