By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Andrew Douglas
Country: united_states
Year: 2005
Running time: 82
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0389361/combined
Bruce says: “SEARCHING FOR THE WRONG-EYED JESUS is an ambitious documentary from director Andrew Douglas, a film I admire more than like. The premise of the film is that poor white southerners have but two paths to take in life: the low road to prison or the high road to Pentecostal born-again faith. Country/blues singer Jim White is a born again who acts as tour guide through parts of the film. White’s album ‘The Mysterious Tale of How I Shouted Wrong-Eyed Jesus’ is the inspiration for the film’s title. As the film begins White buys a kick-ass rusted out Impala for his impending journey. It is the kind of car one should use to ‘properly infiltrate the South and learn something.’ White then buys a Jesus statue and stuffs it in the trunk. So we begin an adventure 50 miles off the interstate ‘where nothing much has changed in 50-100 years.’ This is an interstate that has road signs like ‘Bible Sale – EXIT 5.’
“Douglas takes us into prisons where the inmates talk freely, describe their crimes and tell us how long they are doin’ time. When the camera moves on to a Pentecostal church we are told to ‘leave your mind behind and let your heart do the talking.’ Before long the parishioners are speaking in tongues. The film captures some real characters in areas where everyone has a story to tell ‘about who they are in this world.’ This specific world has little wealth so people here learn to enrich their lives with stories and songs. Whether it is a prisoner telling about having sex while driving or a religious convert describing how ‘gravity is stronger in a poor world pulling you down until you disappear,’ we are entertained.
“Part of the film is shot in Louisiana bayou country where awesome moss drips off of cypress and live oak trees. Kentucky, the Florida panhandle and North Carolina each have their share of Southern vignettes although the viewer is usually not sure where a specific scene is filmed. The vignettes, each beautifully photographed by the director himself, are interspersed with musicians who appear as either observers or adjuncts. The songs they sing are often stories, too. The musicians, along with their instruments and equipment, are positioned in places such as a junkyard, a truck stop, the porch of a flooded house, vast fields, a gas station and an empty room. No wonder David Byrne is quoted in the promotional materials; the film’s style is reminiscent of Byrnes’s TRUE STORIES.
“Is this the real south? In this film there is no middle ground, just extremes. In addition, every single person is white save one black man sitting in a struck stop restaurant booth with a white born again woman. How appropriate that our tour guide is Jim White. 3 cats.”