Fiche technique
Titre : Miss Daisy et son chauffeur
Titre original : Driving Miss Daisy
Réalisation : Bruce Beresford
Scénario : Alfred Uhry
Production : Guy East, Lili Fini Zanuck,

David Brown et Robert Doudell
Musique : Hans Zimmer
Photographie : Peter James
Montage : Mark Warner
Société de distribution : Warner Bros. Entert
Budget : 7 500 000 $
Pays d'origine : Australie
Langue : anglais
Genre : Comédie dramatique
Durée : 100 minutes
Date de sortie : 13 décembre 1989 (USA),

13 juin 1990 (France)
Distribution France : A.M.L.F.

 

At the beginning of the film, we see Miss Daisy, who is already around 60 years old or so,(je pense qu'on peut y ajouter 10 ans) have a driving mishap--she has the car in the wrong gear and runs off of her driveway, almost completely backing over a 10 foot drop to the neighbor's driveway, at about 20 miles an hour. This naturally concerns Boolie, and when Daisy has a problem finding a company that is willing to insure her after the accident, Boolie hires Hoke--also rapidly approaching "elderly"--as her driver, against her protests. She doesn't want a driver. She doesn't want someone else in her house.

She doesn't want to be treated as if she's incapable. Driving Miss Daisy is an exploration of Hoke and Daisy's relationship, all the way into the early 1970s.Alfred Uhry adapted the script from a play he wrote by the same name that was first produced Off-Broadway. Although the play began in a small theater, it had good reviews and good word of mouth, necessitating a move to a larger theater.

Uhry eventually won a Pulitzer Prize for his work. He has said that that Driving Miss Daisy was semi-biographical about his grandmother and her driver.That fact probably helped create the remarkable depth of character shown in the film, although certainly director Bruce Beresford, Freeman, who also starred in the play, and Tandy do more than their share to build a charming,frequently funny and poignant portrayal of two very different humans learning to see eye to eye.It's significant that Driving Miss Daisy is set in the South and spans the period prior to and slightly after the civil rights movement in the US. And it's significant that Hoke is an African-American while Miss Daisy is Jewish.

Miss Daisy is humorously fussy, prim and proper. Well, to the audience at least--I don't suppose it would be so humorous to have to deal with it. This helps create an initial "formal antagonism" between Daisy and Hoke. Only infinite calm and patience from Hoke earns a gradual softening of Daisy's public displeasure and curmudgeonliness. The unusual structure means that Driving Miss Daisy is more a series of vignettes, each significant to the gradual coming together of Hoke and Daisy, although most incidents are relatively minor in isolation.

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Uhry makes the film a collection of those small but memorable, important and frequently amusing (at least in retrospect) moments that make up a lifetime of telling memories in any familial relationship--and Hoke does become family. Eventually, Hoke and Daisy form a bond that is perhaps stronger than Daisy's bond with her own son.As for the significance of Hoke and Daisy's ethnic orientations, Miss Daisy makes a vocal point of not being racist or otherwise discriminatory. She also likes to focus on her humble beginnings--a few incidents near the beginning of her relationship with Hoke hinge on her being embarrassed at her wealth.

And of course, as a Jew in the South, she is well aware of discrimination and disadvantage, having experienced it first hand.One of the more touching scenes of the film features Hoke and Daisy driving to Alabama to attend her brother's 90th birthday party. It's Hoke's first time outside of Georgia. They've parked temporarily on the side of the road. Two white Alabama policemen see Hoke and pull over. They want to know what Hoke is doing with a nice, new Cadillac. When they discover that Daisy is Jewish, they are disparaging through implicature, and they make a literally discriminatory remark to each other when Hoke and Daisy drive off.

Although these kinds of events are much more major than say, apparently stealing a can of salmon, Uhry and Beresford tie them together wonderfully so that they all have about the same significance.Related to these themes, the film is also charming and moving for juxtaposing a kind of personal consistency throughout time with a rapidly changing society. That's why the profound social changes happening "just next door", so to speak, are largely kept in the background.Technically, Driving Miss Daisy is a gem.

It's full of subtly complex and aesthetically pleasing cinematography, well blocked scenes and a fabulous and deservedly famous score from Hans Zimmer. But the story and performances are so good that it's almost difficult to notice the technical stuff.Unless you are completely averse to anything even slightly in the realm of realist drama/light comedy, Driving Miss Daisy is a must-see. It's sentimental but not syrupy and touching but not overly serious--you'll laugh just as often as anything else. Don't miss this one if you haven't yet seen it.

 

One might argue that it is 'only' an oversweetened sentimental story; be that as it may, the film endeavours to portray the aging relationship between the white Jewish rich woman and her poor black chauffeur throughout 25 years. And Jessica LandryTandy was over eighty years old when she made this film. In this aspect, evidently the film succeeds, as the story itself is really of secondary importance: it is the beautifully filmed scenes and the dialogues which build up to something greater than the story per se. In an age dominated by cinema stuffed with violence, sex, special effects and so on, here is an example without such measures, relying on pure acting and interpretative skills so as to tell a clean simple story.

You might well like to compare this film with Lindsay Anderson's 'The Whales of August' (1987) (qv), with an absolutely unrepeatable cast with Lillian Gish, Bette Davis, Vincent Price and Ann Sothern: a delicious retrospective piece. 'Driving Miss Daisy' was meticulously made, with all those cars of the 50's and 60's and the careful scene settings, brought out by excellent photography, and all backed up by what must be Hans Zimmer's most appropriate and touching score. His score was also good in that tremendous film 'Thelma and Louise' as well as in 'The House of the Spirits' and 'Beyond Rangoon' (1995) (qv). 'Driving Miss Daisy' is one of those videos in my collection which I am pleased to blow the dust off and watch yet again: it is still as charming as ever.

Why spend millions of dollars on special effects and scenes, when the actors still are most important? This movie proves all that. This movie gives a strong feeling of being back in a time I`ve never experienced myself. It is somewhere in my consciousness. This is a cozy comedy for the whole family. This film is much about how our daily life meets new inputs, and how we deal with it. Time doesn`t change, it is our daily lifes inputs. This serious comedy is as deep as it is easy, because it is more about ourselves than we sometimes think. Enjoy the art, the music, the lovely seasons.. 10 out of 10.

 

Driving Miss Daisy is the story of a frienship between a hard to live with Jewish lady and her chauffeur. Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy give great performances along with Dan Aykroyd as a loving son to Miss Daisy. Great score and cinamatography add to this films enjoyment. If you're an old car buff like me, note that beautiful 1948 Hudson that is used in the first half of the movie.

 

There are just so many great little scenes that really make this film what it is. My personal favorite scene involves Miss Daisy teaching Freeman to spell so he can find a grave site she is looking for. The interactions between the two of them are brilliant here and the scene is made entirely believable by their great acting. The scene in which Miss Daisy, as she is getting older, starts to lose her memory and thinks she is still a teacher, as she was in her younger years, truly tugs at the heartstrings, but is perfectly done and is another one of the film's best scenes. Perhaps not the Best Picture of 1989 for me, and it does tend to be a little slow at times, but it is truly a worthwhile film, and a must-see for just about any movie lover. A new classic.*** out of ****