A jewel

I've been a big fan of Brad Dourif from Dune and Deadwood. Always heard good things about John Huston but have never been much impressed until I read that he felt this was his favorite film.

In the beginning Haze Motes says he intends to do things he's never done before and that charmed me as much as anything.

There are so many directions you can look at this movie from. A returning vet trying to find his place in the civilian world after an unspecified injury? A disillusioned ecstatic christian? A study of truth and deception? Conflicting ambitions?

What is Motes's intention in 'following' the blind preacher Hawks so many times and in so many ways?

What is Emory's story, attempting to follow Motes as closely and imperfectly as he does?

What about the way Motes keeps describing his car (which the dealer was so reluctant to sell him in the first place) as "a good car!", the way someone would describe a troubled youth as "a good boy!" Is the car redeemable?

Every character has a story, often a strangely interesting one. Almost every situation invokes more "what is really going on here?" questions, and I can find sympathy for each character in every interaction.

Should I read the book? Would it make any more sense than The Hawkline Monster did? 2001: A Space Odyssey was a good book, but it didn't have much relation to what made that movie so amazing.

Turner Classic Movies showed this among a day of "Troubled Southerners" movies: Jezebel, The Phenix City Story, assorted Tennessee Williams; stuff that had me repeatedly muttering "I hate the South!" This movie came on and I was mesmerized!

What instantly came to mind was how my theater professor said the whole purpose of theater is to 'describe the human condition.' I though this movie did that masterfully and I'm anxious to see it again and again.