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Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Heaven Is For Real


Year:  2014

Filming:  Color

Length: 155 minutes

Genre:  Christian/Drama/Inspirational

Maturity:  PG (for intense thematic elements)

Cast:  Greg Kinnear (Todd Burpo), Kelly Reilly (Sonja Burpo), Connor Corum (Colton Burpo), Lane Styles (Cassie Burpo), Margo Martindale (Nancy Rawling), Jacob Vargas (Michael), Nancy Sorel (Dr. Charlotte Slater), Julia Arkos (Newspaper Reporter), Ursula Clark (Painting Girl), Mike Mohrhardt (Jesus)

Director:  Randall Wallace

Personal Rating:  2 Stars

***

   
    Christian films these days have a very unfortunate habit of not living up the billboard images and radio commercials. For that matter, they often don’t even live up to the subject  matter selected, which the individual plot lines often tweak in given ways that make preachy and unconvincing. Heaven Is for Real was not as bad as some I’ve seen, in either acting (such as Fireproof) or message presentation (such as God’s Not Dead). Still, it had some serious flaws based on the presumption that Christians will believe any miracle story they hear…not to mention some horrendous special effects which turned Heaven into a movie gourmet’s Purgatory!

    Greg Kinnear stars as Todd Burpo, the pastor of a small church in rural America who is experiencing personal health challenges and a financial crisis while trying to keep his small congregation together. He is comforted by his faith in God and his loving family, including his supportive wife Sonja, played by Kelly Reilly, his feisty daughter Cassie, played by Lane Styles, and his exuberant young son Colton, played by Connor Corum. But things almost take a tragic turn when Colton comes down with a life-threatening illness and has to be rushed to the hospital for extensive surgery.

    When Colton finally returns to consciousness and begins his recovery process, he tells his parents an incredible story of how he saw himself being operated on, and then ascended into Heaven and met with Jesus. At first, his parents dismiss it as just an imaginative flight-of-fancy, but Todd Burpo begins to consider that perhaps his son really did have an encounter with the divine, and continues to question him about his experiences. Soon, the news gets out about the encounter, and the Burpo Family is swarmed with press agents seeking the latest human interest story.

     Todd Burpo makes an announcement to his church members explaining the story, and saying that he believes his son’s account to be authentic. There are mixed emotions among the congregation of Todd’s church, with some people embracing the experience enthusiastically, and others viewing it as a sensationalist stunt that will attract all sorts of unwanted attentions from ghost-chasers and miracle-makers. The leader of the latter group is Nancy Rowling, a stalwart member of the church committee who lost a son in the military.

     As Colton reveals more about his supposed Heavenly visit, Todd becomes more astonished by his son’s ability to tell him things he does not believe he could not possibly know. But the pressure begins to mount for Todd as his congregation considers getting a new pastor, and even his wife begins to think he is becoming too obsessed with Colton’s NDE. Nevertheless, he forges ahead with his insistence that it is their duty to embrace it as a miraculous gift to them that they should be unafraid to share the story with the world. Hence, he decides to confront his congregation again, and make another effort to bring them around to his way of thinking.

   I’m sorry to say this, but Heaven Is for Real didn’t really feel for real. Like most small-budget Christian films, in its effort to get a message across, it let realism go to the window. I will admit that some of the acting towards the beginning was decent enough, and I did feel a heart tug when the little boy almost died and his parents were crying out to God to spare him. The whole thing was so human. But the way the father was so quick to believe that a miracle had occurred made me suspicious. This just seemed rather convenient to me. His church was in dire straits and he needed publicity badly to give it a boost. He is the one who is the main spokesman for the whole Heaven-tourism debut, with his son seemingly following along by rote.

      The special effects were terrible, with lots of cyber-glitter, laser-light angels, and a Christmas pageant-style Jesus. I never understood why so much focus was being placed on a private event among the whole congregation. It seems as if the pastor himself didn’t really believe that Heaven was for real until after the experience his son claimed to have. There was no solid case built about why this kid should be believed. As in God’s Not Dead, Atheists are purposely made to look bad, and it seem the reverend doesn’t go to the psychiatrist to weigh out the pros and cons of a scientific explanation, but rather to debunk even an attempt at such an explanation. 

