If These Walls Could Talk 2

Infobox Film
name = If These Walls Could Talk 2


director = Jane Anderson
Martha Coolidge
Anne Heche
producer = Mary Kane
writer = Jane Anderson
Sylvia Sichel
Alex Sichel
Anne Heche
narrator =
starring = Vanessa Redgrave
Chloë Sevigny
Michelle Williams
Sharon Stone
Ellen DeGeneres
music = Basil Poledouris
cinematography = Paul Elliott
Robbie Greenberg
Peter Deming
editing = Margaret Goodspeed
distributor = HBO
released = flagicon|USA March 5 2000
flagicon|UK November 2000
runtime = 96 mins.
country = United States
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by = nowrap|"If These Walls Could Talk"
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 136782
imdb_id = 0206036

"If These Walls Could Talk 2" is an Emmy Award-winning 2000 television movie in the United States, broadcast on HBO. It follows three lesbian stories in three different time periods. As with the original "If These Walls Could Talk", all the stories are set in the same house. The film is similar to the 2000 film "Common Ground".

The first segment is set in 1961, and stars Vanessa Redgrave as Edith Tree. It concerns the death of Tree's lover and soulmate, Abby Hedley, played by Marian Seldes, and Tree's exclusion from subsequent "family" matters.

The second segment, featuring Chloë Sevigny and Michelle Williams is set in 1972, and involves bitter divisions in the feminist movement at the time.

The third segment is set in the "present-day", is more light-hearted, and features Sharon Stone and Ellen DeGeneres as a lesbian couple trying for a baby.

The segments were directed by Jane Anderson, Martha Coolidge, and Anne Heche respectively.

Plot

1961

An elderly couple, Edith (Vanessa Redgrave) and Abby (Marian Seldes) sit in a cinema watching lesbian-themed film "The Children's Hour". A couple walks out of the theater in disgust at the film, and a group of kids laugh when they see Edith and Abby holding hands. Later at the home they have shared for 30 years, Abby falls from a ladder. At the hospital, doctors tell Edith that Abby may have suffered a stroke. Edith spends the night in the waiting room and in the morning she learns that Abby died during the night.

Edith telephones Abby's nephew, Ted (Paul Giamatti), to tell him the news. Before Ted and his family come for the funeral, Edith removes all traces that they were a couple. She makes it look like they had separate bedrooms and removes photographs of the two of them together. At the house afterwards, Ted and Edith talk about the fact that the house was in Abby's name. Although Edith contributed equally to the mortgage, she legally owns no part of it. As Alice packs up Abby's belongings, Ted tells Edith that although he would consider letting Edith staying in the house and paying him rent. Edith tells him that Abby would have wanted her to stay in the house, that that was what they always talked about. Ted eventually tells her that it would be better if he sells the house and she finds a place of her own. The family leave, with Ted telling Edith that he will be in touch in a couple of weeks to discuss what she is going to do.

1972

Linda (Michelle Williams), a young student, now shares the house with three friends, all lesbians. They face conflict with the feminist group they are part of when the other women do not want to include lesbian issues despite the fact that Linda and her friends helped to found the group and fought for free contraception on campus with their straight friends.

At a lesbian bar they have not been to before, they are surprised and disappointed to see women apparently fulfilling traditional butch and femme roles. They laugh at Amy (Chloë Sevigny), a young butch woman who is wearing a tie. Amy asks Linda to dance but she refuses while her friends are still there. The others soon leave and Linda stays behind and dances with Amy. Later, Amy gives Linda a ride home on her motorcycle and they kiss. Linda invites Amy to return the next day.

The next day Linda and the others are arguing with a woman from the feminist group when Amy arrives. Linda is embarrassed and is short with Amy who quickly leaves. Linda's friends tease her about Amy and question how they can be taken seriously as feminists if they associate with people like Amy. They cannot understand why a woman would dress like a man when they have fought so hard to escape such rules.

Linda goes to Amy's house and apologizes. They sleep together. The next morning Linda sees a picture of Amy as a child, dressed like a boy. She asks Amy if Amy is supposed to be the man and Linda the woman. Amy says no and accuses Linda of being afraid that people will know what she is if she is seen with Amy.

Amy goes to Linda's house for dinner. Linda urges her friends to give Amy a chance but an awkward evening deteriorates when Linda's friends laugh at Amy and try to make her change her clothes. Amy leaves, upset. Linda follows her home and tells her that she was never ashamed of Amy, but only of herself. They reconcile.

2000

The house is now inhabited by Fran (Sharon Stone) and Kal (Ellen DeGeneres), a couple hoping to have a baby together. They hope to get a sperm donation from Tom (George Newbern) and Arnold (Mitchell Anderson), a gay couple, but when the women are reluctant to have the men agree to stay out of the baby's life, the men decide not to go ahead. Later, Kal tells Fran that she does not want to know the father of the baby and they agree to use an anonymous donor. They look for donors on the internet and find a company to use. Going through endless profiles of potential donors, Kal gets upset that she herself cannot get Fran pregnant.

When they discover that Fran is ovulating, Kal hurries to the donor company to get the sperm. She inseminates Fran, but with no success. They share their worries for their child. They know that their baby will face discrimination but hope that their love for each other and their child will be enough. After three attempts to get pregnant, they go to a doctor to help them conceive. Shortly afterwards they discover that Fran is pregnant.

Cast

1961

* Vanessa Redgrave as Edith Tree
* Marian Seldes as Abby Hedley
* Paul Giamatti as Ted Hedley
* Elizabeth Perkins as Alice Hedley
* Jenny O'Hara as Marge Carpenter
* Marley McClean as Maggie Hedley

1972

* Michelle Williams as Linda
* Chloë Sevigny as Amy
* Nia Long as Karen
* Natasha Lyonne as Jeanne
* Heather McComb as Diane
* Amy Carlson as Michelle
* Lee Garlington as Georgette

2000

* Sharon Stone as Fran
* Ellen DeGeneres as Kal
* Regina King as Allie
* Kathy Najimy as Doctor
* Mitchell Anderson as Arnold
* George Newbern as Tom

Awards and nominations

* Emmy Awards
** Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie – Vanessa Redgrave (won)
** Outstanding Made for Television Movie ("nomination")
** Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie ("nomination")
** Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special ("nomination")
* Golden Globe Awards
** – Vanessa Redgrave (won)
* NAACP Image Awards
** Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special – Nia Long ("nomination")
* Screen Actors Guild Awards
** Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries – Vanessa Redgrave (won)
* Satellite Awards
** Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special – Vanessa Redgrave ("nomination")

External links

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