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The year we have just closed has been a year of great losses of important figures in the world of entertainment: David Bowie, Michael Cimino, Leonard Cohen, Prince, and many others. But if there has been news that has affected movie fans, it has been the death of Carrie Fisher. The star of the first three installments of the Star Wars saga, in which she played Princess Leia Organa, is now, and will forever be, a character that will remain in the hearts of all fans of the saga created by George Lucas, science fiction enthusiasts, and movie lovers worldwide. The news, which saddened the last moments of the year, was just the first part of a story that was going to add another chapter. The following day, Debbie Reynolds, the famous star of "Singin' in the Rain" and mother of Carrie, passed away.
Carrie Fisher's life was marred by drug addiction, alcohol, failed marriages, and emotional disorders from a young age. For a long time living in the shadow of her mother, the relationship between them was always complicated, a mix of admiration, jealousy, complicity, misunderstanding, and mutual fascination. A tense and conflictive relationship in which, for years, they did not even speak to each other. Carrie herself described many of her addiction and personal problems with Debbie in interviews, but above all in several of the books she wrote throughout her life. Upon learning of Carrie's passing, many movie lovers immediately thought of the film "Postcards from the Edge," released in 1990 and directed by Mike Nichols. However, with Debbie's death the next day, this title took on vital importance. The screenplay of "Postcards from the Edge," written by Carrie Fisher based on her own 1987 novel, tells the story of an actress played by Meryl Streep with drug addiction problems and her tumultuous relationship with her mother, portrayed by Shirley MacLaine, a veteran and famous actress, who is also an alcoholic. At the start of the movie, Meryl Streep suffers an overdose that nearly costs her life. After a process of rehabilitation, she is hired for a ridiculous movie, but the insurer has one condition for her to work: during filming, she must live under her mother's roof. This premise puts the spotlight on the stormy, ambiguous, and passionate mother-daughter relationship.
The film, brilliantly portrayed by the two great actresses, is full of intense acting moments between them that reveal key aspects of dependency, love, and their differences. Meryl Streep has great talent, has had an easy life, but as she herself says: "I don't feel my life, I don't want life to imitate art, I want life to be art." She admires her mother, but she never stops instructing her on how to do things and blaming her for her drug addiction. Shirley is fascinated by her daughter and keeps telling her to sing, as she has a gift. She wants her daughter to succeed, but no more than she does, because she must be the most famous and acclaimed. Rivalry and love.
There is a sequence that perfectly explains their relationship as if it were a classic Hollywood musical. Shirley surprises Meryl with a surprise party upon returning home from rehab. Shirley insists that Meryl sing a song for the guests. Timid, with a somewhat broken and insecure voice, Meryl sings "You Don't Know Me," the Ray Charles song. In the song, Meryl is telling her that no one in the world truly knows her, yet she feels misunderstood by her own mother. In a beautiful moment in the song, Shirley subtly suggests to Meryl to remove the hat she is wearing to look more attractive. After the applause, they ask Sherly to sing too. After a moment of hesitation, the actress starts singing "I'm Still Here." Slowly, Shirley starts to relax, winning over the audience and becoming the queen of the night, while proclaiming through her song all her achievements and that despite everything, she is still standing strong.
Even though Todd Fisher, Debbie Reynolds' son and Carrie Fisher's brother, stated, "She did not die of sadness, with a broken heart. She was not wandering inconsolably around the house, it was not like that." Debbie and Carrie will be laid to rest in the same funeral. We will hear their songs from the edge again, or perhaps, from beyond.