    The Catholic Church is very careful about approving miracles, and always looks at natural possibilities first. But in independent congregational churches, there is no magisterium and no such procedure. If the preacher of an individual congregation want to make a claimed miracle into a big event, he can do just that. I personally find NDEs quite fascination, and some of them certainly seem to defy (or should I say transcend) the laws of nature.

   The subject of miracles, visions, and NDE’s is a complex one. As a Catholic, and an observer of life and historical accounts, I have no doubt that miracles happen. That having been said, a realistic view also indicates that at least 80% of claimed miracles are either of natural causes, thought up by frauds, or imagined by mentally unstable people. In that mix, there is also the possibility of demonic possession. I love the way the Catholic Church takes a pragmatic view of claimed miracles, and tests them vigorously before proclaiming them worthy of belief. Even then, she leaves it up to personal discretion whether or not to believe in them as authentic.

    Reading some accounts of NDEs, documented by those who experienced them and backed up by non-biased secular science journals, I have no doubt that some of these experiences truly defy (or should I say transcend) the laws of nature. However, others I would be less likely to believe, including the one used as the subject in Heaven Is for Real. Also, I disliked the way that the woman in the church who opposes making a big deal out of Colton’s NDE at church in portrayed as being warped by anger because her own son died in war. Personally, I thought her objections were perfectly reasonable, and should not have been attributed to some inner antagonism.

    That having been said, there were some interesting parts. Colton says that he recognizes his grandfather from a photo of him when he was in his 30’s, and that all the people in heaven are young. He also says that he saw his sister in heaven who “died in mommy’s tummy,” a fact which he had never been told about. He also can describe where his parents were in the hospital, and saw himself on the operating table. He is unafraid of things he feared before, such as spiders and death, and goes out of his way to comfort other dying children and promise them that everything will be alright. Whether or not the Burpo story is true, these are common signs of those who have experienced similar phenomena, and do make a fascinating study.

     There is a genuinely funny scene when different preachers come to fill in for Burpo, including a petrified preacher from the prison ministry (one of the men in the pews comments dryly, “He’s used to having a captive audience”) and an over-the-top, hand-waving seminary student (a woman comments blandly, “If Burpo doesn’t get back here soon, I’m gonna kill somebody”). Burpo recounts an interesting fairy tale about a lion and his companions who are trapped by their enemies. The trappers offer them life if they will merely hand over the lion, but they say that if they could have chosen any death, this would have been the one they would have chosen. This would have made a great motif for another film, although it didn’t really tie in well here.

   Interestingly, at the beginning of the film, a news reel is run about a girl from Lithuania had an NDE and began to paint strange and beautiful paintings describing her experiences. At the end of the film, Colton is shown as recognizing her painting of Jesus when his father pulls it up online. Naturally, the painting has been spread around all over the internet and beyond now, and although I first found it hard to relate to, I am now appreciating the depth of expression in the face and eyes. I don’t know if that’s what Jesus looked like or not, but it’s an interesting depiction nevertheless.

    Heaven Is For Real has an interesting enough topic, although perhaps the sensationalism around it is one of its greatest flaws. Todd Burpo is portrayed as hinging his faith on his son’s supposed experience. And yet are we not told “blessed are those who have not seen and yet still believed”? I’m not saying I don’t like miracle stories as much as the next person, nor that I disbelieve them just because they work outside the box of the usual. But that doesn’t mean that we are supposed to be swept up in the hype of “Heaven-tourism” which may or may not be the real deal. Our faith is supposed to be deeper than that, “a confident assurance concerning what we hope for, and conviction about things we do not see.” That is the real lesson that should be extracted from this well-meaning but perhaps misleading movie.

