Прогулка по Луне (Progulka po Lune)

1999 film by Tony Goldwyn
the 1999 film

A Walk on the Moon is a 1999 American drama film starring Diane Lane, Viggo Mortensen, Liev Schreiber and Anna Paquin. The film, which was set against the backdrop of the Woodstock festival of 1969 and the United States's Moon landing of that year, was distributed by Miramax Films. Directed by Tony Goldwyn in his directorial debut, the film was acclaimed on release. Diane Lane earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead for her performance.

Pearl Kantrowitz and her husband Marty are a lower middle class Jewish couple in New York City. For the summer of 1969, the couple go on their annual vacation at Dr. Fogler's Bungalows in the Catskills with their family, which includes teen daughter Alison, young son Danny, and Marty's mother Lillian. Marty, who works as a television repairman back in the city, can only visit his family at the camp on the weekends. Pearl, who got pregnant with Alison at 17 and quickly married Marty, feels at a crossroads in her life. She meets Walker Jerome, a free spirited salesman who goes from resort to resort selling clothes. With Marty absent, Pearl starts spending more time with Walker and they begin an affair. Meanwhile, Alison undergoes her own summer of changes and experiences teenage rites of passage—her first period, her first date, and her first kiss with Ross Epstein, a boy at the camp. The impending Moon landing has kept Marty busy at his job, as customers are anxious to have their TV sets ready for the historic event. While the whole town celebrates Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon, Pearl and Walker have sex. Marty's mother Lillian learns of the affair and tries to persuade Pearl to break it off. But the affair continues when Marty cannot visit on the weekend because of the traffic jams caused by the huge Woodstock festival, which is taking place within walking distance of the bungalow colony. Pearl goes to the festival with Walker. Alison goes to the festival as well with her friends, although her mother had explicitly forbidden her to do so. When Alison happens to see Pearl in the festival crowds carousing with Walker while on LSD, she becomes upset and leaves with Ross. Marty learns of his wife's affair and confronts Pearl. Alison also confronts her mother in an emotional scene. Pearl is forced to deal with her love of her family and her conflicting yearning for marital freedom. Pearl decides to stay with Marty and tells Walker she can’t go away with him. Walker says he understands. The final scene shows Pearl and Marty dancing together, first to Dean Martin's "When You're Smiling" and then to Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze", after Marty changes the radio station.

Before its release, the film secured distribution from Miramax. Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune wrote that the film "becomes something larger and deeper as we watch" and that the character of Allison is an obvious surrogate for screenwriter Pamela Gray. He added that what makes A Walk in the Moon interesting is its refusal to take sides or villainize any one person given that it "is about that old '60s polarity the hip and the square, the trapped and the free." He also described Marty as a "schlumph". Ty Burr of Entertainment Weekly gave a more mixed review and criticized the film's ending, but noted "'A Walk on the Moon' still nails the cultural crosscurrents of 1969 — the way that a woman who has been walking the straight and narrow for years could suddenly give in to all the freedom rushing by around her." Desson Howe, also of the Washington Post, found the film "a little too perfect and symbolically signposted for its own good". Roger Ebert gave a mixed review but singled out Anna Paquin’s performance, saying her plot line “as a teenage girl struggling with new ideas and raging hormones” is the film’s most compelling story. Readers of Entertainment Weekly ranked the film as #9 on the magazine's "50 Sexiest Movies Ever" poll in 2008.

Award Category Recipient(s) Result Ref. (Reference(s)) Chlotrudis Awards Best Supporting Actor Liev Schreiber Independent Spirit Awards Best Female Lead Diane Lane National Board of Review Awards Special Recognition for Excellence in Filmmaking Satellite Awards Best Screenplay – Original Pamela Gray Young Artist Awards Best Performance in a Feature Film Supporting Young Actress Anna Paquin YoungStar Awards Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Drama Film

Pamela Gray adapted her script into a stage musical, with music and lyrics by Paul Scott Goodman and AnnMarie Milazzo. The play ultimately opened on April 26, 2022 presented by the George Street Playhouse.