Plot
Ellen Burstyn plays Edna McCauley, the wife of a man (Jeffrey DeMunn) who is killed in an auto crash. Edna herself survives, but not before enduring an "out of body" experience. Crippled in the accident, Edna heads to her hometown in Kansas to recuperate. There she discovers that she has the power to heal people, presumably a byproduct of her brief trip into the beyond. She accepts her gift, but resists the notion that she has been blessed with divine powers. On the other hand, her young lover (Sam Shepard) believes that she is the embodiment of Jesus Christ. It is his method of proving his hypothesis that brings the film to its startling conclusion. Both Ellen Burstyn and Eva Le Gallienne (as Burstyn's grandmother) were nominated for Academy Awards. ~ Hal Erickson, RoviReview
Daniel Petrie's low-key drama of a woman who discovers that she has the power to heal is an affecting film with a brilliant performance by Ellen Burstyn. After a terrible car accident that kills her husband, a woman has an out-of-body experience that seemingly leaves her with the power to heal. Initially uneasy with her newfound ability, she comes to realize that she must share it, but is hampered by the fanatical religiosity of boyfriend Sam Shepard. Very much an actor-driven film, this deliberately unflashy treatment of an emotionally charged subject is all the more persuasive for its style. In some ways, the film's real subject seems to be the emergence of Burstyn's true spirit following the death of her husband, and her need to break free of the rigid and emotionally repressed men that surround her, such as her father Roberts Blossom and boyfriend. In what is likely Burstyn's finest performance, she radiates an almost otherworldly compassion as a healer while confronting the same relationship problems as anyone else. The celebrated cast also includes Eva LaGallienne, Pamela Payton-Wright, Lois Smith, Jeffrey DeMunn, and Richard Farnsworth. ~ Michael Costello, RoviCast
- Ellen Burstyn - Edna McCauley
- Sam Shepard - Cal Carpenter
- Richard Farnsworth - Esco
- Roberts Blossom - John Harper
- Clifford David - George
Credit
Edwin O'Donovan - Art Director, Craig Huston - First Assistant Director, Daniel Petrie - Director, Rita Roland - Editor, Maurice Jarre - Composer (Music Score), Paul Sylbert - Production Designer, Mario Tosi - Cinematographer, Renee Missel - Producer, Zvi Howard Rosenman - Producer, Bruce Weintraub - Set Designer, Richard Portman - Sound/Sound Designer, John K. Kean - Sound/Sound Designer, Lewis John Carlino - Screenwriter| Resurrection (1918 Film), Resurrection (1927 Film) | |
| Resurrection (1989 Film), Resurrection (1999 Film) |
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