Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)

dir. Martin Scorsese
writ. Robert Getchell
feat. Ellen Burstyn, Albert Lutter, Kris Kristofferson, Diane Ladd, Harvey Keitel, Vic Tayback

Scorsese draws on his influences in Italian neorealism in this stunningly human story of a single mother, Alice (Burstyn,) struggling to bring up her son, Tommy (Lutter,) after the sudden loss of her husband. Alice reenters the working world for the first time since her marriage, finding the challenge in making it as a lounge singer in her mid-30s and the risks of that world for an attractive woman who must protect herself and her child.

The stress of their meager existence, always just a few dollars shy of broke, tries both mother and son, cracks appearing in their fragile veneers. But it's the way in which the two deal with dire moments, when it all becomes too much, where the characters shine brightest. Alice doesn't sugar coat their troubles, instead occasionally snapping and subsequently pleading with Tommy to understand how hard she's working. And this isn't a new way of relating for the two, Tommy's foul mouth and worldly (or at least advanced for a boy of about 12 years) knowledge clear signs that Alice has treated him like an adult for quite some time. But he's still a boy after all, evident in his favorite endless and possibly pointless joke and the routine temper tantrum.

It is the love shared by Alice and Tommy that binds the two, keeping hope and joy alive in troubled times. And it is the security that this love provides that is threatened when well-meaning interloper David (Kristofferson) works his charms on both mother and son, upsetting their balance and ease. With so little in life to rely upon, employment and residence both tenuous at best, Alice could easily retreat from a chance that can't be guaranteed, a chance at a different kind of love. But that wouldn't be much of a life at all.