Wiseblood

John Huston made several adaptations of literary works throughout his career ranging from Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon to James Joyce's The Dead. In 1979 he filmed Flannery O'Connor's first novel, Wise Blood. O'Connor is one of my favorite authors of all-time. But it seems like somewhat of an odd choice of a novel to be brought to the screen, since it is about Hazel Motes' internal struggle with his faith in god. There is some great acting in the film, Brad Dourif, who won an Academy Award the year before in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, carries the film with his manic glowering energetic presence. Harry Dean Stanton, Ned Beatty, and John Huston also turn in memorable supporting roles. It is a serious work, but it has several mirthful moments throughout. Huston is very faithful to the novel. There are several great features collected by Criterion: interviews with, Brad Dourif, writer Bendict Fitzgerald, and writer-producer Michael Fitzgerald, a rare archival audio recording of author Flannery O'Connor reading her short story "A Good Man I s Hard to Find," a 26 minute episode of the television program Creativity with Bill Moyers from 1982, featuring director John Huston discussing his life and work, theatrical trailer, and a booklet featuring an essay by author Francine Prose.