Todd Burpo (Greg Kinnear) shows his son Colton (Connor Corum) a photo of his grandfather


Saturday, March 28, 2015

A Woman's Face





Year:  1941

Filming:  Color
Length:  105 minutes

Genre:  Drama/Noir/Suspense

Maturity:  PG (for intense thematic elements)

Cast:  Joan Crawford (Anna Holm), Melvyn Douglas (Dr. Gustaf Segert), Conrad Veidt (Torsten Barring), Osa Massen (Vera Segert), Richard Nicholas (Lars-Erik Barring), Connie Gilchrist (Christina Dalvik), Reginald Owen (Bernard Dalvik), Albert Bassermann (Consul Magnus Barring), Marjorie Main (Emma Kristiansdotter),

Director:  George Cukor

Personal Rating4 Stars

***

   Certain movies come to you by complete surprise, and are surprisingly well worth the viewing. In the case of this film noir diamond-in-the-rough, it just so happened to be among at the end of a VHS that was included in a bargain-bin at a yardsale. When I first started watching it, just to see what it was, I was none too impressed. The scenes were dreary, and the story-line seemed quite hard to follow. But as I stuck with it, I became immersed in this edge-of-your-seat thriller that feels near Hitchcockian in mood.

   Set in 1940’s Sweden, Joan Crawford stars as Anna Holm, a woman with a scarred face and a scarred heart, running away from her torrid past at the same time as she lashes back at the world for all her past sufferings. Operating a black-mail ring and using a restaurant chain as a front, she is given a packet of clandestine love letters stolen from the vain and frivolous Vera Segert, who frequents one of the restaurants. Torsten Barring, the mysterious stranger who stole the letters, wants to become partners with Anna, who he admires for her cunning criminal mind in spite of her disfigured face.

     Anna is unaccustomed to the attentions paid to her by Barring, and soon falls head over heels in love. Her low-life cohorts mock her out and threaten mutiny, but she assures them that the letters from Vera will enable them to blackmail her and make a profitable sum. But when she goes to the home of Mrs. Segert to extort money from her in exchange for the letters, she accidently runs into her husband, Dr. Gustaf Segert, a respected surgeon who sees Anna’s face and believes he can restore it. Realizing this might be her only chance for regaining her former beauty, she agrees to undergo the experimental procedure, even though it is known to be dangerous.

     Over the course of multiple agonizing procedures, Segert is intrigued by Anna’s elusive personality, and comes to admire her determination and strength in comparison with his shallow, unfaithful wife. However, he still senses that there is something about Anna that is dangerous, and even after the operation is a success and her face is restored, he questions whether the beauty of her soul can be restored so easily. Still, after she leaves, he has hope that no matter what her past might have been, she will use her new-found beauty to make a fresh start for herself in the world.

    But still desperate to secure the love of Torsten Barring, Anna becomes enmeshed in a plot to murder his young nephew, Lars-Erik, so he will inherit his uncle’s vast estate in the mountains. Although initially hesitant, she eventually agrees and applies for a job as governess for Lars-Erik. But as she gets to know Torsten’s affable uncle, Consul Magnus Barring, and the adorable little Lars-Erik, she begins to feel like a human being again, and her own icy heart begins to thaw. Will she have the courage to break with her dark past and forge a brighter future, or will she be defined by the scars that once disfigured her face?

    A Woman’s Face is one of those obscure, unusual little movies that turns out having profound examinations of the human condition. It stands out in the film noir genre as having a “method to its madness”, so to speak, and cutting to heart of the true meaning of beauty and love. Although the first scene opens in a courtroom where Anna is being tried for murder, the rest of the story is told through flash-backs based on the testimony of the witnesses. I initially found this technique rather confusing, but after a while, I began to appreciate it, and even found it particularly gripping.

