Cold Heaven (1991)

Director:

Nicolas Roeg

Writers (WGA):

Brian Moore (novel)
Allan Scott (screenplay)

Release Date:

30 May 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Between seduction and deception lies the fate of a mortal soul.

Plot:

Title possibly based on a poem by Willian Butler Yeats entitled, "The Cold Heaven".

Plot Keywords:

Supernatural | Religion | Female Nudity | Based On Novel | Independent Film

Cast

Theresa Russell	...	Marie Davenport
Mark Harmon	...	Alex Davenport
James Russo	...	Daniel Corvin
Will Patton	...	Father Niles
Richard Bradford	...	Monsignor Cassidy
Julie Carmen	...	Anna Corvin
Talia Shire	...	Sister Martha
Diana Douglas	...	Mother St. Agnes
Seymour Cassel	...	Tom Farrelly
Castulo Guerra	...	Dr. DeMencos
Daniel Ades	...	Dr. Mendes
Jim Ishida	...	Dr. Tanaki
Jeanette Miller	...	Sister Katarina
Martha Milliken	...	Sister Anna
Margarita Cordova	...	Registrar

Runtime:

Brazil:105 min | USA:105 min | Argentina:105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Argentina:Atp | Singapore:NC-16 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Mexico

Company:

Hemdale Film

A good film with a neat "punch line"

After reading the other tepid reviews and comments, I felt I had to come to bat for this movie.

Roeg's films tend to have little to do with one another, and expecting this one to be like one of his you liked is probably off the mark.

What this film is is a thoughtful and unabashed look at religious faith. The only other film like it-in terms of its religious message-would have to be Tolkin's `The Rapture.'

I am astonished that anyone could say the story is muddled or supernatural. It is a simple movie about Catholic faith, miracles, and redemption--though you would never guess it till the end. It is also the only movie I can think of whose resolution turns, literally, on a pun.

As a (happily) fallen Catholic myself, I know what the movie is about, and I find a sort of fondness in its ultimate innocence about the relation between God and man. But if you are not familiar with the kind of theology on which the film is based, then it will go right over you head.

As a film-as opposed to a story-`Cold Heaven' it is not ground-breaking. While `The Rapture' is heavy with pictorial significance and cinematic imagery, `Cold Heaven' downplays its own cinematic qualities. There are no striking shots, no edgy effects, no attempts to fit the content to the form. It is workmanlike shooting, but subdued. Nor does it have dialogue or acting to put it in a class of high drama. It is a simple story that unfolds simply. It may seem odd; but at the end the mystery is revealed. It looks ambiguous; but with a single line the ambiguity vanishes in a puff of Catholic dogma.

In this regard, `Cold Heaven' has at its heart exactly the same sort of thing that drives a movie like `The Sting,' or `The Sixth Sense,' or `Final Descent,' or Polanski's `A Pure Formality.' All of these are films with a trick up their sleeves. They may frustrate you along the way, but they have a point-an obvious one, indeed--but the fun is, at least in part, in having been taken in.

Still, even if it seems like little more than a shaggy dog story with a punch line, it is worth watching for way it directs-and misdirects-you. Try it-especially if you are, or have ever been, a Catholic.