Places in the Heart –Presenting
11/12/10
For some of you
who attend regularly, there may be a feeling of déjà vu watching this.
The film is set
in 1935, the same year that our September movie, The Great Debaters,
depicts. Places in the Heart is
set in Waxahachie, TX, about a half hour south of Dallas. The Great Debaters was set in Marshall, TX,
about 2 hours east of Dallas. I would say
they perceive very similar worlds, a time of depression and racism. (A strange coincidence: the Great Debaters
depicts Wylie College; the young black boy seen in the pivotal opening scene is
named Wylie.)
The Great
Debaters was based loosely on a true story.
The Director/Writer of Places in the Heart (Robert Benton) returns to
the town where he grew up. The
screenplay reflects stories he heard about his family history, especially his great-grandmother's struggles after the loss of her husband.
The characters in this movie cross the
lines that constrained most in that era… lines of color, gender, physical
differences. Perhaps out of
desperation, they draw on strengths that might have otherwise been denied the
opportunity to contribute. We are drawn in to appreciate the decisions the
characters are confronted with as the story unfolds.
Consider: during
the depression era, what chance does a single mother and her family really
have. How were people limited by
traditional gender roles, traditional racial roles, traditional expectations
about anyone with disability. What
chance does a woman have of supporting a family during the depression? At what cost? Can she keep the family together?
I see this as a
movie about the apparent separations and boundaries between us, and the truer
connections among us. In fact, you
might keep in mind the doctrine of
the Communion of Saints.
It is defined as the spiritual union of
all members of the Christian Church living and the
dead, those on earth, in heaven,
and, those also who are in the state of purification. They are all part of a
single "mystical body", with Christ as the head, in
which each member contributes to the good of all and shares in the welfare of
all.
Sally Field won the Academy Award for her
performance, famously gushing, “You like me!”.
There were also nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor in a Supporting
Role(John Malkovich… the first role I saw
him in), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Lindsay Crouse), Best Director ,(Robert Benton) . Other notable performers include Danny Glover (among his earliest film roles), and Ed Harris & Amy Madigan (Madigan &Harris married
after doing this movie).
Director Robert
Benton won the Oscar for best original screenplay (He wrote/Directed Kramer vs
Kramer, wrote Bonnie & Clyde, the 1978 Superman, What’s Up Doc?.. many
others)
Sally Field as
Edna Spalding Lindsay Crouse as Margaret Lomax
Danny Glover as
Moze Ed Harris as Wayne Lomax
John Malkovich as Mr. Will Ray Baker as Sheriff Royce Spalding
Yankton Hatten as Frank Spalding Amy Madigan as Viola Kelesey
Gennie James as Possum Spalding
The “Positive Psychology/Spiritual
Values” depicted include Perspective, perseverance, teamwork, courage,
humanity and hope. But the depiction of
Forgiveness &
Mercy stands as one of the most visceral, deeply felt that I have ever encountered.
There is a
comment in the background of a scene, that might be selected to set the tone
for this filem, a quote from , E. C Bentley "Between what matters and what
seems to matter, how should the world we know judge wisely?" ###########
(Sister/Brother-in-Law..
relationship/affair?—invite audience to suggest its place in the movie…perhaps
that people without trauma have tragedy too)
“During the
film, while the Spaulding kids are trying Malkovich's player, I believe, a
brief excerpt from "Trent's Last Case" is heard. Within it is a
major, if not the major, theme of the film. I think you should include it among
your memorable quotes:
Most of the film involves characters making choices, many of them difficult,
some of them life-threatening. These choices are put into startling relief by
the ending sequence of the movie. Although it would be a disservice to
summarize Benton's story as just a parable for our times, his comment about
choices is extremely thought-provoking.”
