Note 1: Of course, there are exceptions to the generalization. Ordinary People (1980) stands out as a film that addresses realistic family difficulties in a suburban setting. | back to article |

Note 2: Mr. & Mrs. Bridge directed by James Ivory; screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala based upon the novels Mrs. Bridge and Mr. Bridge by Evan S. Connell. The Ice Storm directed by Ang Lee; screenplay by James Schamus based upon the novel by Rick Moody. Welcome to the Dollhouse directed by Todd Solondz; original screenplay by Todd Solondz. When the word "filmmakers" is used, it refers to one or more of these groups of people. | back to article |

Note 3: An interesting contrast to the Hoods' Thanksgiving can be found in Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters. Set in New York City, the film begins and concludes with large family Thanksgiving dinners, filled with relative all talking at the same time. The scenes crackle with lively chaos. | back to article |

Note 4: The novels Mrs. Bridge and Mr. Bridge, on which the film is based, are constructed as pseudo-anthologies. Each chapter is a discrete episode that reveals a facet of their lives. While the film is less structured than the novels, it has adopted the overall concept. | back to article |

Note 5: In his review of Mr. & Mrs. Bridge, film critic Roger Ebert writes that Mr. Bridge engages in a sort of "emotional wife-beating." And Mrs. Bridge, he writes, lives as his "emotional captive." | back to article |

Note 6: Between the final scene and the end credits, there is some home movie footage of the Bridge family accompanied by a crawl which tells what happens to them. The sequence acts as an epilogue. | back to article |

Note 7: Other notable films about suburban life and released in the 1990s: Buffalo 66, Clerks, Happiness, Home for the Holidays, Parenthood, Short Cuts, and Spanking the Monkey. | back to article |