Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus
by Andrew Douglas
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: David Eugene Edwards, Gary Howington, Harry Crews, Johnny Dowd, The Handsome FamilyDirector: Andrew Douglas
Brand: IMG
Cinematographer: Andrew Douglas
Producer: Andrew Douglas
Producer: Anthony Wall
Producer: Jonathan Shoemaker
Producer: Martin Rosenbaum
Producer: Simon Crocker
Producer: Steve Golin
Writer: Steve Haisman
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 82 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-03-14
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Homevision
Movie Reviews of Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus
Movie Review: Experience A South in this film
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw this film a few years ago at Roger Ebert's festival of lost classics that he puts on every year in his hometown of Champaign, Illinois. I had never heard of Jim White, but was intrigued by the title, so when my friend suggested going, I said sure. Jim White and Andrew Douglas were there for the panel discussion after the film was over and gave some insights into the film and why they made it. Sadly, Ebert was unable to do the moderating, having recently had surgery for cancer, but he was in the audience, and others took his place, very capably. White even did a mini-concert of a few songs related to the film.
One thing that White stated categorically in his talk was that this film was never meant to be a definitive portrait of the American South. It was a portrait of his experience growing up in a southern minority religion, Pentecostalism, and a picture of how that mindset affects people who are more or less trapped where they are by poverty and ignorance. He made it out, but many never do. All this is filtered through the British sensibilities of Andrew Douglas, who was raised religion free in the UK, and for whom the setting was as exotic as the jungles of the Amazon would be to a Midwesterner. In my opinion, Douglas's objectivity raises the film above the ordinary; the things he chooses to film highlight the essential strangeness of much of the Southern culture, most of which is not this extreme.
I can say this because, although I grew up in Illinois, I was born in Biloxi, MS to parents whose families came from the poor white farmer backgrounds of Kentucky and Tennessee, an area that has its own potent mythology. No one in my family's past was Pentecostal (termed holy rollers by my mother), no one handled snakes or spoke in tongues; no, they were one and all Southern Baptists of various stripes. Two of my great-grandfathers were Baptist preachers, in fact. The film shows what is generally termed "poor white trash". My family comes from the poor white dirt farmer culture, also known as "hillbillies."
While my background is not identical to what is portrayed in this film, it is similar enough that I can say that White is faithful to what he saw. Hillbillies can be as devoutly religious as holy rollers; I remember my grandmother's funeral, where there was weeping and wailing to a large degree, though no fainting and being slain in the spirit. The difference between my background and White's, I am trying to say, is a matter of degree. I recognized many of the tropes as being the same in both places, particularly the woman broadcasting the religious sermon. It wouldn't take too hard a twist to make that woman my grandmother. As I said, a matter of degree.
Oh, and I loved the music in the film and was not upset at non-local musicians providing the soundtrack, or by Harry Crews, because this was not meant to be a factual portrait of a place and time, but one man's interpretation of it, with a little help from his friends.
On edit, I remember something I was going to mention but forgot. The bar scene, the one after White refuses to go in (he is a recovering alcoholic, so this is reasonable), is remarkable in its similarity to the filming of the Pentecostal service. The dancing and shaking and general uproar in both are eerily similar, one fueled by alcohol and one by the Holy Spirit. In White's talk after the film showing, he sang a song he wrote about this kind of experience. The applicable line is a chorus/coda; A bar is just a church where they serve beer. This struck me forcibly. So many people use religion in the same way that others use alcohol. It is an addiction, often a substitute for alcohol or drugs for the recovering addict. It is not that for every churchgoer, not even for most, but White shows us in this film that it can be. I thought this was the most profound thing about the whole film.
Summary of Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus
Synopsis:Item Type: DVD Movie
Item Rating: NR
Street Date: 03/14/06
Wide Screen: yes
Director Cut: no
Special Edition: no
LanguageENGLISH
Foreign Film: no
Subtitlesno
Dubbed: no
Full Frame: no
Re-Release: no
Packaging: Sleeve Please note: This supplier will be closed on 11/24, 11/25, 12/26, 1/2 for the holidays. The shipping cut off is 12/10 to try and have the products delivered by Christmas.
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