The Book of Stars

The Book of Stars

DVD cover
Directed by Michael Miner
Produced by David Skinner
Larry Estes
Written by Tasca Shadix
Starring Mary Stuart Masterson
Jena Malone
Music by Richard Gibbs
Cinematography James J. Whitaker
Edited by Brian Berdan
Distributed by Winstar Home Video
Release dates
  • 1999 (1999)
Running time
 111 minutes
Country United States
Language English

The Book of Stars is a 1999 American drama film about two sisters, both of whom are on the down slopes of their lives but in entirely different ways. It received its world premiere as part of the 1999 South By Southwest Film Festival.[1]

Cast

Actor Role
Mary Stuart Masterson Penny
Jena Malone Mary
Delroy Lindo Professor
Karl Geary Kristjan
D. B. Sweeney Prisoner
Gina Nagy Prisoner's Wife

Plot

Penny and Mary are sisters living together in a tenement apartment in a seedy section of an unnamed city. The responsibility of caring for fifteen-year-old Mary has fallen on Penny due to the death of their parents years before.

Mary has cystic fibrosis, and the deterioration of her lungs is rapidly worsening. Forced to spend most of her time indoors, she has tracked her life and dreams and hopes in an artistic scrapbook which she calls her "Book of Stars and Lovely Things." In it, she fashions herself an astronaut, cut adrift in space and slowly and helplessly drifting towards the sun and her eventual doom. Penny is a once-promising poet who has turned to a life of drugs and prostitution to help numb her from the grim reality of her job and the impending loss of her sister.

There is a quiet young man who has moved in next door. He is from war-torn Eastern Europe and walks with a limp. Penny gets a letter from a prisoner, who was moved by her poetry and writes her admiring letters. She won't answer, or even read the letters, so Mary does it for her.

Mary arranges things and events to keep her sister human. Together, they all face life, death, and the universal need to reach out for someone.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released on August 23, 2005 on La-La Land Records.

The Book of Stars: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by various artists
Released August 23, 2005
Genre Soundtrack
Indian classical music
Length 59:49
Label La-La Land Records
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Music from the Movies
SoundtrackNet

Track listing

  1. "Main Title" – 3:03
  2. "The Meeting / Refuge" – 2:23
  3. "The Prisoner's First Letter / Mary's Dream" – 3:18
  4. "Painted Lady / Mary's World / The Fight" – 3:32
  5. "New Friend" – 1:40
  6. "Storm Warnings" – 4:35
  7. "Tellmeaboutthebeach / Ticklefight / Solar Plunge" – 4:04
  8. "Picnic" – 2:41
  9. "Overdose / Grim Reaper / The Hospital" – 4:51
  10. "Torn Letter" – 4:56
  11. "Happy Birthday" – 1:57
  12. "Samuel's Story" – 2:51
  13. "The Book is Finished / Afterlife / The Beach" – 5:44
  14. "Transcendence" – 3:42
  15. "End Credits" – 4:52
  16. "Alternate End Credits" – 5:40

Awards

Award Result Category Recipient
DVD Exclusive Awards Won Best Original Score Richard Gibbs
Won Best Supporting Actress Jena Malone
Nominated Best Actress Mary Stuart Masterson
Ojai Film Festival Won Best Narrative Feature Michael Miner
Stony Brook Film Festival Won Best Feature Michael Miner

References

  1. ↑ The Book of Stars at Allmovie.com
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