Quote:
Originally Posted by oildude
Thinking about Paris, Texas reminds me of another film that could walk along beside Wim Wender’s masterpiece, almost a companion film in many ways, and every bit as good - Bruce Beresford's Tender Mercies. [Show spoiler]I first saw Tender Mercies while surfing movie channels in the early 1990s; it had just started so I decided to watch. It sucked me right in, much the same way Paris, Texas did when I first saw it. Beautiful cinematography, an outstanding screenplay by Horton Foote, memorable music - an absolutely wonderfully moving little film.
Like Paris, Texas, Tender Mercies is a heartfelt and ruggedly truthful piece of Americana directed by a foreigner. At the time, Bruce Beresford was one of the pioneers of the Australian New Wave whose previous credits included the masterful Breaker Morant. Beresford, like his fellow countryman Peter Weir, was just breaking into the U.S. in the early 1980s and chose to direct Foote's screenplay after it had been repeatedly rejected by others. He felt an immediate familiarity with its rural Texas setting and characters; I once saw an interview with him where he mentions that north Texas reminded him of the Outback in his native Australia and he wanted to bring to the film that same respect and love he felt for the bush country and its inhabitants.
Robert Duvall won his only Best Actor Oscar for his role as Mac Sledge, a washed up, alcoholic country music singer who finds redemption, love, and the strength to endure personal triumphs and tragedies through the love of a widow and her young son. Tess Harper and Wilford Brimley also star. Tender Mercies is what I would call a quiet film, filled with raw emotion that winds its way through music and themes that are universal beyond the lives of the characters, the honky-tonk dance halls, the small towns, and the isolating loneliness of the Great Plains. It feels authentic to its subjects better than just about any film I have ever seen.
I highly recommend this film to anyone who has not seen it. I think Universal holds the rights. I would love to see Criterion get this from them and release it on blu-ray; it just seems to naturally fit in the collection alongside Paris, Texas. |
+1000
Tender Mercies is one of my absolute favorite films. I often wonder why I hear so little about it. I still have yet to see
Paris, Texas, but that's high on my list of unwatched movies to watch next. (Then again, I could say that about any of my unwatched Criterions).
Another somewhat forgotten old favorite is
Wrestling Ernest Hemingway, also starring Robert Duvall along with Richard Harris, Shirley MacLaine and Sandra Bullock. Probably a little "lighter" story than
Tender Mercies, but a wonderful little film (in my eyes). I don't think it's on bluray yet, so it sure would be nice to see Criterion (or
anybody) release it on bluray. (That last sentence is my attempt to keep this post OT.
)
For those unfamiliar...
Trailer:
DVDtalk review:
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/40184...est-hemingway/