Cold Heaven (film)

Cold Heaven is a 1991 American[1] supernatural thriller film directed by Nicolas Roeg, and starring Theresa Russell, James Russo, Mark Harmon, Julie Carmen, and Seymour Cassel. Its plot follows a lapsed Catholic woman whose husband inexplicably rises from the dead, profoundly challenging her beliefs. The screenplay, by Allan Scott, is based on the 1983 novel of the same name by Northern Irish-Canadian writer Brian Moore. The film score was by Stanley Myers.[2]

Cold Heaven
Directed byNicolas Roeg
Produced byJonathan D. Krane
Screenplay byAllan Scott
Based onCold Heaven
by Brian Moore
Starring
Music byStanley Myers
CinematographyFrancis Kenny
Edited byTony Lawson
Distributed byHemdale Film Corporation
Release date
  • July 24, 1992 (1992-07-24) (U.S.)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Marie Davenport, a lapsed Catholic, is having an affair with Dr. Daniel Corvin, unbeknownst to her husband, Dr. Alex Davenport, also a doctor. She intends to break the news to Alex while attending a medical conference with him in Mexico. While swimming in a bay at Acapulco, Alex is struck by a passing motor boat. He is rushed to the hospital with a massive head laceration, but dies during emergency surgery.

The following morning, Marie is notified by the hospital that, prior to Alex's scheduled autopsy, his body inexplicably disappeared. Meanwhile, Daniel learns of Alex's death, and breaks the news of his affair with Marie to his girlfriend, Anna, who is infuriated. Marie returns to her home in Los Angeles while authorities attempt to locate Alex's body. Marie receives an anonymous message—which she presumes is from Daniel—asking her to travel to a hotel in Carmel-by-the-Sea that she has stayed at before, where she first met Daniel.

After visiting the local convent, Marie returns to her hotel room, where she is shocked to find Alex, seemingly alive. Alex recounts his memory of that day, and his waking up in the hospital morgue. Exhausted, Alex falls asleep, and appears to be dead, but later returns to life as he wakes. A flummoxed Marie returns to the church and speaks with Monsignor Cassidy, to whom she recounts her apostasy after her mother died when Marie was a teenager. She also tells him of a vision she had the year before while staying in Carmel-by-the-Sea: While walking along the ocean cliffs near the convent, she became fixated on two ponds below, and witnessed the Virgin Mary emerge from the water, instructing her to inform a priest that a sanctuary be rebuilt for the convent.

Donald arrives in Carmel-by-the-Sea and meets Marie at the hotel. She explains that Alex has met her there, and is apparently alive. Marie reluctantly tells Donald she cannot be with him, as she still feels a profound connection to Alex. Daniel, though defeated, agrees to perform a medical examination of Alex. The two decide to bring Alex to a hospital in San Francisco due to his declined physical state. Father Niles, a colleague of the Mosnignor, follows them, attempting to speak with Marie and her and Donald's hotel, but she denies him. When Donald leaves for a brief work trip, Marie visits Alex in the hospital, but he reacts violently, vomiting blood. Marie is comforted by Father Niles, who trailed her to the hospital. In Father Niles's confidence, she confesses that she and Daniel orchestrated the boating accident, intending to kill Alex; she interprets Alex's return to life as God giving her a second chance.

After Alex is released from the hospital, he and Marie spend the evening together, but he awakens in the middle of the night, thrashing violently, and his head wound begins inexplicably bleeding again. She phones Father Niles for help, and returns to the convent in Carmel-by-the-Sea. There, Sister Martha, a young nun, prays on the cliffside where Marie had her vision the year before. A wind bursts across the cliffs, terrifying Marie, and a cross appears embedded in the cliffside. Meanwhile, Alex wakes alone at the hotel, his head wound miraculously healed.

Marie returns to the hotel, where Donald arrives moments later, pursuing her. In the hotel room, Marie is met by Alex. The two embrace, as a defeated Donald departs. Meanwhile, Father Niles, sitting on the edge of the cliff, watches the sun set.

Cast

Release

Critical response

Time Out said that "Sadly, for all its technical brilliance and narrative assurance, the film's climactic scenes require an act of faith that no film-maker – Christian, agnostic or atheist – has any right to ask".[3]

Neil Sinyard in Reference Guide to British and Irish Film Directors described it as "disappointing... unusually dour and dry in its treatment of guilt and paranoia".[4]

Peter Rainer of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film is "ponderous without having much weight; we keep expecting the story to fill out, to achieve a vision that matches Marie’s. But the big storm-tossed finale comes across like cut-rate De Mille. This is a “religious” movie without much religious feeling. Roeg manages to work up a queasy atmosphere of impending dread in the boating scenes and the scenes between Marie and another priest (Will Patton) who keys into her visions.[5]

Home media

Scorpion Releasing released a limited edition Blu-ray of the film on August 19, 2020.[6]

References
  1. "Cold Heaven". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on January 4, 2021.
  2. "Stanley Myers: Cold Heaven, film score". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  3. "Cold Heaven". Time Out. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  4. Sinyard, Neil. "Roeg, Nicolas (1928– )". BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  5. Rainer, Peter (July 24, 1992). "'Cold Heaven' a Ponderous Effort From Director Roeg". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 4, 2021.
  6. "Cold Heaven Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Archived from the original on January 4, 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.