Andrew Durham’s first feature, Fairyland, is a surprising one considering how well its themes of love, grief, family and responsibility are handled by the film while weaving together a kind of bildungsroman about a father and daughter who take different paths in life following devastating tragedy. Among Sundance film festivals this year, many similar films will be shown to people but what distinguishes Fairyland from other such films is that it examines the tension between individualism and collectivism, offers an empathetic reading of characters’ experiences and suggests only doing with what we have.
Durham’s movie is based on Alysia Abbott’s memoir entitled Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father. Since her mother and his wife died suddenly they moved to San Francisco and this is what their lives were all about. It was the seventies; so Steve had to adjust himself as a single dad who also wanted to be a poet. In fact he even discovered that he was gay something that he had kept secret for years. Steve’s artistic ambitions as well as romantic relationships sometimes come at the price of ignoring Alyssia who has learnt over time through various lessons in life to depend on herself especially when she comes into adulthood during the 80s. This creates separation between them until Alysia reaches new adulthood where she initially look at him and finally see him—maybe for the first time but truly it’s just too brief.
Initially Oscar-winner Sofia Coppola was supposed to adapt Abbott’s memoir after almost 10 years instead referred Durham-who then took on triple duties as director/writer/producer because they were lifelong friends. In this way, Fairyland is the little film the could, and Durham the perfect conductor to transport us across three decades of San Francisco’s queer history without losing steam or intention or heart.
Fairyland predominantly seen through Alysia Abbott’s eyes which is amazing because you can literally see how she changes from a curious little girl who is thrown into the unknown to a young woman with unique thinking and dreams. Greta Zozula’s work as a cinematographer here is outstanding; when portraying the earlier stages of the Abbotts’ lives, she managed to make it childishly curious by holding the camera in her hands, then she changes to a more controlled shot using a lens. Moreover, Durham did something very interesting in that he decided to use film at the beginning and digital towards the end. Fairyland makes one feel like an archive where Alysia and Steve are historical subjects.
Every actor in Fairyland has to play a character, but none are given more to do than McNairy, who takes Steve from his wife’s death in the seventies through his AIDS diagnosis of the early nineties. His portrayal of Steve is career-defining and benefits from seeing things mostly through Alysia’s eyes. He is clearly not a hero as he often ditches her for dates at night—but whether this is teaching her independence or simply being convenient becomes an argument for older Alysia—but he also exemplifies someone who tries to create art, find truth and love in a system that does not entirely permit such actions. McNairy manages to be both delightful and dark with notions of sexuality like when he finally tastes freedom as an openly homosexual male versus choices made consciously that have repercussions.
For instance, young and old Alysia played by Dougherty and Jones respectively should be mentioned particularly considering how easily these little actors could let their emotions run deep. Regardless of the age of Alysia, it makes a significant part because so much of her life especially childhood and teenage years are immersed around Steve’s life. Regarding Dougherty we cannot even begin to explain what she really means. This child can’t be ten yet she already knows about kid things which look wrong yet they don’t seem so obvious to children themselves. Again Miss Jonsey brilliantly plays the older Alisia throughout her college years displaying emotional wounds from her childhood while opening herself up completely for all walks of life or family damage hence making the film weak for its audience Something just feels perfect about McNairy with Dounghtery or McNairy with Jones.
Fairyland, however, becomes something beyond just a tight father-daughter saga—a historical account as well. Olivia Kanz and Maggie Whitaker pull us back into 70s America; this follows some technical achievements on set design along with costume designing that were huge successes too by this movie. Equally impressive, Kanz had only two old army mansions to work with, which she moved and built up over for the entire story of the film.
The music is also important. The aural elements seem to be other characters of some sort through Michael Penn’s score from bubbly to contemplative as well as 80s needle-drops that underscore everything that Alysia and Steve know but cannot say.
In conclusion, Fairyland is a triumphant story about people in politics who make wrong decisions and it is set against the backdrop of a harrowing decade in American queer history. It never forgets its identity. Durham’s film tells another tale about family after moving across countries—grief, longing, discovery; however sometimes remorse is accompanied by it. Fairyland shows us we are all human beings whether we are parents or children because eventually everyone else will leave us behind hence we need each other (sometimes just a memory) so let us hold on while we can.
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