The Weight of Water (film)

In 1873, Karen Christensen and Anethe Christensen, Norwegian immigrants, are murdered on Smuttynose Island, a lonely island among the Isles of Shoals off the New Hampshire coast. Maren Hontvedt, also a Norwegian immigrant, survived the attack. Louis Wagner, who had once tried to seduce Maren, is convicted for the crime, and ultimately dies on the gallows.

In the present, newspaper photographer Jean Janes begins researching the murders, and travels to Smuttynose with her husband Thomas, an award-winning poet. They travel with Thomas's brother Rich, who owns a boat, and Rich's girlfriend Adaline. In a twist of fate, Jean discovers archived papers apparently written by Maren Hontvedt, and giving an account of her life on the island, and the murders.

The plot unfolds the narrative of the papers and Hontvedt's testimony against Wagner that gets him hanged, while Jean privately struggles with jealousy as Adaline openly flirts with Thomas. Trying to suppress her fears of Adaline as a rival, Jean learns that Maren was brought from Norway to Smuttynose by her husband, a man she has no passion for. Maren staves off melancholy and loneliness on the isolated island by keeping busy. Maren's spirits are lifted when her brother arrives on the island with his new wife, Anethe Christensen. Little by little the film eventually reveals that the affection between brother and sister had become sexual when they were teens back in Norway, unbeknownst to any of those on the island now. Maren must also contend with her own sister Karen, who is stern and suspicious. At first, Maren views Anethe as a rival for the affections of Maren's brother. Soon, however, she begins to nurse a desire for Anethe. On the night of the murders, with Maren's and Anethe's husbands away from the island, Maren draws close to Anethe, who begs for Maren to allow her to sleep in the same bed, out of fear of their isolated situation. Maren takes advantage of the opportunity to touch Anethe's attractive body when she had fallen asleep. Karen barges in and immediately interprets the two women in bed together as clear evidence of Maren's hidden bisexuality. We then learn that Karen had discovered the sexual intercourse between brother and sister back in Norway, which leads to Maren's sister condemning her as an evil woman unable to control her lust. In a fury of her own, Maren kills Karen and Anethe. The film does little to explain why she turned on Anethe, hinting only at if being the result of uncontrolled rage that even she did not understand.

Back in the present, there is a suggestion that Rich, who can never commit to one woman, has begun to flirt openly with Jean, which is not unnoticed by Thomas. The tensions are unleased in the midst of a wild storm while all four are on the sailboat in a life or death situation. Jean pushes Adaline overboard as they are unseen by the brothers who are both below deck. Both Jean and Thomas plunge into the water, ostensibly to rescue her. Adaline is saved, but Thomas drowns. In a surreal sequence, Jean encounters both Anethe and Maren, before she returns to the sailboat. We see the surviving trio in shock, but with no discussion of what happened or any outward speculation of motives.

The movie ends back in the 18th century with Maren's guilt leading her to confess several years after Wagner had already been hanged, that she was the one who killed the two women (Anethe by axe and Karen by strangulation). But the courts refuse to accept Maren's confession, choosing instead to continue to adhere to the jury's original decision.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 35%, based on reviews from 65 critics. The site's critical summary reads: "The story is too muddled to build any interest".^[3] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 45 out of 100, based on reviews from 22 critics.^[4]

Critics felt that Bigelow had not achieved as much weight with the fictional story of the present against her portrayal of the events of the past. Stephen Holden of The New York Times said: "There is so much to admire in The Weight of Water, Kathryn Bigelow's churning screen adaptation of a novel by Anita Shreve, that when the movie finally collapses on itself late in the game, it leaves you in the frustrating position of having to pick up its scattered pieces and assemble them as best you can".^[5] Holden felt the two stories "never mesh".^[5]

• 2000: Nominated - San Sebastián International Film Festival – Golden Seashell for Kathryn Bigelow
• 2001: Winner - Film by the Sea International Film Festival – Film and Literature Award for Kathryn Bigelow

• The Weight of Water at IMDb
• The Weight of Water at Box Office Mojo