Tag Archive for 'christianity'

At The Death House Door

Published
by
James McNally
on April 24, 2008
in Documentaries, Film Festivals and Hot Docs
. 5 Comments

At The Death House Door

At The Death House Door (2008, Directors: Steve James and Peter Gilbert): Directors Steve James and Peter Gilbert won were nominated for an Oscar for their work together on Hoop Dreams in 1995, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if their latest collaboration isn’t recognized with at least a nomination at Oscar time next year. At the Death House Door introduces us to Reverend Carroll “Bud” Pickett, a retired Presbyterian minister in Huntsville, Texas. As he recounts, Huntsville used to be known for the rodeo, but over the past forty years or so, it’s become famous for all of its prisons. Reverend Pickett never intended to become a prison chaplain, but that’s what he ended up doing. For 15 years during the 80s and 90s, he served as the “death house” chaplain, the man with whom condemned prisoners spent their last day on earth. He would sit with them during the day, listen to whatever they wanted to say, eat their last meal with them, and, when the time came, just after midnight, accompany them the short walk into the room where they would be strapped down and lethally injected. Reverend Pickett did this 95 times, and after each execution, he came home and recorded an audio cassette with his thoughts. Unable to share the pain of this ministry with his family, and prevented by his hard Texas upbringing from crying freely, he poured his heart out for the tape recorder instead. Remarkably, with a few exceptions, he had never listened to these tapes again after making them.

Meanwhile, Maury Possley and Steve Mills, a pair of investigative reporters from the Chicago Tribune had begun writing a series about possible cases of wrongful execution. One of the stories they uncovered was that of Carlos DeLuna, a young man from Corpus Christi, Texas, who was convicted of the 1982 stabbing death of a gas station attendant. The police found him hiding under a truck shortly after the stabbing, and although he had no blood on him at all, and claimed innocence, he was arrested, tried, and convicted. DeLuna maintained his innocence and claimed that an acquaintance, Carlos Hernandez, was responsible for the killing, although no one, even his lawyers, listened. In 1989, he was executed at the young age of 27. Reverend Pickett was with him when he died, and despite claims that lethal injection is quick and painless, he reported that DeLuna didn’t respond to the first drug, a sedative, and took 11 long minutes to die.

Possley and Mills visit with Pickett and discover his archive of tapes. He tells them that of all the prisoners he knew, DeLuna was the one that he was convinced was completely innocent. Over the years, the strain of the job had nagged him, but especially the notion that he was party to the execution of an innocent man. Although he had been a strong proponent of the death penalty when he started the job, after accompanying so many men to the death chamber, his opinion had completely changed. Whether they were guilty or innocent, Pickett cherished the time spent with the men, even as it strained him to be so powerless over their fates.

We spend the majority of the film with Reverend Pickett, certainly a fascinating character, but there are some other characters, including DeLuna’s sister Rose, who still lives with the guilt that she should have done more. Pickett also introduces us to a younger colleague who worked as a death house guard until the strain of working in an institutional death factory drove him to a breakdown. Texas has executed more prisoners than any other state and it’s clear that capital punishment is not deterring anyone. Not only that, it’s creating more victims as we see the families of prisoners suffer. Worse, it dehumanizes everyone involved in the process, from the prisoner himself to the prison guards and chaplains who work for the state.

In one chilling scene, the camera floats around the prison as Texas executes its 400th prisoner. We watch from a distance as the man’s family are allowed access into the prison for their last visit, and then we see the guards bringing out the man’s personal effects in bags and dumping them outside the gates like so much garbage. Soon the man’s body will be taken out in much the same way. It’s heartbreaking.

Even as he came to strongly disagree with capital punishment, Reverend Pickett continued his ministry to these condemned men, firstly because he “wasn’t a quitter,” but more importantly, because they needed a friend at this moment, someone who would be there right until the end, even as their families were banished. Sadly, he informs us that the Texas prison system recently changed the system. Instead of having 18 hours with the prisoner, now they’re brought into the death house at 4:00pm, showered, fed, and then executed at 6:00pm. The chaplain barely has time to say a few words. One wonders if this change is meant to inflict even more pain on the prisoner, denying them any meaningful human contact at all.

At the Death House Door is deeply meditative, due in major part to the character of Reverend Pickett, a man who has been indelibly marked by his work. It has made him question his politics, his opinions, even his faith. It has estranged him at times from his wife and his children. But he made these sacrifices because he truly believes no one should die alone. Wherever you stand on the question of capital punishment, this film will make you think about the people we ask to do the unthinkable.

Here is the Q&A with directors Steve James and Peter Gilbert from after the screening:


Duration: 16:25

Offical site of the film
IFC’s Screening Party Kit
Trailer

9/10(9/10)

Audience of One

Published
by
James McNally
on December 6, 2007
in After Dark, Documentaries and Film Festivals
. 1 Comment

Audience of One

Audience of One (Director: Michael Jacobs): I’m finally reviewing this utterly unique documentary that screened at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival way back in October. I was lucky enough to speak to the director by phone tonight and though my recording is (at this point) almost unusable (crappy analog “phone taps”!!), I’ll try to work in some of the stuff we talked about into the review proper.

