NEW YORK — Despite a tragically brief and illness-plagued career,
Catholic author Flannery O'Connor, who died in 1964 aged just 39, is recognized
as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century, excelling
especially in her short stories.
Her remarkable life is both recounted and celebrated in the
admiring documentary "Flannery" (Long Distance Productions).
Filmmakers Elizabeth Coffman and Jesuit Father Mark Bosco marshal
home movies, archival television footage and interviews with O'Connor's friends
and relatives to evoke her fiercely held faith and wickedly clever imagination.
Scholars and fellow scribes, including Mary Gordon and Alice Walker, put in an
appearance. Actress Mary Steenburgen voices O'Connor.
"Flannery" may lack the tang of its subject's Southern
Gothic novels and tales, meditations on grace recognized and insight achieved
by sometimes outlandish characters amid frequently bizarre circumstances. But
viewers unfamiliar with her work will be motivated to explore it.
Established fans, for their part, will appreciate the chance to
pay an extended visit to Andalusia, the picturesque farm near Milledgeville,
Georgia, to which lupus — the disease that eventually caused her early death —
long confined O'Connor. The simple household seems haunted, in a strangely
pleasant way, by her departed spirit.
O'Connor did not write for children, and this profile of her is
unsuitable for them as well. Its analysis of one of her tales involving a
serial killer and another in which a hermaphrodite plays a central role, for
example, suggests a mature audience.
Many parents of older teens, on the other hand, may consider
“Flannery” appropriate for them. All the more so since this literary biography
is not only educational but spiritually enriching as well.
O'Connor was a dauntless champion of faith who, in her writing,
subtly strove to communicate with unbelievers. A daily communicant, she also
read a chapter of the Bible and a section of St. Thomas Aquinas' "Summa
Theologica" each day.
By all indications, O'Connor patiently accepted the hardships
resulting from her malady. Even as her end approached, moreover, she worked on
in the hospital to complete her last collection of stories. Her example of
religiously inspired courage is well-deserving of the tribute paid to it in
this thoroughly enjoyable movie.
Watch the film: For screening
information, go to flanneryfilm.com/calendar.
Watch out for: The film contains
images of violence, references to sexuality and fleeting crass language.
Rated: The Catholic News Service
classification is A-III, adults; MPAA: Not rated.