in which women have little or no agency, fastvold conjures an authentic air of misery, alleviated only briefly by stolen moments of affection quickly snatched away by the dour, patriarchal cloud of tragedy and heartbreak. my daughter, nellie, would've been five today. 0h. how did she pass? there's no doubting the conviction of the performances — with kirby, who earned an oscar nomination for pieces of a woman, continuing to cement her reputation as one of the finest screen actors of her generation. god puts heavy stones in our path. it's up to us to step over them. plaudits, too, to cinematographer andre chemetoff, whose imposing views of romanian mountains double efficiently for upstate new york, and british composer daniel blumberg, whose music captures the discordant mood shifts with gut—wrenching aplomb. stones are what the fortunate receive. my mother's mother was born in 1780, right here in schoharie county.