Resurrection (1980)

Resurrection has strong appeal to a small and zealous audience, cult-like in its devotion, who will defend it to the death - but as a movie it's just not very good.Since it's most widely praised for the acting, I'll set that straight first.Ellen Burstyn is just Ellen Burstyn, competently playing the gently befuddled, just slightly off-balance, flawed but overwhelmingly sincere and compassionate middle aged woman she nearly always plays. She's good at that, but no better here than in much better movies than this.Eva Le Gallienne is just terrible. She's consistently unwatchable, hamming her way through every scene, chewing every line like it's beef jerky even older than she is.She uses a stilted, creepily inflected, slightly hissing voice that makes my skin crawl, like a cobra talking. And she looks EXACTLY like Mr Magoo - squinting, with her head up and tilted, as if she's trying to identify something on the ceiling while she talks but is too vain to put on her glasses. I can understand Burstyn's Oscar nomination, but not Le Gallienne's. It's a truly awful, creepy, cringe-inducing performance.There IS one fantastic performance here, though, and that's Sam Shepard's. He is thoroughly believable in every scene and never overacts, which by itself is a remarkable achievement given the highly melodramatic screenplay. His is the only character that is allowed to change (and he changes dramatically) in the course of the movie, and he makes the transformations look completely natural and effortless. It's a stunningly accomplished and impressive performance.Except for Richard Farnsworth's marvelous cameo appearance early in the movie, the rest of the cast is adequate but completely forgettable. One notable exception is the boy in the movie's last scene; he's really bad. They should have kept the casting for that role open a little longer.As I said, Resurrection is most often praised for its acting, but that's not why its devotees are so ardent in their devotion. They are disciples of its dreamy, New Age view of life and death, in which love is god, love heals all wounds and solves all problems, and all we EVER need is to love one another. Although the movie never actually defines what love IS (New Age thinking must keep things dreamy and imprecise), it relentlessly affirms that love is the only thing that matters. We ARE love, it says. Whatever that means.That's a religion. Resurrection's fans like to think of it as the triumph of love over religion (meaning rabidly fundamental Christianity), but it's just offering a dreamy, feel-good religion in place of a hate-filled, murderous religion. That's exactly what millions of people are looking for - a religion that will make them feel good about themselves and dull the fear of death that haunts us all.Resurrection assures us that death is a tunnel with an unbearably beautiful light at the end, filled with our departed loved ones easing us gently toward that marvelous destination (why THEY'RE still hanging back in the tunnel isn't explained). In the meantime, while we're here in this world... life is love, and we are love, and god is love, and all we need is love, and - as John Lennon wisely pointed out - love is all we need. Love is ALL we need. Love is all we need. Love is all we need.If that's what you want, this is your movie. Welcome to the congregation, friend.

Edna (Ellen Burstyn) experiences the afterlife after a deadly car crash that killed her husband. She's paralysed and returns to her family in rural Kansas. There she finds she has an ability to heal and other supernatural powers. She's lauded for her healing powers. She's hounded by Cal (Sam Shepard) and she falls for him. Cal's father is a firebrand who accuses her the work of the devil. Edna's father calls her trash and whore, and kicks her out. But the biggest blow may come from Cal.Ellen Burstyn is the master of her craft. She embraces this character without any limitations. I wish she had one guy in her life who isn't batcrap crazy. Her character is more compelling than the story. The story meanders as she deals with one crazy outburst after another. The religious tone is interesting but maybe upsetting to some. More balance with a lead character who isn't crazy would help.

I'd just like to comment on one aspect of this movie: the ending. I've seen a ton of films in my life (37 years at this point), and I have to say that hands down the ending of this film is one of the best I have ever seen. It is SO subtle and non-pretentious that it's almost staggering. I have no doubt that in this day and age (2007) the ending would have been trashed in favor of something much BIGGER. I applaud EVERYONE involved for creating a bookend that has haunted me to this day (I am emotional just thinking about it).If there is ever a well publicized list of the best movie endings ever, I certainly hope this film is on it. It is definitely on mine.

Resurrection is an excellent film made over 25 years ago and it still holds up very well. Ellen Burstyn was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for the film. It is a surprising film in that you think you know where it is going, but you really do not know. It strongly deserves a new life on DVD.Contrary to what the trivia section states about this film, Ellen Burstyn was not pitched the script of Resurrection. In an interview with Burstyn by Blaise DiStefano, Burstyn states: "You know, Resurrection was a story that I had commissioned to be written, and it was inspired from the reading I was doing at the time on the re-emergence of the goddess and bringing the feminine into a religious figure."