NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Hulkeasexo it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Catherina If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

christopher-underwood John Huston's films, ranging from his classic noir, through The Misfits with Marilyn Monroe in her final film to his adaptation of James Joyce's, The Dead, completed just before his own death, are many and varied, with some, not least Wise Blood as downright, quirky. Very much the tale of the blind leading the blind, this is a sad, wry tale of the misfit reaching out for followers. The southern preacher spouting nonsense to a congregation, presumably seeking something, though they know not what. I find myself writing this as the news swirls all about regarding the Germanwings aviation pilot who seemingly took himself and his passengers to their death in the French alps. In the film one character seeing children queue up to shake the hand of a man in a gorilla suit, steals the same suit so he might go about the town having people shake his hand or in his mind, be friends. This would be funny if it were not so tragic, indeed some find the film to be a black comedy. Me, I wasn't laughing.

gavin6942 A Southerner (Brad Dourif) -- young, poor, ambitious but uneducated -- determines to become something in the world. He decides that the best way to do that is to become a preacher and start up his own church.This film is brilliant for its examination of religion and for its casting. On the former point, some aspects are clearly exaggerated. The world is full of crazy preachers, but probably not so many in one town that they are stumbling over each other. Is the film against religion? No. On the surface, yes, but it is really against hypocrisy.And the casting... Harry Dean Stanton and Ned Beatty are great, but Brad Dourif runs the show, and it is a shame his name is not more widely known outside of film fanatic circles...

LeonLouisRicci There isn't a likable Character to be found in this Existential, Philosophical, Film about Religion as seen through the Mentally Challenged. These Folks are not only unlikeable, they are for the most part, Retarded.It is a beautifully ugly Movie with these unattractive Participants set in front of even more unattractive Sets and Locations. Things are in decay, not only physically but Spiritually.This is an almost singular Film. It is Categorically undefinable and has never found anything more than a peripheral Cult Audience since released. No wonder. This is like a Sideshow Freak of a Movie. You gawk and gaze at amazement as these splinters of Humanity parade themselves openly in utter disregard of their inadequacies. Old Salt John Huston Directs from a bittersweet, relentlessly cynical, scathingly satirical Author. The Cast, led by an outstanding Brad Dourif, is an A-List of B-Actors, some who have made Careers of playing oddballs. This is not a Film that is easy to like, but you could admire, and is nothing if not evocative and provocative. A truly Underground piece of Subversive Art. It cannot be seen without some of the misanthropy melting your Mind as it inhibits your ability to comprehend what was just experienced.

Lechuguilla The premise is fairly straightforward. Owing to bitterness and anger directed at his preacher father, a young Georgia man named Hazel Motes (Brad Dourif) sets out to start his own church, "the church of truth without Christ", founded on a belief system that deliberately contradicts the fundamentalist, orthodox beliefs of his Southern heritage.The essence of this film is Hazel Motes. Everything else orbits this central character. And what a character! Maybe his motives are pure; maybe he means well. But his perspective is blatantly and wildly distorted, even grotesque. His fanatical obsession toward his rebel cause blinds him to reality and the goodness around him. He insults those he comes in contact with. His hateful self-righteousness leads to opinionated, combative personal relations. Dourif's acting amplifies Motes' repugnant personality. I found both the character and the actor very hard to take.By contrast, Motes' ambient Southern environment seems much more real and inviting. I can easily connect with the Southerners in this film, and the non-professional actors and extras that appear. Further, the prod design mirrors quite well the poverty and general bleakness of the South in the era the film was made. That culture is rich in atmosphere and history. Yet there's an undeniable melancholy and depression that washes over the entire region. And the film does a good job of expressing that mood."Wise Blood" is a product of the turbulent era of the late 60s and early 70s, a period of intense suspicion toward all institutions, including organized religion. The director, John Huston, did not like religion. Given these antecedents, the film is bound to come across as slightly heretical to some viewers.I react to this art-house film with ambivalence. I dislike intensely the character of Hazel Motes. And I think Dourif overplays the role. Yet I appreciate the script's underlying premise with the accompanying conflicts, contradictions, and humor that a well-developed story can lead to. And I like the Southern setting, authentic and down-home.An adequate interpretation of this film requires the viewer's full attention. "Wise Blood" is most assuredly a black comedy. Yet it is not a film to take lightly.