NORTHFORK (2003)

* * * *

PG-13 (brief, blink-and-you-miss-it sexuality), C-103m, USA

D: The Polish Brothers. Peter Coyote, Anthony Edwards, Duel Farnes, Daryl Hannah, Kyle MacLachlin, Nick Nolte, Mark Polish, James Woods)

There is no tagline for the movie poster. Instead, film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times is quoted on it: “A masterpiece! A visionary epic!”

He is so right.

This gentle, whimsical film only ran for one week in theatres, but word of mouth saved it from obscurity. Some movies are so understated and special that they don’t get the audience they deserve, especially in a culture bred on fast food and reality television. This was shown to me on video a few years ago, and I admit that I did not get it the first time. Maybe I wasn’t in the mood. It took three viewings for its magic to work on me, and I am not a patient woman. Some films do require that you be in the mood, free of distractions so you can focus. They demand that you pay attention, which isn’t many people’s idea of entertainment - certainly not mine. At first, I thought it was pretentious and slow. But some things are worth the effort in order to reap the rewards. You cannot be in a rush to appreciate beautiful landscapes, taciturn dialogue, or even meaningful silences. It’s like setting out to fish on the lake or hiking in the woods. The less people around, the sharper your senses become, because it’s simply you and Nature. If you take a deep breath and savour the aroma of a delicious broth and sip it slowly instead of guzzling it, you’ll enjoy it more.

Northfork is a fable based on a real-life incident in 1955. A dam has been built, and the residents of a Montana town must evacuate for higher ground before they get flooded. They also must dig up their graves and relocate their cemetery. The town is almost completed deserted, with the exception of four households. It is the duty of six men in somber black suits to evacuate each home before the dam bursts and wipes out everything. There are several sub-plots that interweave and knit together. I won’t bore you with the details – this should not be described – you’ll probably think I’m on crack if I even try. It is something to experience and savour firsthand, preferably in a dark room and on as large a TV as you can get your grubby little hands on. If you must, steal one. Also, watch it alone, if possible. Unless they’re serious movie geeks, don’t let them come within a hundred feet of your TV for at least two hours. Like beautiful music, it takes silence to appreciate this film.

This was supposed to be my first review when I started this movie blog. At first I paid attention, pen poised to scribble down notes. Over a few moments, something shifted. When I saw a coffin bob to the surface of a lake, I was intrigued, and in a few moments, my hand hovered over the page, perfectly still. It reminded me of Henri Rousseau’s The Sleeping Gypsy. There are many arresting images like this one. For example, the iconic image of a Buick and an ark on stilts is positively surreal.

A depressed Walter O’Brien (a very subdued James Woods), sits in his car, remembering his life about twenty years ago as a young newlywed, holding his beloved wife in his arms – they seem to be flickering images in an old silent film. It is a lovely moment – wistful and sad. Older widows and widowers must have moments like these in real life. It’s hard to imagine your grandparents with weathered faces and tired bodies being in love – but of course, they were. At least I hope so. Grandma and Grandpa were not always old and frail, and if they were lucky, they had ‘those’ feelings for each other. After a few moments, Walter shakes himself out of his reverie and starts the car. He has a job to do, and a special quest… perhaps something to do with the floating coffin?

In his final church service, Father Harlan (Nick Nolte) tells his dwindling congregation, "It all depends on how you look at it –we are either halfway to heaven or halfway to hell." In another part of town, a young couple drives to the orphanage on their way to evacuation. Eight-year-old Irwin, their adopted son, is deathly ill, and cannot travel. Father Harlan greets them and helps the man place the boy on the only cot left in the dormitory, with the sobbing wife following them. In his office, they ask him to keep him. This is obviously the husband’s idea, and it’s not a temporary arrangement. To them, a sick child is defective. All the doctors have left Northfork, so the kid doesn't even get proper medical care.

The priest can barely contain his shock at their callous pragmatism. “You're returning him, then?”

They are ashamed, but not enough to change their minds. “We apologize, Father.”

He says evenly, “We appreciate your honesty, and will ask for forgiveness.”

“Forgiveness? Let's be honest, Father. You gave us a sick child.”

“I gave you an angel!”

