Themes: Sibling Relationships, Unlikely Friendships, Down on Their Luck
Main Cast: Mary Stuart Masterson, Jena Malone, Delroy Lindo, Karl Geary, D.B. Sweeney
Release Year: 1999
Country: US
Run Time: 111 minutes
Plot
This independent drama examines the relationship between Mary (Jena Malone), a 15-year-old girl whose been forced into a wisdom beyond her years by dealing with a serious illness, and her older sister Penny (Mary Stuart Masterson). The responsibility of caring for Mary has fallen to Penny, who watches over her sister by day and supports them both at night by turning tricks, using drugs to blot out her depression. While the harsh realities of life have blunted Penny's spirits, Mary has found a way to stay in touch with the beauty and magic of the world around her. Watching over Mary and Penny are Prisoner (D.B. Sweeney), a poet who got his nickname after a stay in jail; Kristjan (Karl Geary), a political refugee who works at the corner store; and Professor (Delroy Lindo), the sisters' gruff but good-hearted neighbor. The Book Of Stars received its world premier as part of the 1999 South By Southwest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Adrianna A.J. Cohen - Co-producer, Roger Baerwolf - Co-producer, Ron Leamon - Costume Designer, Michael Miner - Director, Brian Berdan - Editor, Larry Estes - Executive Producer, David Skinner - Executive Producer, Richard Gibbs - Composer (Music Score), Dawn Ferry - Production Designer, Jim Whitaker - Cinematographer, Marie Cantin - Producer, Scott Rosenfelt - Producer
The Book of Stars is a 1999Americandrama film about two sisters, both of whom are on the down slopes of their lives but in entirely different ways. It received its world premiere as part of the 1999 South By Southwest Film Festival.[1]
Penny and Mary are sisters living together in a tenement apartment in a seedy section of an unnamed city. The responsibility of caring for fifteen year old Mary has fallen on Penny due to the death of their parents years before.
Mary has cystic fibrosis, and the deterioration of her lungs is rapidly worsening. Forced to spend most of her time indoors, she has tracked her life and dreams and hopes in an artistic scrapbook which she calls her "Book of Stars and Lovely Things." In it, she fashions herself an astronaut, cut adrift in space and slowly and helplessly drifting towards the sun and her eventual doom. Penny is a once-promising poet who has turned to a life of drugs and prostitution to help numb her from the grim reality of her job and the impending loss of her sister.
There is the quiet young man who has moved in next door. He is from war-torn Eastern Europe and walks with a limp. Penny gets a letter from a prisoner, who was moved by her poetry and writes her admiring letters. She won't answer, or even read the letters, so Mary does it for her.
Mary arranges things and events to keep her sister human. Together they all face life, death, and the universal need to reach out for someone.
