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Housekeeping on DVD

Writer/director Bill Forsyth (Comfort and Joy, Being Human) brings to life this tale, set in the 1950s and based on a novel by Marilynne Robinson, which is neither a sentimental nor simple exploration of familial and emotional bonds. Ruth (Sara Walker) and Lucille (Andrea Burchill) are two young sisters who are abandoned by their mother and raised by a succession of aged relatives, until their unconventional aunt Sylvie (Christine Lahti, Running on Empty) arrives like a breath of fresh air. Sylvie has been living on the road for many years, and her life is detached from the norms of the community; she returns home to bittersweet memories and the town's harsh scrutiny. The girls are thrilled to have a charming young role model and Sylvie's new responsibilities offer her a chance for real love, sharing a home, and a sense of family - all things she has not felt for a long time. Eventually, as Ruth and Lucille's perceptions of Sylvie change, the two girls develop vastly different ways of relating to this eccentric, original woman.