Lilies of the Field (1963)
August 6th, 2008
I saw this at the Varsity Cinema in Vancouver when I was around 15. I’m pretty sure I was on a date. A nerd date at an art-house theatre. Good lord!
Anyway, I liked the movie then and I think it stands up pretty well now. Sidney Poitier plays a wandering black man who stops to do some odd jobs at a convent. The nuns talk him into building them a chapel, although they don’t have any money to pay him, and he learns some life lessons.
It’s a bit corny, and kind of simple… maybe Disneyish. But worth a look anyway, if only for Poitier’s performance. I couldn’t help thinking he didn’t seem very black, by modern standards of how black you can be in movies. But there’s no reason to expect him to live up to a 2008 stereotype of how a black man should talk and move. He’s a great innovator, an inspiration for black actors, and it’s good to see him in this role.
This movie is worth a look as part of your education in film. You’ll probably enjoy it too.
