Higher Ground (2011)

The Worst Film Ever

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

I am a Christian who have had some experience with the kind of community this movie portrays, and while watching this film, I think this is something for Christian community to watch and think about it. I don't think the film attack the faith or the religion, but it make us question whether all the singing, ceremony, bible reading, church activities,that we do everyday matter at all if there is no "Love and Honesty" in them. Doesn't the Lord tell us that nothing mater if it's not done with love? Doesn't the Bible tell us that you shouldn't come to my altar if you haven't reconcile with your brother? Doesn't God tell us not to judge others? Through her life, Corinne's growing and losing of faith reflect that even honest doubt is still better than pretending to have faith, better than faith with a narrow-mind, faith that is blind to see one's own fault,or faith that judges other people to go to Hell. How many times, after we sing and praise the Lord, and read the Bible, we go home and then hurt those people in our family? How many times we doubt but don't dare to admit to others because we want to be accepted in the community? I think watching this film and discussing about it with an open mind can help Christian community view themselves more honestly. If you watch the whole films, you will find that the moment that reflect "God" the most are the ones when the characters truly love,care,and accept one another, not the scene where praise song are sung or clever words are spoken. The most beautiful things in the movie was the good friendship between Corinne and Annika,the honest sharing of thought between Corinne and the Irish postman,and Corrine's courage to speak out about her doubt in front of her church for the last time. Those are the moment when God is reflected, not in ceremony, gospel singing, or church attending. And the scenes that make me feel a bit shamed of being a Christian because you know such mistakes do exist are: Wendy, Corinne's drug dealing sister, left her home after Corinne and her husband tried to preach to her in anger and force a faith upon her, the scene when the husband strangle Corinne's neck in the care after she tells him the truth how she feels, the scene when the counselor preached Hell fire to her and throw all the faults at her.In the end, you will understand why Corinne choose to stay "out with the dogs." (That dog in front of the church is really cute, by the way.) The only sad thing about this film that disappoint me was that it doesn't show "true faith" and "how to go through doubt after accepting that it exists in your heart." In every Christian community, I believe there are those whose faith are real and strong, not just pretending or make-believe. There are those people whose hearts are so beautiful and know what the real teaching of Jesus is and how it should be applied in life, but are wise enough to know that forcing a faith upon a non-believer or judging a sinner to go to Hell is contracting to what God asks us to do. These people do exist in Christian communities and they can really be a good example of others, even to non-believers.Recommend the film highly, but watch it with an open heart, please.

I would have to say that the basic problem with this movie is that it's jot especially interesting - at least, it wasn't to me. Basically, we follow the spiritual journey of Corinne (Vera Farmiga, who also directed this) from childhood through a fundamentalist upbringing and involvement in a fundamentalist Christian sect until the point at which (literally) she walks out of the door and into a new life. To be honest, I felt little connection with Corinne. I didn't find the character well developed. We saw her at various points in her life, but the connections between those various points weren't explored. Corinne seems to struggle with her faith from the moment that she gets "saved," never really comfortable with it, but not really comfortable breaking away from it either. Her struggles with her faith is portrayed in a number of scenes where she clearly thinks thoughts that are unacceptable to the sect to which she belongs (there's a hint of lesbianism scattered in this movie, especially in the relationship between Corinne and Annika (Dagmara Dominczyk.) Corrine has fantasies about Annika - portrayed fairly innocently on screen - but they surely represent her inner struggle with the idea that there has to be more to life than she's seeing as a part of this rather controlling sect, where she's being constantly told how to dress and where it's clear that women are second class members.)The movie wasn't overtly negative of this type of Christianity. It's clear that some members of the sect are quite content with this life. It's just that Corinne wasn't. I would have liked to have seen more about Corrine's spiritual search. The only form of Christianity she was exposed to outside of the sect she belonged to was charismatic Christianity (Annika spoke in tongues.) But even though Christianity is far more diverse than that, the movie's end seemed to point to a sense that Corinne either had to stay with the sect or leave the faith altogether. There was no reference at all to more mainline versions of Christianity, although that may in itself make a point. As a mainline pastor, my general observation has been that people raised in fundamentalist backgrounds tend to give up on the church altogether if they rebel, rather than seeking out a more moderate take on Christianity; almost as if they think, even though they've rejected the teaching, that fundamentalism is still the only valid expression of Christianity that there is. I refer to the group as a "sect" because I didn't have a sense that they belonged to any particular denomination. They seemed to be a very independent group (which, to me, raises all sorts of problems in terms of accountability.) Some of the sect members seemed to be a bit of a caricature of such people. There was a very "hippy-ish" quality to some of them.Watching Corinne's spiritual evolution was somewhat interesting, and the ending of the movie, as she walked out the door of the sect's service, did make me feel some sympathy for her. It was as if she was on her own, with no help, no one to turn to after all these years when she was told so much about how to live. Overall, though, the movie didn't really strike much of a chord with me. (4/10)

