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Wise Blood (1979)
Fascinating movie directed by John Huston that's hard to describe because I really wasn't sure of the motives of the main character or what he was really trying to say. It's the mid-to-late 70's and Hazel Motes (Brad Dourif, in one of his best roles) is just returned from the military and finds his old homestead run down and his father dead and buried on the property. So he hitches a ride to the city where he says he's "going to become something in the world." The fact that his father (director John Huston, seen in flashbacks) was a hell fire and brimstone minister and often had a young Hazel up front at his revivals, scaring him till he urinated, might have something to do with Hazel's choice of paths. He decides to start "The Church of Jesus Without Jesus," and he doesn't have a church building. He's a street corner minister, screaming to people that he doesn't believe in anything (so I guess that would make him a nihilist?), that if you're dead, you're dead, if you're poor, you're poor, that nothing is going to save you. He attracts a small crowd who gather around wherever he stands, but it's never really successful. He attracts the attention of a young man named Enoch Emory (Dan Shor) who wants a friend so bad he absolutely will not leave Hazel alone. I felt for Enoch, but Hazel has no time for him, he doesn't want friends. A blind man preacher, Asa Hawks (Harry Dean Stanton) and his homely daughter, Sabbath Lily (Amy Wright) come along, handing out tracts for their "church," and the girl catches Hazel's eye, so he follows them and ends up at the same boarding house with them. The landlady is somewhat suspicious but is friendly and welcomes Hazel. What follows is what happens when Hazel starts a relationship with Sabbath Lily, and Hazel's suspicion of Asa and his "ministry."
Also, we have Ned Beatty as a huckster street corner minister who wants to hitch a ride on Hazel's star. Except Hazel can smell a hypocrite a mile away and he hates them more than anything. So he refuses Beatty, whose name is Hoover Shoates---I love all these off-center names! The movie is full of them. Although set in the 70's, the movie really has the feel and almost look, of the 20's or 30's. If it weren't for the vehicles and certain other things, like Dairy Queen, you'd think this was set in the Depression. The dialogue is crisp and tart, with Brad Dourif practically spitting his lines, which only adds to his performance. Everyone involved in fantastic, even a younger William Hickey in a smallish role. As things progress, Hazel begins to see only one course for him. And the movie purposefully leaves things ambiguous, which really worked fine for me. Despite the name of Hazel's church, the movie is really not about that, but about his relationships with all the people who come into his orbit and his reaction to them. But what he really believes in the end remains a mystery because he doesn't say, but his actions give me a clue. Great 70's cinema and highly recommended.
If it seems I've told the whole movie, rest assured I haven't. It's just the outer surface I've described. Once you start watching, you'll get pulled in. Great stuff.
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Fascinating movie directed by John Huston that's hard to describe because I really wasn't sure of the motives of the main character or what he was really trying to say. It's the mid-to-late 70's and Hazel Motes (Brad Dourif, in one of his best roles) is just returned from the military and finds his old homestead run down and his father dead and buried on the property. So he hitches a ride to the city where he says he's "going to become something in the world." The fact that his father (director John Huston, seen in flashbacks) was a hell fire and brimstone minister and often had a young Hazel up front at his revivals, scaring him till he urinated, might have something to do with Hazel's choice of paths. He decides to start "The Church of Jesus Without Jesus," and he doesn't have a church building. He's a street corner minister, screaming to people that he doesn't believe in anything (so I guess that would make him a nihilist?), that if you're dead, you're dead, if you're poor, you're poor, that nothing is going to save you. He attracts a small crowd who gather around wherever he stands, but it's never really successful. He attracts the attention of a young man named Enoch Emory (Dan Shor) who wants a friend so bad he absolutely will not leave Hazel alone. I felt for Enoch, but Hazel has no time for him, he doesn't want friends. A blind man preacher, Asa Hawks (Harry Dean Stanton) and his homely daughter, Sabbath Lily (Amy Wright) come along, handing out tracts for their "church," and the girl catches Hazel's eye, so he follows them and ends up at the same boarding house with them. The landlady is somewhat suspicious but is friendly and welcomes Hazel. What follows is what happens when Hazel starts a relationship with Sabbath Lily, and Hazel's suspicion of Asa and his "ministry."
Also, we have Ned Beatty as a huckster street corner minister who wants to hitch a ride on Hazel's star. Except Hazel can smell a hypocrite a mile away and he hates them more than anything. So he refuses Beatty, whose name is Hoover Shoates---I love all these off-center names! The movie is full of them. Although set in the 70's, the movie really has the feel and almost look, of the 20's or 30's. If it weren't for the vehicles and certain other things, like Dairy Queen, you'd think this was set in the Depression. The dialogue is crisp and tart, with Brad Dourif practically spitting his lines, which only adds to his performance. Everyone involved in fantastic, even a younger William Hickey in a smallish role. As things progress, Hazel begins to see only one course for him. And the movie purposefully leaves things ambiguous, which really worked fine for me. Despite the name of Hazel's church, the movie is really not about that, but about his relationships with all the people who come into his orbit and his reaction to them. But what he really believes in the end remains a mystery because he doesn't say, but his actions give me a clue. Great 70's cinema and highly recommended.
If it seems I've told the whole movie, rest assured I haven't. It's just the outer surface I've described. Once you start watching, you'll get pulled in. Great stuff.