With the Oscar literally three weeks away, it is always nice to revisit a film with pedigree. Daniel Petrie’s 1980 film RESURRECTION has this in droves. Delivering a magnetic Ellen Burstyn is Edna May who should have died in a car accident that claimed her husband Joe but seemingly survives. Burstyn gained her second nomination (her first for confronting the devil in THE EXORCIST). Richly deserved and remarkable as this is, what becomes apparent is that a film like this (remade since), is a rare thing indeed. For this film sees Edna reborn or resurrected if you will, as a healer.

The interesting thing is, she can heal others with her mere touch. Science is confused and the local people at her family farm are compelled to ask for help. Her healing saves the life of a child, then a man called Cal (Sam Shepard) stabbed in the chest. He falls in love with her. She is the talk of the town and so her gift is examined and accused, fear and adorated in equal measure. But when Cal tries to make her confess that her powers come from God, it ends badly and this will lead to a violent confrontation.

Lee Gambin is a favourite of mine. He walks through a film with a sense of knowing but not in an off putting or exclusive way. His work here is stifled and feels a little like he is reading from a script often but he makes some very good points. This is a film that could have got lost in the supernatural and the religious. As a regular at my church, I always choke at Hollywood films that try to convert or over religion an idea as their own. RESURRECTION is different. This is a film, as Gambin says, about a woman with Christ like powers, who is not Christ but persecuted never the less, for trying to be help. Ellinger digs deeper into this well, but Gambin gets the body of the argument right. This film is about how religion and faith are so often abused that if something were to happen akin to this, well it is likely the end would be the same. Burstyn interview, which is new and she is complex in no uncertain terms, reveals that she credits Dan Petrie, who she says directs without bluster and compassionately. This is a rare film, that looks better but feels newer due to the clean up from a 2K scan (the 1080p has some grain issues and condensed in some of the later scenes is all 80s stock and not the restoration).

Special Features and Technical Specs:

• 1080p High-definition presentation on Blu-ray from a NEW 2K scan
• NEW Audio commentary by author and film historian Lee Gambin
• NEW The Choice of Love – interview with actress Ellen Burstyn
• NEW Born to be Wild: Resurrection and the Rise of the Divine Feminine – video essay by film historian Kat Ellinger
• Theatrical Trailer
• Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
• Audio English LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English HOH subtitles
• Limited Edition slipcase on the first 1500 copies with unique artwork