Religion,film,ritual, Rachel Getting Married

A loving portrait of Middle America and yet another illustration of the power of ritual The action: a wedding party in mid America,including arrival of guests, a pre wedding banquet,cumulative revelations about the substantial skeletons in the closet finally the wedding itself . In the hands of a Tennessee Williams or Eugene Oneill the skeletons would loom larger and larger until they exposed the warm family feeling ,the ritual of the wedding, as hypocrisy and escapism Not Demme! He is unsparing in presenting the ritual itself including all the speeches at the pre wedding feast(often trying in real life the constant expressions of esteem ,love and affection ans equally unsparing in presenting the furies of the underworld. Most of these focus on Rachel's sister Kym, who has come to the wedding from incarceration.She is an addict,has killed her little brother,pours venom on her mother and almost kills herself. Yet she is saved by the deep affection of her family and the gentle warmth of the wedding.No high drama or love of ten kind only saints can offer Just the healing power of accepatnce and ritual
I am reminded on Durkheim and teh association of religion with the rituals of every day life and I am reminded the last play of AEschylus' Agammenon trilogy where the furies are reconciled to the power of law.