I understood the ending and all, but I was left completely dissatisfied by Sally Field's character's lack of action regarding how the Klansmen treated Danny Glover's character. The blind guy knew their identities, so I was hoping she would confront them; seeing as how she was kicking ass the whole movie. I felt like it was a big buildup to nothing.
Still a great movie though, great performances all around.
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I didn't think the Bank Manager, Mr. Denby was a member. I do know that the gin operator was.
shareThere was no way that she could voice anything to anyone. The gin operator was going to give her less that what she deserved. She took in Moze and Mr. Will because she needed help and money. She didn't say anything when the her husband's killer(black) was dragged. She wasn't racist, but everyone else was. The KKK was going to kill Moze until Mr. Will came with a gun, but it was when he knew them all by the voices that Moze was saved. Moze left after that. I have the movie at home, so I need to see whether Mr. Denby was racist.
shareI don't think that Mr. Denby was particularly a racist, but more a product of the times and of his upbringing, just like Edna was. He used the phrase "no-account Niggra", but I think that was less because he was a racist as it was because that's just the way everyone in the South thought in those days. You'll notice that Edna did not use the N-word, but her son did, probably because he heard it from others, and she did not move Mose into the house like Mr. Will. Despite her kind heart, she knew that in her society blacks had a certain place and they had to stay in it. And as pointed out in another post, she stood there and did nothing as the lynched Wiley was dragged in front of her house. I think we tend to forget that the Civil Rights Movement is really a fairly recent thing in the large scheme of things. People used to actually believe that black people did not have any human rights, that they belonged on the level with animals. The founders of our country, men like Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, owned slaves and they did not see anything wrong with it.
shareThis is a great film in every respect. Completely credible characters. Timeless human emotions. Timeless nobility and weaknesses of the human spirit. Essentially an American story of great depth. But one thing troubles me with all reviews...it was notonly in the SOUTH that folks treated African-Americans badly. THE KKK was a nothern organization too and had chapters in every state...and as late as the 1950's...African American entertainers were segreated in hotels in New York and Las Vegas...neither city exactly a Southern hotbed. :)
The movie's ending is one filled with great hope and the aspirations of the southern people that has essentially come true today on the subject of race. There is harmony...but it's more than that. Can we forgive those who tresspass against us? Whether it be those who have affairs with others spouses...or those who resort to violence over reason to solve problems.
This is truly one of the finest films of all time...and maybe ranks with HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY [an Oscar Best Picture] for it's portrayal of human emotion and spirit.
If you have not seen it - but it now. If you have not seen it in awhile...do so again. It's movie magic.
I have to agree. The characters were totally credible. All superbly played. You wish Edna could have done more to stand up to the thugs, but that simply wasn't the reality of the time.
The combination of that hymn (which I remember singing in church many times) with the simple pannning of all of the characters throughout the movie, no matter their status, cumulating in the final two was without a doubt, one of the most powerful endings I've ever seen in any movie. No words, just the hymn and the actions and placements of the characters spoke VOLUMES. VERY powerful.
I completely agree with vidphoto, that ending spoke volumes without having spoken at all. As far as Mrs. Spaulding fighting city hall, well it just didn't happen back then. Hell, it doesn't happen now. Go spend a week in Lubbock, Texas and see how they feel about civil rights. I haven't been there in 15 years, maybe things have changed, but I remember those rednecks using the N-word quite liberally. This movie was very believable and extremely well done.
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Texas is written about more than any other state so negative aspects come out more. Please don't base what you know about Texas from Friday Night Lights there are many positive aspects of the state that are not trumpeted.
share# 15th Amendment (1870): no law may restrict any race from voting
# 19th Amendment (1920): no law may restrict any sex from voting
no no no...women had to wait 50 YEARS to be able to vote AFTER blacks.
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"she stood there and did nothing as the lynched Wiley was dragged in front of her house"
I think because she was in shock; she'd just lost her husband and now she saw those awful bastards killing a child and bringing him in front of her house like a dog with a kill, as though they did it for her and wanted her approval. Her sister had to take over things, but I wish to God she'd said something like "You monsters" instead of just saying "get it out of here" as though the sight of it offending her sister was all that worried her.
