"The Beans of Egypt, Maine," a feature film written by a College film professor, had its world premiere Saturday night before a full Spaulding Auditorium.
Film Studies Professor Bill Phillips adapted the screenplay from Carolyn Chute's best-selling novel. Jennifer Warren, the director, and Roz Heller, the producer, flew in from California to attend the screening. The film's lead, Patrick McGaw, also made an appearance.
The film traces the maturation of Earlene Pomerleau (Martha Plimpton), whose poorer neighbors the Beans fascinate her and gradually draw her into their circle. Earlene eventually marries Beal Bean (McGaw) and the two struggle through hard times in the small town of Egypt, Maine.
The film was a relatively low-budget venture; its entire cost was approximately $1 million. The average Hollywood film costs $30 million to make.
After the screening, Phillips, Heller, Warren and McGaw held a panel discussion so they could elicit audience response and devise strategies for marketing the film.
The audience's suggestions ranged from making the film's haunting soundtrack available on compact disc to re-inserting a scene that wound up on the cutting room floor.
While the film lyrically invokes small-town New England life and its cast gave uniformly strong performances, its pacing was problematic. A rather abrupt end gave it a sense of incomplete closure.
"The Beans of Egypt, Maine" will close the Seattle Film Festival in June, and in September it will be released nationally by I.R.S. Productions.
