By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.6
Director: Vera Farmiga
Starring: Dagmara Dominczyk | Donna Murphy | John Hawkes | Joshua Leonard | Vera Farmiga
Country: united_states
Year: 2011
Running time: 109
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1562568/
Michael says: “One of my favorite films at this year’s Provincetown International Film Festival was HIGHER GROUND, starring and directed by the charming and talented Vera Farmiga (UP IN THE AIR; DOWN TO THE BONE). HIGHER GROUND tackles the complex themes of spirituality, which aren’t featured at the movies all that often, but make for great subject matter in my opinion. In HIGHER GROUND, Farmiga plays Corinne, a woman raised in a religious community, who embraces God and the Church whole-heartedly for much of her life, before questioning that faith causing waves that ripple outward and affect those around her. Really a dramatic character study peppered with thoughtful introspection, realistic questioning of life, and everyday comedies and tragedies of life, HIGHER GROUND is a straight-forward, well-written, superbly-acted film that is well worth seeing.
“Farmiga does a nice job as a first-time director, focusing on the actors and not calling attention to herself. As an actress, she’s mature, confident, calm… a real professional and a joy to watch. And she surrounds her self with some pretty outstanding talent. Donna Murphy and John Hawkes as her parents, Dagmara Domiczyk as her outspoken best friend, Joshua Leonard as her devout husband, Bill Irwin as her pastor, and Nina Arianda as her estranged sister. Playing Corinne as a young woman, Farmiga’s younger sister Taissa Farmiga is a revelation bringing so much more than a physical resemblance to the character, but a real passion and depth of a young woman riding through some tumultuous circumstances and coming out on the other side truly devout.
“HIGHER GROUND opened in Boston this weekend, and I urge you not to miss it. It’s does an amazingly good job presenting one woman’s crisis of faith without mocking the church. it explores some pretty heady issues and had some great dramatic scenes, but it’s filled with humor as well. 4 cats”
Diane says: “HIGHER GROUND, based on a memoir, is a story of a woman who can’t accept the slavish positivism of her fellow Jesus freaks (later matured into a more sedate community), and who doesn’t feel the strong connection to God that they all lay claim to. Director and star is Vera Farmiga (Clooney’s sweetheart in UP IN THE AIR). I like Farmiga’s acting, but her looks throw me off, in this film as in others: I feel like her body parts don’t match up, in shape or age.
“It’s a very plain and mostly quiet film. Kudos to filmmakers for letting the ’70s and ’80s be plain and even ugly (rather than heightening color and cool like other ‘historical’ films), and for allowing the church’s bad PA system dictate the sound quality of key scenes. Seeing this after DRIVE, I forgot I was watching a movie: no attention-getting camera work, or flashy editing. For me, the great accomplishment of HIGHER GROUND was in its intimacy. I felt like I shouldn’t be privy to some of the painful scenes.
“Variety called it ‘satirical yet sensitive,’ but I didn’t see any satire in it. Wished we could have gotten a deeper understanding of Corinne, but then, so does she. 4 cats”
Hilary responds: “I agree: at times it was so intimate that I felt I was violating her privacy. I thought she did an excellent job portraying the insularity of their world, the way that every aspect of their life revolved around their faith community. For instance, did her husband work? Only once she breaks away do you really see the world outside the church doors (the one with the dogs).”
Thom says: “I had high hopes from the reviews I read for this and it is an accomplishment of sorts but finally my disinterest in the people it dramatized kept me detached from the story. It follows the life of Corinne (Farmiga) who is raised in a dysfunctional family and goes on to be the wife of a Christian man who is heavily involved in his spiritual community of uncommon prudishness. These folks are so universally shrill and sanctimonious and dull that I never really cared what happened to them. I did like the going back & forth in time and the acting was good, especially John Hawkes once again. 3 cats”