I use this film in a class on Sacraments. This is what I share with my students. I hope you find it informative.
Reflections on the Ending of Places in the Heart
The ending of Places in the Heart is one of the most discussed scenes in recent movie history. Many people find the ending confusing (a majority of Sophomores). Some (Roger Ebert) find that the ending is too strong following the rest of the film. Ebert finds it out of place. But there are some who find the ending a powerful reflection on the gift of the Eucharist and its connection to our everyday lives. Fr. Kevin is in the latter group.
The first thing to understand is that –obviously- the ending was not meant to be taken literally. Royce and Wiley are not revived from the dead. (nor is the homeless woman killed in the tornado – the first clue that we are in mystical territory). Mose does not come back and is welcomed warmly into the white Church. We are clearly in another type of reality. My guess is that we are in the Places of the Heart of the author (Frank?), whose remembrances are told in the story.
The second thing is to admire the artistry (manipulation) of the director, whose purpose is to make you think out of the box, to reflect on the deeper meaning of the events we have witnessed in the film. The two Scripture passages here (both from first Corinthians) are the key. The first is St. Paul’s classic ode to love. (“Love is patient, love is kind . . .) The director (Benton) wants you to reflect that it was love that saved the farm. It was love that brought in the crop. It was love that resisted the racists. It was love. The second passage is about the Eucharist and its connection to the great act of love, Jesus suffering and death on the cross. It is Jesus’ love that feeds us. It is Jesus’ love that sustains us. It is Jesus’ love, broken in the bread, poured out in the wine, which gives us the power, the strength, the courage to continue in integrity and honesty.
There are three things that become vividly portrayed. 1.) Reconciliation. This is where the sub-plot of Wayne and Margaret plays a vital role. In the simple gesture of taking Wayne by the hand, Margaret reaches across her hurt, her pain, her bitterness and hate. Once again it is the words of Scripture that inspire Margaret. There are also other reconciliations that take place: Mose and the community, Sheriff Spaulding and his killer Wylie. 2.) Community. In the simple act of sharing the bread and the wine, the Body and Blood of Christ, the citizens of Waxahachie discover that they are all in this together. No one is excluded. Not the black, not the poor and homeless, not the sinner, not the handicapped and crippled. The only major characters that do not appear are Viola and her husband, and the sinister Mr. Simmons. I will leave it up to you to decide why they didn’t make the cut. Even those who have died are around the table. They are still a part of our community of faith. 3.) Hope. Even in the most hopeless of situations, the power of Christ’s love can bring peace, can offer grace. The movie begins with the death of the Sheriff and Wylie. Their fates are connected by an incredibly pointless, and perhaps even demonic, series of circumstances that doomed them. It is interesting that the Sheriff stuffs his pockets with biscuits and that Wylie is drinking wine. This is a foreshadowing, in my opinion, that even in the worst of situations, there can be peace in the Eucharist. The killer and victim sit next to each other. The homeless find a home. The exiled are welcomed. The blind find new sight. All are made whole in the banquet of Christ’s love.
And that is the core and meaning of the Eucharist.
A great review, revkevo. It is about the Eucharist. Somewhere somebody complained that the dead appeared: this is the Communion of the Saints. There is no artificial line between the living and those who have gone on before us.
You've summed it up beautifully and thanks for bringing the fact that the Sheriff takes the biscuits and Wiley is drinking wine to my attention. I never noticed that foreshadowing before!
shareSuper-lame ending almost entirely ruined by what was otherwise engrossing story of rural life in Great Depression. Instead of coming to grips with realistic events that preceded it, wound up with idiotic conclusion in which characters who disliked each other or were dead (including one of them at hands of another who was responsible for unnecessary death that triggered whole plot) sat pew-side in harmony during fantasy church service. Sure looked like a pathetic last-ditch effort by screenwriters to tie up loose ends and bail out after painting themselves into a dramatic corner from which there was no "feel-good" ending.
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