Taglines: She knew his face. His touch. His voice. She knew everything about him… But the truth.
Sommersby movie storyline. Set in the south of the United States just after the Civil War, Laurel Sommersby is just managing to work the farm without her husband Jack, believed killed in the Civil War. By all accounts, Jack Sommersby was not a pleasant man, thus when he returns, Laurel has mixed emotions. It appears that Jack has changed a great deal, leading some people to believe that this is not actually Jack but an impostor. Laurel herself is unsure, but willing to take the man into her home, and perhaps later into her heart…
Sommersby is a 1993 romantic drama film directed by Jon Amiel and starring Richard Gere, Jodie Foster, Lanny Flaherty, Wendell Wellman, Bill Pullman, Brett Kelley, William Windom, Clarice Taylor and Karen Kirschenbauer. Set in the Reconstruction period following the U.S. Civil War, the story is adapted from the historical account of 16th century French peasant Martin Guerre (previously filmed by Daniel Vigne as The Return of Martin Guerre with Gérard Depardieu in 1982).
About the Story
John “Jack” Sommersby (Gere) left his farm to fight in the American Civil War and is presumed dead after six years. Despite the hardship of working their farm, his apparent widow Laurel (Foster) is quite content in his absence, because Jack was an unpleasant and abusive husband. She even makes remarriage plans with one of her neighbors, Orin Meacham (Pullman), who despite his own hardships (such as a wooden foot, which he wears to replace one that was lost in the war) has been helping her and her young son with the farmwork.
One day, Jack seemingly returns with a complete change of heart. He is now kind and loving to Laurel and their young son, Rob. In the evenings, he reads to them from Homer’s Iliad, which the old Jack never would have done. He claims that the book was given to him by a man he met in prison, and that “War changes you; makes you appreciate things.” Jack and Laurel rekindle their intimacy, which leads to Laurel becoming pregnant.
Displaced from his courtship of Laurel, Meacham immediately suspects Jack as an impostor. The town shoemaker also finds that this man’s foot is two sizes smaller than the last which had been made for Sommersby before the war. In order to revive the local economy, Jack suggests Burley tobacco as a cash crop. He raises the seed money by selling parts of his own farm to people who will then work the land to grow tobacco. This raises further doubts in his old neighbors who believe that the “old” Jack would not be so hasty to give away his beloved father’s land, as well as resentment among Confederate veterans about the inclusion of former slaves.
One black freedman living on Sommersby’s land is brutally attacked and dropped at Sommersby’s door, by men proclaiming themselves the Knights of the White Camellia (one of them is Meacham, distinguished by his wooden foot). Jack is threatened in an attempt to force him to exclude Black people from the landowning but he refuses, saying that they can “own what they pay for”.
Upon taking the townspeople’s money, he sets off to buy the tobacco seed claiming that the crops will raise enough funds to rebuild the town church. Great suspicion and skepticism falls upon him (and by association, Laurel and their son) when he does not return at the expected time. He does, however, return. All those that bought in on the deal set to work, transforming the dull and lifeless plantation into a breeding ground of promise and prosperity. Laurel gives birth to a daughter, Rachel.
Sommersby (1993)
Directed by: Jon Amiel
Starring: Richard Gere, Jodie Foster, Lanny Flaherty, Wendell Wellman, Bill Pullman, Brett Kelley, William Windom, Clarice Taylor, Karen Kirschenbauer
Screenplay by: Nicholas Meyer, Sarah Kernochan
Production Design by: Bruno Rubeo
Cinematography by: Philippe Rousselot
Film Editing by: Peter Boyle
Costume Design by: Marilyn Vance
Set Decoration by: Michael Seirton
Art Direction by: P. Michael Johnston
Music by: Danny Elfman
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sensuality.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: February 5, 1993
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