Tender Mercies (Beresford, 1983): Prince Charles Cinema, 6pm
This is a 35mm screening.Time Out review:
Alongside works by Terrence Malick, John Cassavetes and John Huston,
this breathtaking 1983 melodrama is one of the wellsprings of US indie
cinema. Writer Horton Foote – most famous for scripting ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’
– and his star Robert Duvall shopped the screenplay to every major
American director, but ended up having to settle for Aussie Bruce
Beresford making his first Hollywood film. It’s a bizarre trio – the respected playwright, the
not-quite-bankable star, the Ocker sex-comedy veteran – especially when
one considers that the film they came up with – all downhome reverence,
stifled emotion and expressive minimalism – stands completely alone in
each man’s CV (at least until Duvall co-starred in virtual remake ‘Crazy Heart’). Duvall plays Mac Sledge – greatest character name ever? – the
strung-out former country star who washes up in a remote Texas town and
shacks up with the local widow. Redemption stories are ten to the dozen
in Hollywood, but this one feels heartbreakingly genuine – Duvall was
never better, and that’s saying something. The look of the film is entrancing, from a series of disconcertingly
flat rural landscapes to the gorgeous photography of human faces – head
on, eyes wide, nothing hidden. It’s a film of quiet, relentless power
which demands – and rewards – a level of belief, even faith in its
characters which few other films even dare to suggest. For all its
simplicity, this is bold, heartfelt filmmaking. A masterpiece.
Tom Huddleston
Here (and above) is the trailer.
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