At the
‘Places’ out
movies
of step with reality
“Places in the Heart,” a film
by writer-director and two-time
Academy Award winner Robert
Benton, is a journey into the
town of Waxahachie, Texas,
during the 1930s. Recalled from
Benton’s own childhood, the
film is the story of Edna
Spalding’s (Sally Field) strug
gle to keep her family together
in spite of enormous hardships.
Spalding’s husband, the town
sheriff, is killed in an accidental
shooting by an intoxicated
black youth, sending her into a
hostile, unfamiliar world. A
simple woman, she has only
been concerned with her home
and family. With the loss of her
husband, she is now in danger
of losing both.
informed by black-clad local
banker Albert Denby that there
. is no way she can pay her
mortgage and that she may have
’ . to split up her family. Spalding ■
takes comfort in her belief that,
somehow, providence will pro
. vide through faith. •
And’ providence does pro
. vide. She takes in an itinerant '
black worker, an expert cotton '
•grower, who farms as a means .
of paying off the mortgage. The
' banker soon returns and offers
.. to postpone the foreclosure for a
. favor: letting his blind brother-.'
’in-law ..live in the Spaldings'
-. home.’ Spalding accepts and '
•• ..‘everything begins to look rosy.. •
Spalding’s experiences serve •
as' the central plot, tb which
. several other narratives en
• twine.-' Her sister", hairdresser
Lindsay Crouse, is married to
mechanic Ed Harris, who is
having an affair with
schoolteacher Amy Madigan,
his best friend’s wife. The affair
leads to jealousy and broken
promises, as one couple moves
out of town and Crouse later
learns of Ed’s infidelity.
The film is not just the story
of a plucky mother encounter
ing a mean, cruel world but is a
sort of film sampler of various
lifestyles in the 1930s, when
any sort of personal or physical
hardship could be overcome
through good, hard work.
In one scene we see Spalding
crawling on hands and knees,
battered and bloodied from
picking cotton, to make a rapid
ly approaching deadline. In the
case of Edna’s sister we see a
marriage saved by forgiveness.
And later the whole town faces
a tornado that seems to be yet
another test of spiritual •
strength
This spiritual strength Js the
main theme of the film; for
solace Spalding and everyone
in Waxahachie have religion'.
Ajthough • religion is never
.discussed outright, it usually is '
in the background', in paintings •
.depicting biblical scenes, or in
bibles .lying around.. The- film
literally begins and.ends;with a.
•prayer'.' The message•' is. • that’
religion-is part of.everyday life.
' . Throughout .the, film the
viewer ends up awarding points'
for racial tolerance, marital
fidelity, charity.and-hard work. ,
W&sBKmWtmB ''*•
Sally Field
The mossy, predictable plot
begins with the accidental
shooting by the black youth and
climaxes with the rescue of the
black hired hand by the blind
lodger, who takes wild but pur
poseful shots at members of the
Ku Klux Klan. It all adds up to
too neat a sum of moral balance.
The presentation of divine
justice by the .end of the film is
absurd; things just don’t work
out that well: The glorified,
idealized plot is not what Ben
ton recalls from his childhood
but \yhat he would like to recall.
“Places in the 1 Heart” is
showing-at'Cinema World near.
Valley River Center.-' ”
. By. Mike Duncan
—cqup55T
2 § 1
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