Product Details

• Actors: Henry Fonda, Robert Earl Jones, Lane Smith, Shirley Stoler, Irene Worth
• Directors: Glenn Jordan
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Monterey Video
• DVD Release Date: February 20, 2007
• Run Time: 58 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000N4SA9Q
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,954 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

DISPLACED PERSON - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Poor quality, but O'Connor's story is faithful from beginning to end, July 12, 2008

By 

fra7299 "fra7299" (California, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Displaced Person (DVD)

I guess there are two ways to view this DVD. From a literary standpoint, this is almost a flawless version of Flannery O'Connor's short story, as most characters and situations are exactly the same as the story. However, from a film viewing standpoint, it could have been better. The film's quality definitely seems dated, and seems to have a low budget quality about it. It's ironic because the film's poor quality blends in right with the dreary mood of the story.

However, I found the DVD quite worthwhile because I found the story interesting enough and it seemed to follow right along with O'Connor's tale. In "The Displaced Person", Mrs. McIntyre, who owns land in Georgia after World War 2, goes against the grain by allowing an outsider, a foreign man and his family, to come in and work on her farm. Immediately when he comes, the place seems to be disrupted. While Mrs. McIntyre loves Mr. Guizac's (the displaced person's) work ethic, others, such as Mrs. Shortley, resent that a foreigner can come in and "mess" things up. Harmony is not easy to achieve once McIntyre allows his family to stay, and eventually this leads to Mrs. McIntyre deciding to ask the Shortleys to leave. However, Mrs. Shortley, overhearing this, decides to have her family leave. This leads to more turmoil and Mrs. McIntyre must deal with the conflict of keeping or firing the Displaced Person. This eventually leads to a few tragedies on the farm.

What this film does a superb job of is underscoring the themes that O'Connor loved to present. The idea of jealousy or simple-mindedness is examined in the character of Mr. and Mrs. Shortley. While Mrs. Shortley has visions that Mr. Guizac will lead to nothing but destruction, her husband is as narrow-minded and prejudiced as she is about foreigners. Mrs. McIntyre seems to be looking for "salvation", but she only finds it in the Displaced Person, Mr. Guizac, not in the priest's lectures. In this way, many of the characters are misled and ultimately must pay the consequence for not seeing situations in more reasonable ways. While the Displaced Person comes in and ruins the harmony, many of the characters are eaten up by their own motivations and seemingly destroy themselves with gossip and attempts at self-gain.

What makes this a great film for fans of O'Connor is that there are overtones to a deep psychological meaning that you might not find in just the average movie. This film was clearly designed to be true to the story, and so the impact is greater. It is a rather short film, being only about fifty minutes in length, and there is even a short performance from Samuel L. Jackson in here.

I would say that if you are a big O'Connor fan than this is worth a check out; if you aren't then you might not be so impressed. I give four stars for the film itself, but 2 for the quality.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Television film captures Flannery O'Connor's story with precision and power., January 7, 2011

By 

Paul Maurice - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Displaced Person (DVD)

I agree with fra7299's very thoughtful review of this film of Flannery O'Connor's longest short story (and the concluding story of her first collection entitled "A Good Man is Hard to Find"). The film make lack the immediate clarity and impact of current and contemporary film-making quality because it was made for television: a series on PBS, I believe, called "American Story Theatre." But, as I am sure fra7299 agrees, the cinematic structure, the camera work, the pacing, and above all the superb acting are excellent and do O'Connor's story justice. (Some of her works, such as "The Life You Save May Be Your Own," have been interpreted for television, stage, or film with disasterous results and total disregard for faithfulness to the author's intentions. The whole ending of "The Life You Save..." was turned on its head in a television production of some years ago. The film of her novel Wise Blood by John Huston is commendable in many ways -- the casting and consequent acting, the pacing, the tone, but it omits [perhaps unavoidably]certain elements, images, and scenes from the novel that are essential to Flannery O'Connor's meaning.) However, this remarkably fine televion/film interpretation of "The Displaced Person" is, indeed, faithfully and beautifully rendered . . . a creatively reverent cinematic enhancement of O'Connor's masterful story.