The themes are not easily accessed in this film, and it takes more than a cursory examination of the material to get at what O’Connor was attempting to say – Huston himself apparently had trouble with interpreting the ending. What he didn’t have trouble with is creating an intensely evocative film on a shoestring budget. Every scene brims with a weird energy, and the starkness of the mise-en-scene is deeply affecting. Images of Motes preaching from atop his dilapidated car and the disfigured face of the preacher Hawks are hard to get out of your mind.
Dourif is magnetic as the lead character, despite the difficulty of his character. He doesn’t let down the harsh religious wall until it’s absolutely necessary, and then, he finds a way to be even more captivating. Supporting performances are strong across the board, especially Mary Nell Santacroce as the landlady who takes Motes in.
Wise Blood will never reach a broad audience – it was probably fairly inaccessible in 1979 when it was released, and that gap has likely only grown wider since. However, it’s massively entertaining and interesting despite its surreal and angular qualities, and it requires plenty of time to sort things through.
This Criterion Collection DVD release is a typically fantastic one, with a visual transfer that is remarkably clean for a film like this. Special features include excellent interviews with Dourif as well as Benedict and Michael Fitzgerald, who first approached Huston about doing the film and wrote the script. Also included is archival audio of O’Connor reading her short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the only recording of her that exists, and a segment from Creativity With Bill Moyers that features Huston a few years before his death.
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