MovieChat Forums > Lilies of the Field (1963) Discussion > If it gets any better than this I haven'...

If it gets any better than this I haven't seen it....

posted 17 years ago by SurprisingWoman
12 replies | jump to latest

This movie, while is so theologically based is really about PEOPLE.
It's about people RESPECTING each other and ACCEPTING DIFFERENCES and
agreeing to not always agree, but having ENOUGH RESPECT TO LISTEN to
the other person they at least have a glimmer of understanding about
why they feel that way.

It isn't a movie about guns or fighting or cheating. It is a movie
about life, and respect and love.

And by the way, any man that can look so glowing over the thought of melting butter over his pancakes.... yeah..... never mind.

[–] X-Evolutionist 17 years ago

I like your description of the movie.

X

Here are the reasons why I believe in God:
www.X-Evolutionist.com

[–] mrbluto 17 years ago

I could not have said it better, this movie should be in everyone's top 10

[–] james101 16 years ago

It is in my top 10

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] drpreposterous 16 years ago

jeez, what an idiotic comment

[–] Greenteeth 16 years ago

What was most impressive to me was the simplicity of the movie. It told a story and didn't try to embellish it with a bunch of nonsense.

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Death_to_Pan_and_Scan 16 years ago

There are a number of good films about guns and fighting and cheating and many of them are about life, not just a Norman Rockwell painting which some people seem to want all films to fall into that category.

I'm not suggesting that you are one of those people, but some (like my own grandmother, hater of films) would almost seem to prefer if every story was without conflict and therefore without character development. Story without conflict is like filming a person sitting in a rocking chair going to sleep...while the audience does the same.

There is a happy medium between films about good morals and films about the way things in the world actually work sometimes. I think over-reliance on computer graphics is killing good screenwriting because characters and story seem to be an afterthought in a lot of modern films. That is what's wrong with modern films, not that there are guns, fighting and protrayals of wicked people such as do actually exist. This is an argument I have had with my grandmother a number of times when she slanders all films made in the last few decades in general.

'Lilies in the Field' was a good film and it did get an Oscar Best Pic nomination. Do films get much better than this? Yes, we could name quite a few. I will say however that it's much better than the pointless sap they show on the Hallmark channel -- where old actors' careers go to die.

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If you're watching 'Fullscreen' DVDs, you aren't getting the whole picture.

[–] Jastrzebiec 10 years ago

You are right about conflict being at the heart of drama--that's essential. But "Lilies of the Field" proved that you could have conflict without fighting, without war. This film, in its sparse, Spartan B&W simplicity, remains fresh 50 years on. There are greater films, to be sure; the Italian neorealists, some of the French New Wave, Bergman, Kurosawa, Wajda come to mind. But this is surely one of the best American films ever made. It is HONEST, and that quality in film is a rare commodity nowadays.

[–] ayla63 16 years ago

SuprisingWoman - beautifully said. I too couldn't have put it any better than you have.

[–] mrbluto-2 10 years ago

You are correct. A 10 out of 10.

[–] usherman 10 years ago

Cute feel good movie. I needed one of those :)