Richard Gazowsky is the pastor of the Voice of Pentecost church in San Francisco, and didn’t see his first movie until he was 40. But what an experience it must have been, for soon after he discovered the joys of cinema, he experienced a “divine call” to make the greatest biblical epic ever. Audience of One follows Gazowsky as he takes his congregation along on the almost inconceivable journey of making Gravity, a science fiction epic based on the biblical story of Joseph. Though he’s never directed a film before, Gazowsky confidently takes the reins, and forms WYSIWYG (”What You See Is What You Get”) Christian Film Works. Accustomed to dreaming big, he announces that Gravity will be shot in 70mm at 60 frames per second. Despite an all-volunteer cast and crew, the production soon decamps to Italy for some location shooting. Many problems ensue, from bad weather to mechanical problems to a general lack of preparation. Gazowsky presses on, confident that God wants him to complete the film.

Michael Jacobs’ camera captures the drama over a period of 18 months, from the confident beginning through the trials of production and finally to what appears to be Gazowsky’s very public meltdown. Throughout, the pastor seems like an affable man, albeit a little obsessed with the idea of being a filmmaker. Mysteriously promised European funding fails to materialize, the bills pile up and the erstwhile director becomes more and more paranoid, suspecting the major studios of trying to steal his script. The whole enterprise spins further out of control and by the film’s end, it appears that Richard Gazowsky has painted himself into a corner. His obsession is compounded by his faith that God wants him to devote his life to making this film.

Though it doesn’t shy away from the religious aspects of Gazowsky’s “quest,” this is really a universal character study. We see the pastor’s mother, a preacher herself who founded the church, haunting the proceedings with a sad look on her face. “I never should have turned the church over to him,” she laments. Gazowsky is a familiar character, reminding me of Klaus Kinski’s indelible Fitzcarraldo and Harrison Ford’s Allie Fox (from The Mosquito Coast). But in this case, Gazowsky’s pride is unassailable since he claims to be doing God’s work. But it also means he can never admit he was wrong.

Jacobs told me that Gazowsky has supported the film and even participated in some Q&A sessions after screenings. But instead of administering a much-needed wake-up call, it seems to have re-energized him to continue raising funds to complete the film. Despite the immense amount of time and money spent already, only two scenes have been completed, and although they weren’t shown in the film, Jacobs promises to include them on the DVD release.

It seems ironic that, despite the title of his film being Gravity, nothing seems to be able to bring Richard Gazowsky back down to earth.

Official site for the film

8/10(8/10)

For The Bible Tells Me So

Published
by
James McNally
on October 14, 2007
in Doc Soup, Documentaries, Film Festivals, Hot Docs and Theatrical Release
. 1 Comment

For The Bible Tells Me So

For The Bible Tells Me So (Director: Daniel Karslake): This documentary came to my attention through Joel Heller’s excellent site Docs That Inspire, before it played at Sundance this past January. The film explores the intersection of homosexuality and religion, particularly among conservative Christians, and as such, it tackles a subject near and dear to me. I spent many years immersed in the evangelical subculture and went through the very painful coming-out experience of a close friend. This is exactly the sort of film I wish we’d had in the early 90s. Through the experiences of five Christian families, each with a gay or lesbian child, we watch as real people struggle to integrate their love for their families with their own beliefs and experiences. But this isn’t the typical confrontational sort of film many of us have seen before. Instead, we meet clergy who have wrestled honestly with what the Bible says, and who are able to reconcile their faith with acceptance of gay and lesbian people. It’s gut-wrenching stuff, and not everyone will be convinced by the theology, but at least it gets people discussing the meaning of the disputed biblical passages, rather than just quoting them.

I particularly liked that not all the families are the same. Some still struggle to accept what they perceive to be their child’s “sinful” lifestyle, while others have gone on to political activism (in some cases, even to the point of being arrested!). Karslake has made a very wise choice by adopting the name of a particularly obstinate opponent of gay rights, Focus on the Family, as his theme. By focussing on the real families and experiences of gay people, he removes much of the apprehension and fear of straight people, especially religious straight people. I loved the way he introduced each family by having the parents explain how they themselves met and fell in love. It showed us that attraction and romance are at the root of all of our families, and that the relationships of gay people are really not much different than anyone else’s.

If I have any misgivings about the film, they are relatively minor. One is the use of a short animated segment to try to explain some of the recent scientific research around homosexuality. I thought the tone was a little too self-consciously light-hearted and I thought the segment was largely unnecessary. The other quibble was that earlier in the film, Focus on the Family’s Dr. James Dobson is (rightfully) called out for comparing advocates of gay marriage to Hitler, but then later, actual footage of Hitler is used to describe the persecution of gay people. I don’t think you can have it both ways.

