American Playhouse (TV Series) Pilgrim, Farewell (1980) User Reviews

Exceptional low-budget drama for PBS production

[jimdempster · 8/10 · 6 June 2000]

Pilgrim...Farewell is a drama concerning the effect of a mother's cancer on the rest of the family. The relationships are realistic and believable, and gives a good idea what people who experience a cancer death in the family go through.

There is a wordless scene where four of the actors participate in a slow dance that is truly exceptional: it portrays quite well that the point of life is the quality of the connection we have to other people in our lives; life is too short to have much other impact (as the drama demonstrates).

Christopher Lloyd appears in this drama aired on PBS in 1980. It is significant that I've seen this drama once, and 20 years later I've never forgotten it.

an unforgettable piece

[rustydog · 8/10 · 20 May 2006]

I, too, only saw this once, over 25 years ago, and it still resonates in my mind. Lloyd is especially memorable as Paul, a low-key performance for him, but haunting in its quietly intense presence. The motif of the coffin being built as the lead character dies is a borrowing from Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying," and is just as effective in this brilliant little film. The scenes between the mother and daughter and especially revealing, especially with the daughter's lesbian relationship. Frankly, I don't remember so much more (the traumatic and bloody hospital scene springs to mind), but if you happen to run up on this in any form or fashion, I highly recommend it. Yes, it's sad, but it's also wonderful in its own way.

A life-changing movie that deserves to be seen again

[joe-160 · 10/10 · 26 August 2001]

This is a movie powerful enough to be life-changing. I saw it on PBS and have looked and begged for it to be re-run (in any venue) since. It may be Christopher Lloyd's best part, played with warmth and realism that could only come from personal experience with cancer or an end of life tragedy.

Not a contrived tear-jerker, this is a movie hard to turn away from and one that left me with feelings of empathy and understanding.

Wonderful movie.

[hartselle-52731 · 10/10 · 15 April 2020]

I saw this film back in 1980 and it has haunted me ever since. Thankfully it is available on DVD. I rewatched it again last night, and its power has not diminished. Wonderful, wonderful film.