The wisdom of the blood
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The wisdom of the blood |
| Original title | Wise Blood |
| Country of production | United States Germany |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1979 |
| length | 106 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | John Huston |
| script |
Benedict Fitzgerald Michael Fitzgerald |
| production | Michael Fitzgerald Katy Fitzgerald Hans Brockmann |
| music | Alex North |
| camera | Gerry Fisher |
| cut | Roberto Silvi |
| occupation | |
| |
The wisdom of blood (original title Wise Blood ) is an American-German literary film adaptation by John Huston with Brad Dourif in the leading role of a fanatical preacher. Flannery O'Connor provided the template with the novel Wise Blood (1952).
action
Hazel Motes, the grandson of a preacher, returns to the southern United States one day from an unspecified war. There he becomes a hyperreligious sect leader with the "Church of Truth without Christ", which he himself founded, and spreads his doctrines of salvation with poison and gall. His sense of mission soon grows into a religious mania, which verbally condemns everything and everyone who believes in Christ or God, in justice and an afterlife, in sin or evil in all its forms. Not only his messages and salvation teachings are rigorous and allow no contradiction, the entire optical appearance of the lanky-slender Hazel Motes including his peculiar clothing (always a dark gray suit and a striking black hat with a wide brim) and his way of moving, is effective like a single challenge to his fellow men.
Women like the seductive Sabbath Lily Hawks are strangely drawn to the charismatic eccentric, but also comical owls like the devoted Enoch Emery, who believes he can find a friend in the fanatical loner . But as a sociopath , Hazel Motes is unable to meet such needs. He neither believes that his fellow men could ever meet his demands, nor does he believe this of himself. His rigor in building his anti-God and anti-Christ "church", for which he tirelessly tries to win followers, makes him increasingly a delusional eccentric. In the small town of Taulkinham in the US state of Georgia there is finally a massive confrontation with one or the other hostile residents, above all Asa Hawks and Hoover Shoates. Both proclaim their own religious “truths” and thereby make a “war of words” seem inevitable, which soon threatens to turn into fights.
Production notes
The wisdom of the blood originated on January 23, 1979 in Macon, Georgia and the surrounding area. Filming was completed in mid-March of the same year. The film was completed in early May 1979. Wise Blood , the original title, was presented for the first time at the Cannes Film Festival in the same month. The German premiere took place on November 17, 1981 on ZDF . The German video title is Der Ketzer .
Reviews
The Movie & Video Guide wrote, “Brilliant implementation of Flannery O'Connor's weird hell-and-rescue story. Flawless cast, led by Brad Dourif as the obsessed preacher ”.
Halliwell's Film Guide characterized the film as follows: "Strange story, not easy to like, but with many impressive moments".
"Film adaptation of a 1952 novel from the southern United States. John Huston keeps the film on the fine line between tragedy and satire. The story gets all of its malevolence from a series of satirical tips and points; any sectarianism and a society that is susceptible to it are subjected to acid criticism. A film of contradictions, anger and despair. "
Web links
- Wise Blood in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The wisdom of blood at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ^ German Institute for Film Studies (Ed.): German Films 1979, compiled by Rüdiger Koschnitzki. P. 274
- ^ Leonard Maltin : Movie & Video Guide, 1996 edition, p. 1468
- ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 1122
- ↑ The Wisdom of Blood in the Lexicon of International Films