“Benton creates
his characters with a loving hand, but that does not mean he doesn't see the
flaws in the people there, the racism, the sexism, the hypocrisy and the
pettiness”
(As read in
movie Corinthinians 1:13:1
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as a sounding brass or a
tinkling cymbal. 13:2
And though I have a gift of prophecy,
and all knowledge, and have not love, I am nothing. 13:3
And though I bestow all of my goods to feed poor, and have not love, it profit
me nothing. 13:4
Love is patient, kind, Love is not jealous or boastful. 13:8
Love never ends. )
“On the night
before his crucifixion, our lord gathered with his disciples. He broke the bread and blessed it, saying
take, eat, this is my body. And he took the cup and said drink, this is my
blood which I shed for thee. )
13:1
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love, I am a
noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 13:2
And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have
all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 13:3
If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast,
1
but do not have love, I receive no benefit.
13:4
Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not
puffed up. 13:5
It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. 13:6
It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. 13:7
It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
13:8
Love never ends. But if there are prophecies, they will be set aside; if there
are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be set aside. 13:9
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, 13:10
but when what is perfect 2
comes, the partial will be set aside. 13:11
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned
like a child. But when I became an adult, 3
I set aside childish ways. 13:12
For now we see in a mirror indirectly, 4
but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know
fully, just as I have been fully known. 13:13
And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is
love.
How does it feel
to see her cleaning the body?
During the film, while the Spaulding kids
are trying Malkovich's player, I believe, a brief excerpt from "Trent's Last
Case" is heard. Within it is a major, if not the major, theme of the film.
I think you should include it among your memorable quotes:
"Between what matters and what seems to
matter, how will the world we know choose wisely?
The ending of the movie is based upon the
Christian doctrine of the "communion of the saints." God being
infinite is constrained by neither time nor location. Thus God is present
regardless of place, period, or circumstance. Likewise, those who belong to God
(aka: saints) are eternal through God.
So, in the ending of the movie, it is not that a
bunch of dead people have shown up. Instead, all those who belong to God are
present. While we are struck by the fact that Wiley and the Sheriff are both
present to receive communion, we should first be struck by the fact that the
woman who died in her car during the tornado is present, the honkey tonk band
is present (they are not dead, but are unlikely to be in church on a Sunday
morning), Moze is present (even though he has hit the road to avoid retribution
by the KKK, and probably wouldn't be in a white Baptist church in Waxahachie,Tx
in 1935). Lots of people are present, whether they are dead or not. It is a
message of hope, of redemption, but also of judgement. The Klan members are absent.
It is not a dream sequence. It is a faith
sequence.
(\ This scene is the best symbolic image I�ve ever seen
of �the communion of the saints,� the Holy Eucharist or
Lord�s supper in which we are united in remembering Christ�s
sacrificial death and resurrection, and also the mystical unity of the church,
the Body of Christ, which exists both now and in eternity.
Wikipedia The Communion of Saints (in Latin, communio
sanctorum), when referred to persons, is the
spiritual union of all members of the Christian Church living and the
dead, those on earth, in heaven,
and, for those who believe in purgatory,
those also who are in that state of purification. They are all part of a single
"mystical body", with Christ as the head, in
which each member contributes to the good of all and shares in the welfare of
all.
Catechism of the Catholic Church gives the following English translation of the
Apostles' Creed.[15] In its discussion of the Creed,[16] the Catechism maintains the
traditional division into twelve articles, the numbering of which is here added
to the text.
1. I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and
earth.
2. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
3. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of
the Virgin Mary.
4. He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
5. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again.
6. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the
Father.
7. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
8. I believe in the Holy Spirit,
9. the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints,
10. the forgiveness of sins,
11. the resurrection of the body,
12. and life everlasting.
Amen.
n Catholic terminology, the Communion of
Saints is thus said to comprise the Church Militant (those alive on earth), the
Church Penitent (those undergoing purification in Purgatory in preparation
for heaven), and the Church Triumphant (those already in heaven). The damned
are not among the Communion of Saints.
Sally Field won
Best Actress Oscar (In 1985, when Sally Field reached the podium to accept her
second Oscar (the first was for Norma Rae),
she uttered the memorable (and much-mocked) line, "I can't deny the fact
that you like me, right now, you like me!"