    As fits the mood, it was shot in black-and-white and emphasizes the play between light and shadow, just like Anna’s own struggle between. We only catch several direct glimpses of Anna’s scarred face, because she wears her hat low, and this adds to the mystery as to whether or not she has been made “beautiful” when she is in the court room. The first time we see it is when Barring approaches her with the clandestine letters, and hides his shock by pretending he merely saw that she had something in her eye. It is this gesture that makes Anna feel accepted by a man at along last, and enables Torsten to manipulate her for his own ends.

    The cast is superb, and does an excellent job acting out the diverse roles. I have never been a major fan of Joan Crawford, and yet she really does shine in this film and show her talent for portraying a woman crossed between malicious intent and an almost pathetic desire to return to innocence. Melvyn Douglas is a very steady, very logical Dr. Gustav Segert, who comes to realize that for all his medical expertise and ability to heal the scars on Anna’s face, he is woefully unable restore the beauty of her soul. Still, he is there when she needs him, and stands up in her defense at the trial. Conrad Veidt makes a deliciously elegant, chillingly slithery Torsten Barring, who reveals the full extent of his evil nature a little at a time.

    As much as I feel for Dr. Segert’s marital woes, as I Catholic, I don’t believe that necessarily validates him having an extramarital romance. Now, I’ll grant that his wife is cheating on him, and is totally self-consumed, so he might have grounds for annulment there. But still, I don’t know if just jumping from woman to woman is the right way to handle the situation! That having been said, he sees something beautiful in Anna that enables her to break the dark bonds that have ensnared her, and she is finally able to accept and receive true love. It’s interesting to note that Anna made a study of famous love letters throughout history, from the likes of John Keats, even in the darkest periods of her life.
  
    I love the Swedish setting! It’s so unusual, and dark, and almost mythic. I enjoyed seeing how the Swedish court proceedings unfolded, and the unique customs such as taking an oath before testifying “as a son/daughter of a Christian”. But one thing strikes me as being rather strange: how is that this film is made (and seemingly set) in 1941 Scandinavia, and yet there is no mention of the Second World War? I mean, I know Sweden was neutral, but I’m sure it had to be permeating the news! But then again, perhaps the heart of the movie really was about the war after all, and Torsten Barring was just another form of Adolf Hitler. His declaration that some people are entitled to be evil and to conquer is the thing that finally shakes Anna out of her infatuation with him. At any rate, drawing the parallel is certainly a valid one.

    Lars-Erik is actually the key character in the movie, whose innocence strikes a chord deep within Anna that pulls her out of the darkness and into the light. Although she has been accustomed to being treated as sub-human because of her scarred face, and thought she had to be a she-wolf in order to survive, his unconditional love for and trust in her awakens her stifled conscious and the realization that she can be good. It is symbolic that at a party she is dressed as a local Swedish saint who is patroness of children. Barring mocks her for this, and she assures him she is not completely on the side of the saints. And yet the chance for it has been opened, and she can bear to turn her back on it completely.

    The turning point in the movie takes place on the ski lift in which Anna is riding with Lars-Erik. According to Barring’s plan, she is supposed to unlock the gate and let the lad fall to his death. Although she starts to do so (and the close-up shots seem like something straight out of an Alfred Hitchcock production), she realizes that she cannot, and pulls him back to safety. When Torsten realizes she will not follow through with his plan, he kidnaps young Lars-Erik and takes off with him on a sleigh. Anna realizes his devious intent and alerts Dr. Segert, who also happens to be visiting Consul Magnus. Then the two of them set off on a break-neck chase to rescue the child…and the unexpected series of events that lead Anna to be accused for murder before the court unfold.

    A Woman’s Face is a suitably dark yet beautifully deep film noir drama about the powerful reality that ever person has the chance to be redeemed and start anew, no matter their checkered past. It also shows that beauty is something that comes from within, and defines the essence of the person, as opposed to mere physical traits. Couple this meaningful moral with artfully rendered suspense, exquisite performances, and a break-neck sleigh race in the Swedish mountains, and you’ve got a film not to be missed!
Torsten Barring (Conrad Veidt) bewitches Anna Holm (Joan Crawford