Product Details

• Actors: Dan Albright, Ned Beatty, Joe Dorsey, Brad Dourif, William Hickey
• Directors: N, a
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Criterion Collection
• DVD Release Date: May 12, 2009
• Run Time: 105 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001TIQT70
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #22,313 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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• For more information about "Wise Blood" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

In this acclaimed adaptation of the first novel by legendary Southern writer Flannery O’Connor, John Huston brings to life a world of vivid, poetic American eccentricity. Brad Dourif, in an impassioned performance, is Hazel Motes, who, fresh out of the army, attempts to open the first Church Without Christ in the small town of Taulkinham. Populated with inspired performances that seem to spring right from O’Connor’s pages, Huston’s Wise Blood is an incisive portrait of spirituality and evangelicalism, as well as a faithful, loving evocation of one writer’s vision.

SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer

• New interviews with actor Brad Dourif, writer Benedict Fitzgerald, and writer-producer Michael Fitzgerald

• Rare archival audio recording of author Flannery O’Connor reading her short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”

• Creativity with Bill Moyers: “John Huston,” a 28-minute television program from 1982 in which the director discusses his life and work

• Theatrical trailer

• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by author Francine Prose

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Huston on DVD at Last, April 22, 2009

By	Randy Buck (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Finally! John Huston's wonderful, spare adaptation of Flannery O'Connor's darkly brilliant comic novel comes to DVD. I've loved this film since its original release -- saw it repeatedly in Paris during its first run there, where it was more successful critically than APOCALYPSE NOW or TESS -- and have tried to catch it at every (infrequent) opportunity since. The period details are a bit off (a low budget guaranteed a bare-bones physical production), but the screenplay and direction couldn't be better. And that cast! A career performance from Brad Dourif as the religion-crazed Hazel Motes, marvellous supporting work from Harry Dean Stanton, Dan Shor and Amy Wright, the ideal Sabbath Lily -- and Atlanta actress Mary Nell Santacroce (mother of Dana Ivey) is unforgettable as Hazel's landlady. O'Connor's violent, sin-soaked South is certainly not for all tastes, nor, in its fidelity to her work, is this film. But if you respond to her vision, this picture will haunt you the rest of your life. Hats off to Criterion for giving us another in their line of wonderful restorations.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DARKLY COMIC, SOUTHERN GOTHIC MASTERPIECE, May 13, 2009

By	Robin Simmons (Palm Springs area, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"WISE BLOOD" is an overlooked jewel.

Southern writer Flannery O'Connor's first novel, "Wise Blood," made it to the big screen in 1979. The John Huston directed, low budget feature was widely praised and then practically forgotten.

O'Connor was a devout Catholic. She was also battling lupus, the sometimes debilitating immune disorder. Both factors may have colored her novel. Huston was a devout atheist. His world view certainly nuanced the tone of the film.

The story concerns a somewhat troubled, perhaps damaged, youth, Hazel Motes (Brad Dourif). Just out of the army and son of a fire and brimstone Pentecostal preacher, Motes is determined to open the first Church Withouth Christ in Taulkinham, Tennessee.

A young Brad Dourif is brilliant as the driven, vexed, Motes. There's not a false note or a wasted frame. His is a journey of spiritual self-exploration, penance and perhaps redemption. O'Connor's curiosity about the southern brand of Pentecostal mind set is riveting on film. Motes is trying to shed the damage of his ferocious religious childhood, but cannot shed his spirituality. He finds he's a Christian in spite of himself.

Supporting actors Harry Dean Stanton, Amy Wright, Ned Beatty, William Hickey and Dan Shor are all spot on.

The frisson between director Huston's disdain for religion and O'Connor's devoutness is a perfect match. The screenplay by brothers Benedict and Michael Fitzgerald does not stray from the core events, tone and ideas of O'Connor's story.

The obviously lower budget production, shot mostly in Macon, Georgia of the late 1970s, does not really detract, even though the novel is set in a somewhat earlier period.

The use of older, rather decayed buildings and locations amidst a more modern setting give a kind of muddy, out-of-time, appeal. A nice visual metaphor to the theme of old fundamentalist religious views in conflict with a more progressive spirituality.

This is a unique film and story. Hard to categorize. For me, it's a darkly comic, decidedly gothic, tale of profound spirituality and humanism. When the shoot was over, Huston said, "I think I've been had."

Criterion's transfer, as usual, is clean and sharp. I thought the color was unusually true and subtle. And the period monaural track crisp and easy on the ear.

The extras are all watchable. The new interviews with Dourif and the writer-producer brothers Fitzgerald are entertaining and informative.

A huge bonus is the rare recording of Flannery O'Connor reading her famous and terrific short story "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is alone probably worth the price of the disc! This is the only known recording of the author reading one of her stories.

There's also a wonderful vintage 1982 "Creativity With Bill Moyers" with director Huston.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The first Church of Christ, without Christ, July 27, 2009

By	C. Christopher Blackshere "Mackshere" (stalking you from the shadows) - See all my reviews

Bizarre, funny, complicated, disturbing, and for the most part unappealing. Few directors would even attempt to bring this "unfilmmable" novel to the screen.
John Huston does just that on a shoestring budget, and the result is an eccentric cinematic baptism of seemingly misguided spirituality, Evangelicalism, and contradictions.

Hazel Motes (Brad Dourif) steps off the Army bus with a bold plan--start an Atheist church. A place "where the blind don't see and the lame don't walk and what's dead stays that way." He is one intense, angry little dude. He's ready to shout out his opposition of religion to anyone who will listen.
Now, Hazel is obviously harboring some inner demons. I expected to see some flashbacks or references to some of his war experiences. Maybe he lost a friend or something. But this story offers no easy explanation for his lack of faith.

This does present quite a collection of other characters as well. A fake blind preacher and his promiscuous daughter, a kid fixated on a mummy at the museum, some fella in a gorilla suit, plus a rival underhanded prankster who continually preaches on Hazel's turf. Quite a crew.

I guess Wise Blood is a religious parable. But it seems more about a state of mental and moral awareness. It doesn't try to sway one's religious beliefs either way, as everyone comes off as batcrap crazy. Even though I normally do love weird movies, I wish I could rate this ambitious and overwrought tale a little higher. Hell, this even brought some unexpected laughs(a man getting viciously ran over by a car?). But in the end, it left me feeling a little flat and uninspired.

A well-made movie for people with messed up tastes.