This story brings back memories, some good and some not so, of the 1970s when this story is set. My wife and I were involved in similar faith groups, in our case within the Catholic Church, where couples would go to prayer meetings and would support each other. Like in this story, some of them, usually the women, would ask to "receive the Spirit" and would "pray in tongues." The rest of us never really knew if they were really doing that as a manifestation of The Holy Spirit or were just convincing themselves of that. Sometimes all that brought people closer together, sometimes it pulled them apart.And that also is pretty much the theme of this movie. Vera Farmiga directs and also stars as the adult Corinne Walker . (We see two different, younger actresses playing Corinne at different stages, one is actually Vera's sister, 21 years younger than Vera, who does a great job as the teen Corrine.) As Corrine grows up, falls in love, becomes pregnant as a teen, gets married, gets entrenched in her own family, the religious aspect is there too, almost as another character. Corrine fervently wants it all, there is even a funny scene as she looks in the bathroom mirror, trying as hard as she can to "ignite" the spark of the Spirit within her so that she can pray in tongues, but it just doesn't come.There is another key issue, Bible fundamentalists adhere strictly to the admonition against having women in spiritual leadership positions where they may have occasion to instruct a man, and in a couple of scenes Corrine gets pulled aside by the pastor's wife who reminds her of that restriction after Corrine in impromptu moments gets up and speaks to the assembly. Corrine reacts with puzzlement, as she doesn't see why this should be wrong.In the end Corrine knows she is a good person, a good mother, but can no longer be a good wife as she finds herself not quite fitting into the mold of those around her. This movie does not "take sides", it does not try to say either point of view is wrong, but points out how religion can be a dividing force or a uniting force, depending on other circumstances.This is a somewhat slow movie, a character study without any great resolution, but very interesting and very well made.

There is no bigger fan of Vera Farmiga's acting than this reviewer. Thus the disappointing "Higher Ground" went down like a horse pill.Total Disclosure: only the first 41 and last 10 minutes were endured in real time. The remaining hour in Fast Forward. The story's extreme repetitiveness and lack of dramatic arc was nonetheless painfully evident. Not that there wasn't a clue this film was a disaster. During an NPR interview, Ms. F. had little meaningful to say about it.In "Grand Canyon" Attorney Kevin Kline asks friend, Producer and show off Steve Martin (paraphrasing), "Why is it when someone is successful in one area they think they know about everything else?" Bingo!As her first (and hopefully last) directorial effort, Ms. Farmiga's ego trip is a crashing bore not fit for human consumption. It's the cinematic equivalent of Christ's scourging. It's self important pretentious eyewash. One Hundred Eleven Minutes! This rudderless tale would overstay its welcome at seventy-five. Maybe if it were a thirty minute short. . .Search for faith or critique of fundamentalism my ass. This is essentially the same scene played over and over again: Vera looking quizzically at someone else spouting off about Jesus. Lots and lots of vacant stares. And playing guitar while singing Jesus' praise. Even Jesus Freaks' eyes will become heavy watching "Higher Ground."Major Film Festivals, have some balls and Stop, Stop, Stop awarding these empty films. Investors, Stop, Stop, Stop investing in excrement wrapped in shiny paper with a tag reading 'Important Art'.While you're at it Independent film, hire someone besides John Hawkes. Five films in 2011? Including two Indies? Overexposure personified.It's truly amazing how many far superior films to "Higher Ground" are made yearly. Films with minuscule budgets, lots of heart and engaging stories made by passionate, intelligent storytellers. Films without a rising 'C' lister. Films no one sees. Films no one distributes. Because they've been elbowed out by "Higher Ground."Jennifer Jason Leigh's equally awful ego stroke, "The Anniversary Party," has exactly the same discordant vibe as "Higher Ground."Do yourself a favor and give this film a big, wide pass. Ptoooey!