The Neon Bible
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Denis Leary, Diana Scarwid, Drake Bell, Gena Rowlands, Jacob TierneyDVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 91 minutes
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Fox Lorber
Movie Reviews of The Neon Bible
Movie Review: A director's style, so unique, so original-glad I saw this
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow!!! Have you ever just simply been mesmerized by a film? I was recently introduced to the work of Terence Davies (Distant Voices Still Lives, The House of Mirth,Long Day Closes) and his film editor Charles Rees and cinematographer Michael Coulter (The Bank Job [Theatrical Release],Love Actually (Widescreen Edition),Sense & Sensibility (Special Edition)), and I have to say that this team performs marvels on the screen. As an editor, myself, I found "The Neon Bible" to be so entrancing and artistic of a film, that I almost got lost in the techniques of the production and forgot to pay attention to the story! Not totally true, but this is such unique film-making that in all my years I have never quite had the experience of seeing such a film like it.
"The Neon Bible" is a frank and honest look at one boy's growing up in the Deep South of America in pre and post World War 2. The film begins with David (Jacob Tierney) on a train leaving somewhere and going to somewhere. We don't know. He seems tired,relieved and almost comatose. He stares out the train window into the darkness and the camera transports us back into David's memories like a tranquil reverie of remembrances. Davies and his team lead us quietly, reverentially, almost imperceptibly through David's memories of his outlandish Aunt Mae (Gena Rowlands), his abusive father (Denis Leary), his beaten-down mother (Diana Scarwid) and a host of scenes from a life that had gone on up to this time concerning life in rural Tennessee. We are taken as silent observers into Evangelistic Tent Meetings, into private intimate conversations with Aunt Mae, we witness a husband's abuse of his wife, we observe a seductress (Frances Conroy) yearning for David's young manliness, and we feel the touch of a girl's hand as she and David kiss for the first time. These are everyday events that Davies quietly allows us to be partakers as Michael Coulter creeps in and out of each scene with an incredibly smooth camera and Charles Rees seamlessly dissolves each memory into the next!!! This is an exciting and artistic way in which to film this story which comes from John Kennedy Toole's novel. Very few directors attempt or successfully are able to film inner thought and observation well. Davies and his team are absolute masters, and "The Neon Bible", in a very deliberate 93 minutes, managed to transfix me and transcend time and space in a way quite like I have never seen before. I watched this film through three times before writing this review. It is a marvel of sensitivity and artistic competence. This is a contemplative film, not car chasing "entertainment." I highly endorse this film for someone who thoroughly admires detail and technique from a production standpoint. All acting is beyond superlative. The story is flawless. This would be a true film for one who appreciates the complete art of film making. It is a tough thing to do, but Terence Davies (who is now Knighted for his contribution to British Film!),Charles Rees and Michael Coulter who between them all have garnered so many wins and nominations around the world, make it look so easy. What a pleasure to be in the hands of masters!
Summary of The Neon Bible
Academy Award nominee Gena Rowlands stars in acclaimed director Terence Davies' exquisitely bittersweet trip into the American South of the 1940s. Interactive Menus, Scene Access, FilmographiesSimilar DVD Movies
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