On Golden Pond

Art can hold a mirror to reality, and provide a venue to catharsis in its retelling. The 1981 family drama On Golden Pond chronicles the relationship between curmudgeon Norman (Henry Fonda, in his final film appearance) and his estranged daughter Chelsea (Jane Fonda). When Norman and his wife Ethel (Hepburn) agree to care for Billy—the son of Chelsea’s new boyfriend—at their summer home, a blossoming new relationship provides an opportunity to heal old wounds. The latter Fonda had purchased the rights to the play on which the film was based specifically in hopes her father would portray the patriarch, and to provide an opportunity to recount a father-daughter rift that paralleled their real-life relationship.