Household Saints

Q&A with Nancy Savoca on Oct. 7

Based on Francine Prose’s fifth novel, Nancy Savoca’s comic chronicle of a spirited Italian-American New York family perfectly balances humor, tragedy, and pathos. Vincent D’Onofrio’s Joseph Santangelo is a butcher with a wicked sense of humor who “wins” his wife Catherine (an uncharacteristically reserved Tracey Ullman) in a pinochle game. Together they experience the ups, downs, and wacky in-betweens of city life until teenage daughter Teresa slowly overtakes the film with her yearning to join a convent. Perfectly embodying a modern-day Bernadette, Lili Taylor imbues Teresa with a mix of dedicated innocence and naïveté. Executive produced by Jonathan Demme, with notable appearances from Michael Imperioli and Judith Malina among others, Household Saints announced a unique voice in 1990s New York City independent filmmaking. A Milestone Release in association with Kino Lorber.

Household Saints has been digitally restored and remastered by Lightbox Film Center at University of the Arts (Philadelphia) in collaboration with Milestone Films with support from Ron and Suzanne Naples. Restoration Supervisor: Ross Lipman, Corpus Fluxus. Picture Restoration: Illuminate Hollywood. Sound Restoration: Audio Mechanics.

Preceded by:
Renata
Nancy Savoca, 1982, U.S., 16m
U.S. Premiere of Restoration
Nancy Savoca’s first student film, made alongside husband Rich Guay at NYU in the early ’80s, deftly explores the struggles of a young mother living in New York City. Their friend Marianne Leone gives life to their character of Renata and her plight—weighing her own well-being against her commitment to her family. Crisp black-and-white photography adds to Leone’s dynamic performance, stripping away everything but her struggle. A Milestone Films release.

Renata has been digitally remastered from the original 16mm negative by Milestone Film & Video in collaboration with Ross Lipman, Corpus Fluxus. Thank you to Nancy Savoca and Rich Guay, the UCLA Film & Television Archive, Todd Wiener, and Paul Foster. 2K Scan: CineSolutions.