Evening and The Hours

I just saw Evening, based on Susan Minot’s novel but not following it closely. The script was revised down to a well focused story by The Hours novelist, Michael Cunningham. The scenes shift well from the dying mother’s memory of the lover, Harris, to the scenes focused on the daughter, Nina, played by Toni Collette. Nina is afraid of living, afraid of having a child, afraid of loving her significant other of three years. But she is surrounded by people who offer her advice and example, subtly or blatantly, that living is not to be seen as making mistakes or making wise choices, just a matter of giving oneself to the process of living. Her mother Ann, played by Vanessa Redgrave and Claire Danes in the younger scenes, as well as the night nurse, the sister (Natasha Richardson), the significant other/father of her unborn child, and Ann’s best friend all offer Nina ways of engaging in life. Even the earlier scenes of Ann at her best friend’s wedding and with her best friend’s brother bring unity to the theme that there are no mistakes in living, just living.