Directed by Jhon Huston. Starring Brad Dourif, Dan Shor, Amy Wright, Harry Dean Stanton, and Ned Beatty. Based on the 1952 novel Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor.
“Where you come from is gone, where you thought you were going to never was there, and where you are is no good unless you can get away from it.”
I feel like Hazel Motes as I try to write about this film – struggling with the God that is Flannery O’Connor. A voice far more commanding than even John Huston’s. I tried to ignore the novel and just approach the film but once you’ve walked the garden path with O’Connor there is no backsliding. Redemption (serenity) comes by way of heeling to the things one cannot change.
In the opening credits Huston’s name is misspelled, purposefully, and it made me wonder if he was going to take additional cheap jabs at southern stereotypes rather than be true to O’Connor’s darkly humorous investigation into the complexities of Southern humanity. While the characters are absurd, they work hard to honestly portray the wild contradictions inherent in living a Christian life. In the south in particular, religion is not a side dish offered up on Sundays but the main dish of life for many. Southern folks have doggedly managed to hold tight to the spiritual as a way of living a meaningful life despite the modern capitalist insistence on consumerism as the meaning of life.
As I watched the film, I was struck by the realization (something that I hadn’t remembered from reading the book) that Hazel Motes is a true loner not so much by choice but by circumstance. He’s lost his family and the only home, albeit a troubled one, that he’s ever known. He’s a soldier that apparently has returned from action, though of what nature is not clear. Still, this experience with the world sets him up for some serious potential for disillusionment.
“Where you come from is gone, where you thought you were going to never was there, and where you are is no good unless you can get away from it.” You can never go home boys! But, who you are is shaped by who raised you up – the wise blood that courses through your veins compels you. In some respect, you never leave home. After all the internal struggles and external conflicts are said and done, we realize that we are what we are in spite of ourselves. So, you may as well get on out there and do some things you never have done before and if a good car comes your way you won’t need any justification.