If he were a different kind of man, Nick Nolte, er, Father Harlan would snap this guy over his knee like a piece of balsa wood. But, this is a kinder, gentler Nick Nolte, so he lets them live. After they leave, he resigns himself to making the boy’s final days bearable. He nurses him, puts him back into bed when he falls out, and gets attached despite himself. He is more than just a priest doing his duty to comfort the sick. In every way but biologically, he is the boy’s true father. It is a truly beautiful sight to see this gentle giant take care of Irwin and standing guard over him. And when another couple seeks to adopt him, he refuses to even let them meet him. In Irwin's state, raising his hopes and dashing them will definitely kill him; so even the chance that they might decide to get him out of harm’s way isn’t even worth it. If he’s dying anyway, it might as well be in familiar surroundings, with someone who actually loves the child.

In his sickbed, Irwin has his own quest. In a feverish state, he wanders away from Father Harlan and Northfork and finds a motley crew of angels in various costumes of the past eras: Flower Hercules (Daryl Hannah) a hermaphrodite in Elizabethan costume, and Cod, a silent cowboy (Ben Foster), to list a couple. But they too, are seeking something – The Unknown Angel, waiting for him to arrive so they can move on. Irwin believes that he himself is an angel kidnapped by humans, and even shows them the scars on his shoulder blades, where the feathers had been. He begs them to take him with them, but alas, they do not take children.

As he slips in and out of consciousness, so do we. Irwin's journey is like a trip to Oz, after all the Munchkins have deserted the place. Only a few colourful characters have remained, and they view the outside world with suspicion, perhaps because they've seen too much. Are they real, or figments of Irwin’s imagination? You could choose either answer and still be right. They may reside inside his head, but by the end, they are definitely real. The photography is simply amazing. According to the directors, this film was shot in colour, with grey added for texture.The editing is flawless, and strategically transitions between muted colour and black-and-white. This is an Edward Hopper painting come to life.

Who will enjoy it? I'd say that it would appeal to fans of The Coen Brothers (especially O Brother, Where Are Thou? and The Hudsucker Proxy). And it will likely entertain people who enjoy puns and clever wordplay. Anyone else, probably not.

For example:

The town is dammed (damned)

Onboard the ark: “We’re all in the same boat.”

One stubborn cuss named Mr. Stalling builds an ark, rounding up two of everything, including two wives. James Woods is bemused by this: (“you must be Mrs. Stalling, and you must be, um, Mrs. Stalling...”)

When Walter is talking to his son Willis, he asks, "What are you talking about, Willis?”

And perhaps the most important statement of all is made by one of the men assigned to move people to higher ground: "It's our job to move people, not change their beliefs."

All performances are understated and perfect. Nick Nolte, James Woods and young Duel Farnes are especially good here. Woods doesn’t act like his patented psycho, and surprise, surprise! Nolte doesn’t leave a growing body count. Farnes, who plays the deathly ill Irwin is excellent – it’s hard to believe that he had never acted before. He’s not a precocious Movie Kid – he doesn’t mug for the camera or scream, slap both cheeks or bug out his eyes. He is not revoltingly cute. This is a real child and my rare maternal instincts kicked in – I just wanted to give him chicken soup – with a little help from Campbell’s, of course. Hey, it’s the thought that counts.

There is Christian imagery throughout, but not in an off-putting, preachy way. It’s not disrespectful, and non-religious people can enjoy it too. The weekly Catechism classes I was forced to attend until grade seven came in handy. It was actually fun to spot various biblical references. There are lonesome tableaux, iconic images of men in suits and fedoras - again, an Edward Hopper painting. Similar images from The Matrix and Dark City comes to mind.

Sadness and joy - Northfork celebrates life, and eases the passage into the afterlife. As one character puts it, “Remember when you leave to pack all your good memories. No one else will pack them for you.” Despite melancholy situations and impending disaster, this is not a depressing film. On the contrary, I found it quietly uplifting. It reminded me of an old Twilight Zone episode where an old woman is so frightened of Mr. Death that she's sure she knows what he'll look like, and refuses to leave the house in case he's out there, waiting. We learn here, as well, that Death is not always a bogeyman to be feared. Sometimes it holds your hand and gently guides you to the other side.