The Neon Bible (film)
| The Neon Bible | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Terence Davies |
| Produced by | Elizabeth Karlsen Nik Powell Olivia Stewart Victoria Westhead Stephen Woolley |
| Screenplay by | Terence Davies |
| Based on |
The Neon Bible by John Kennedy Toole |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Michael Coulter |
| Edited by | Charles Rees |
| Distributed by | Strand |
|
Running time
|
92 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $78,072 |
The Neon Bible is a 1995 drama film written and directed by Terence Davies, based on the novel of the same name by John Kennedy Toole. The film is about a boy named David (Jacob Tierney) coming of age in Georgia in the 1940s. His abusive father (Denis Leary) enlists in the army during World War II and disappears and David is left to take care of his mother (Diana Scarwid) with his Aunt Mae (Gena Rowlands), who is a singer. It was filmed in Atlanta, Crawfordville, and Madison, Georgia.
The film was released in France in August 1995, the United Kingdom in October 1995, Australia in November 1995, and released in the United States on 1 March 1996. It was a selection of the 1995 New York Film Festival.
The film was entered into the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.San Francisco Chronicle film critic Edward Guthmann said the film was poorly received when it premiered at Cannes, but called it "gorgeous" and "one of the year's most beautiful films." He said it was a rewarding film that requires a little faith from the viewer due to long, slow, "lingering shots that work as a kind of meditation." He described the revival meeting at night "like an Edward Hopper or Thomas Hart Benton painting come to life." Judd Blaise of Allmovie gave the film 2 1⁄2 out of 5 stars and said "Some viewers will likely be frustrated by the slow pace and elliptical style, though others may be transfixed by the often stunning photography and poetic approach."The New York Times film critic Stephen Holden said one of the problems with the film was that it "may have succumbed to its own dreamy esthetic" by focusing on the same image too often, and that the end of the film "loses its balance."
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