Nevertheless, this is a fair, generous, and incredibly moving portrait of real people trying to reconcile their deepest-held beliefs with their very identities of themselves or of those closest to them. I’m not ashamed to tell you that I was moved to tears several times. Despite that, I think it’s a film that would move others who are perhaps not quite so close to the issues. My wife and I have a running joke. We’ve got the great idea that if only fundamentalist Christians and gay people could actually meet each other instead of hurling insults across the divide, much understanding and even reconcilation could be achieved. I’ve offered to hold a series of dinner events called “Fags and Fundies” to which we could invite quite a few of our friends. I think I’ve found the perfect film to get the discussion started.

NOTE: The film is showing in various venues in the US in the coming months, but so far, there are no Toronto screening dates. Check the film’s site for any changes, and look for a DVD release in the coming months.

UPDATE (January 9, 2008): The film’s Toronto premiere will be tonight at the Bloor Cinema as part of the Doc Soup programme. Director Daniel Karslake will be in attendance. Screenings at 6:30pm and 9:15pm.

Official web site of the film

Docs That Inspire’s Joel Heller interviews director Daniel Karslake

Soulforce, an organization of gay and lesbian Christians and their straight allies fighting religious bigotry

PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays)

9/10(9/10)

Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2007

Published
by
James McNally
on September 11, 2007
in After Dark, Documentaries and Film Festivals
. 4 Comments

Toronto After Dark Film Festival
For a film fest in just its second year, the Toronto After Dark Film Festival (October 19-25) is run like a well-oiled machine. Adam Lopez, Twitch’s Todd Brown, and the rest of the staff are well-organized and professional, not to mention generous. They’re ready to bring another collection of cutting-edge horror, sci-fi, and fantasy films to town. After all the hype and celebrity-watching of TIFF, it’s refreshing to look forward to a festival on a more human scale (and with more zombies!). Though I’m not a huge horror fan, After Dark brings enough weird stuff here that I’m sure I’ll find a lot to like. They’ve just announced their first seven features, and I’m particularly thrilled to see that Audience of One will be making its Canadian premiere. I missed it at SXSW this spring and have been practically begging director Mike Jacobs to bring it Toronto.

Audience of One
It’s the story of Pentecostal pastor Richard Gazowsky, who believes that God is calling him to make an epic sci-fi film based on the biblical story of Joseph. Despite the fact that he didn’t see a movie at all until he was 40 years of age, he decides that he must be the director. Anything and everything that can go wrong, does, and Jacobs’ camera is there to capture the whole train wreck on film. I’m hoping to get an interview with the director when he’s here.

If that’s not up your alley, check out the fest’s excellent web site for more premiere announcements. Single tickets go on sale September 26th, and if you’ve been paying for tickets to “that other film festival,” you’ll be delighted at the prices. An even better value is the $99 VIP Pass (but hurry, there are only 100 available).

Silent Light (Luz silenciosa)

Published
by
James McNally
on September 11, 2007
in DVD, Film Festivals and TIFF
. 3 Comments

Silent Light (Luz silenciosa)

Silent Light (Luz silenciosa) (Director: Carlos Reygadas): Another one of my previewed films that made the final cut, Silent Light is a bit intimidating to write about. Beginning with a stunning six minute shot of the sun rising over a Mennonite homestead, the film alerts us that it is going to require patience and a certain sense of contemplation. And it establishes right away that everything that follows, the human story, is secondary to the cycles of nature, to the circadian rhythms of the natural world, to the pulse of life that beats deep down in the earth and that echoes throughout the universe. I’m sorry if I’m using high-flown language; it’s the effect of this strangely haunting film.

Johan is a simple farmer who’s lived his whole life among the Mennonites of northern Mexico. They don’t communicate much with outsiders, and speak their own Plautdietsch dialect of German. He lives with his wife Esther (Canadian novelist Miriam Toews in a surprising role) and their large family. The film’s crisis comes when we learn that Johan has been carrying on an affair with Marianne, another woman in the community. He’s been honest about it with Esther from the beginning, and has tried to break it off, but deep in his heart he feels that Marianne is his “natural woman” and that marrying Esther was a mistake. Though he clearly loves her and his children, he’s torn by the power of his passion for the other woman as well as his conviction that she is his intended match. Reygadas’ decision to use authentic Mennonite non-professionals has mixed results. Though it’s clear that these are stoic people who use few words, in places the dialogue still felt excessively mannered. He is able to achieve more with the camera than with any spoken dialogue, and that’s where the film finds its emotional power.

The cinematography and sound design are almost Dogme-like in their simplicity, which makes the film’s climax all the more surprising for some. Without giving anything away, all I’ll say is that unlike many, I found it completely natural and moving in its simplicity. And although this is supposedly a community built on Christian faith, I found something closer to pantheism beating at its heart.

Here is the Q&A with director Carlos Reygadas from after the screening:


Duration: 23:58

Trailer
Official Site

8/10(8/10)