FLANNERY – SLIFF Review

FLANNERY screens as part of this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival November 5th – 22nd.Ticket information for the virtual screening can be found HERE

Winner of the first-ever Library of Congress/Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film, “Flannery” is a lyrical, intimate exploration of the life and work of author Flannery O’Connor, whose distinctive Southern Gothic style influenced a generation of artists and activists. With her family home at Andalusia (the Georgia farm where she grew up and later wrote her best-known work) as a backdrop, a picture of the woman behind her sharply aware, starkly redemptive style comes into focus. “Flannery” features interviews with both those who knew her and those inspired by her, including Sally Fitzgerald, Mary Karr, Tommy Lee Jones, Alice Walker, Hilton Als, Mary Gordon, and Alice McDermott. Employing never-before-seen archival footage, newly discovered personal letters, O’Connor’s own published words (read by Mary Steenburgen), and striking animation, “Flannery” offers a revealing examination of an American literary icon. The film is co-directed by a former St. Louisan, the Jesuit priest and literary scholar Mark Bosco.

Review of FLANNERY

The new documentary feature film FLANNERY delves into the life story
of an acclaimed writer Flannery O’Connor who’s main fame derives from
her short stories , but she did write a couple of novels. And though
she’s been gone over 50 years her influence still resonates today,
adding devoting new fans each year as her work is studied in high
schools and colleges. In those circles O’Connor is generally
acknowledged as one of the founding creators of the fiction genre of
“Southern gothic”. Its protagonists possessed dark, twisted thoughts,
often shattering the cliches of the genteel. well-mannered societies.
And as filmmakers Marc Bosco and Elizabeth Coffman show us, her own
upbringing provided much inspiration for her “off-kilter” and often
shocking tales.

Using dozens of faded family photographs, along with archival newsreel
footage, we’re transported to her early homes in Georgia (born in
Savannah, then off to Milledgeville for most of her teens). Of course
her intellectual bent separated her from the aspiring belles and
debutants as she spent much of her time working on the school’s
literary magazine. Surprisingly her first interest was in cartooning,
inking up several “New Yorker-style” gag panels and illustrations as
she developed her “voice”. After a stint at an Iowa college she was
invited to join the artists’ retreat known as Yaddo in upstate New
York where her thick Southern accent contributed to her “fish out of
water” image, which probably hindered her unrequited affection for
poet Robert Lowell. “Thwarted romance” becomes a continuing struggle
(often reflected in her short stories) as does her own fading health
(like her father, O’Connor battled lupus). She moves from the East
Coast back south to the family farm Andalusia. She spends her days
writing (a very strict daily schedule) and watching the peacocks and
other livestock. Her quiet life would come to an end at the young age
of 39 in 1964.

Bosco and Coffman skillfully illustrate O’Connor’s enduring influence
with brief interview/testimonials from such diverse admirers as
Oscar-winning actor Tommy Lee Jones, musician Lucinda Williams, and TV
comic host Conan O’Brien. Speaking of Oscar-winners, Mary Steenburgen,
in an inspired bit of casting, does a splendid job as O’Connor’s voice
in correspondence and the actual stories. Also compelling is the
film’s use of animation from bringing those college cartoons to bouncy
life, to illustrating sequences from the short stories (the art on “A
Good Man Is Hard To Find” is especially vibrant). The most subtle use
of the medium may be the chapter headings with white outline against a
deep black backdrop. The opening titles use this to show us Flannery
walking toward us, pulling herself with a crutch under each arm. But
we do hear and see the subject being interviewed on an “arts TV
program” (probably broadcast on a Sunday) in a grainy kinescope. Aside
from the celeb talking heads, we hear from folks who interacted with
her. The biggest “gets” might be O’Connor’s “pen pal” Betty Hester who
seems still stunned that O’Connor shared so many thoughts with her
(perhaps a long distance “crush”). Speaking of, there’s also an
interview with the Swedish traveling book salesman (really) who shared
an awkward kiss with O’Connor, and inspired a short story (his
fictional double is quite a cad). Happily there are several clips from
the only feature film adaptation of one of her novels, WISE BLOOD,
along with memories from those involved. And yes, controversy still
swirls about her work, and the filmmakers don’t shy away from it,
whether the religious content (O’Connor was a devout Catholic) or race
(her use of the “N word” threatens to make her part of “cancel
culture”). FLANNERY is an engrossing and compelling look back at one
of the great literary lights of the past century.