Redeeming Love
A retelling of the biblical book of Hosea set against the backdrop of the California Gold Rush of 1850.
- Released: 2022-01-21
- Runtime: 134 minutes
- Genre: Drama, History, Romance
- Stars: Logan Marshall-Green, Abigail Cowen, Nina Dobrev, Famke Janssen, Tom Lewis, Eric Dane, Wu Ke-Xi, Livi Birch, Brandon Auret, Jamie Lee O'Donnell, Tanya van Graan
- Director: D. J. Caruso
Comments
- RainbowVic - 17 November 2022
Christian trash as always
"Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives... I never meant to say that the Conservatives are generally stupid. I meant to say that stupid people are generally Conservative. I believe that is so obviously and universally admitted a principle that I hardly think any gentleman will deny it. Suppose any party, in addition to whatever share it may possess of the ability of the community, has nearly the whole of its stupidity, that party must, by the law of its constitution, be the stupidest party; and I do not see why honorable gentlemen should see that position as at all offensive to them, for it ensures their being always an extremely powerful party . . . There is so much dense, solid force in sheer stupidity, that any body of able men with that force pressing behind them may ensure victory in many a struggle, and many a victory the Conservative party has gained through that power." John Stuart Mill ( British philosopher, economist, and liberal member of Parliament for Westminster from 1865 to 68 )" - herbqedi - 1 October 2022
Fascinating and Frustrating Epic Western Saga - Worth Watching
So many conflicting thoughts, feelings and memories haunt me on this one. That, in itself, should be good enough for at least a 9 from me most of the time.
The acting by the two leads is terrific and Famke Janssen's "Duchess" prostitution house madam is a master class in acting. The dozen-plus abusive, perverted and disgusting men were all portrayed with enough dimension that you understood the hateful, angry, vengeful and fearful place each was coming from.
The feel of the period and the obstacles and Hobson's choices that women had to confront were vividly laid out. This is technically brilliant song also with complementary music. It reminded me a lot of Eastwood's Unforgiven from the abused prostitutes, the self-righteousness of their abusers. The never-ending plethora of double standards is the least of our lead's problems. And yes, her soul is scarred and turned inside-out against Christ by the culmination of all these hideous experiences.
My problems: The minor problem, pointed out by other reviewers, is that the characters - unlike in Unforgiven - looked too clean, pretty, handsome, unscathed physically by all they endured throughout all the periods in the saga.
My major problem: The movie was pure TORTURE for me to watch even though the pacing was perfect. I was never bored; I was depressed and frustrated. The movie did an admirable job of conveying the abuse and disgusting behaviors to which her mother and she had been subjected and manifests itself on how that person devalues herself and others.
SPOILERS***SPOILERS***SPOILERS This leads her to constantly running away from love and home - again and again and again. Relentless. She keeps playing her husband for a mark, then gives him unbelievably hot sex, then splits as if it's now okay since she paid off her debt with sex, the only value she could possibly have to a man. It's profound and sorrowful. Her self-image and sense of self-worth is so poor she cannot allow herself to love or be loved. For awhile it had to do with material things but the last time, headed for San Francisco, was martyring herself for being unworthy.
That brings further frustration to my movie-watching experience. We've now been in the theater for an hour and 50 minutes. She does it again. But this time, the husband refuses to go after her, spouting roots and wings falderal. That would have made a lot more sense if he didn't get her when she returned to Pair-a-Dice to get her gold and wound up back at her old profession. Let her learn for herself what she had was the better way of life and that she was worthy of real love.
But this time, it was different. She didn't leave for anything she wanted this time and he knew that. This time, he read the letter knowing that she now loved him but left because she thought she wasn't good enough for him because she couldn't bear children. You would think that was the time he would go explain to her that she was worthy in God's eyes and in his his. No. This is the time he basically says: her bed, let her lie in it.
Very frustrating. Especially when one is waiting to experience the redemption, having paid the price watching the torture for close to two hours. Before she can get redemption, she has to yet again get something she worked hard for get ruined by arson, then get abused as an adult by the "businessman/brothel owner" who owned and abused her as a kid - and spawned her nightmares and fears for 20 years since then. Now he gets her but for himself prefers pre-pubescent girls. This is where the movie takes it stand. She rescues the girls and exposes the villain in front of everybody, then he's hanged.
Brother-in-law Paul who ones defiled her visits and tries to convince her to return to Michael who still loves her. Now she cannot because she's set up a church-supported school for abused girls like herself. We see the love she has for these children and satisfaction that they are learning and that she is repairing her relationship with God. Okay, great. The kind of redeeming love she needed had to be with helping others like herself and sacrificing herself for their safety. And it seems that the movie will end in a few minutes. And it does - BUT NOT BEFORE she appears walking out of nowhere like the virgin angel without a line on her face, vows she's done running and FINALLY will never take Michael's ring off again. Placard - Three years later; they have one child and she's in the family way with another. How did that miracle happen since a doctor had already purposely ruin her from having more children? Did she finally find that she was worthy of love and was not just returning out of another misguided sense of loyalty? What about the girls she vowed not to leave? Never mind, they are rolling the credits having given us less than 5 minutes with the phony-feeling happy ending that feels like a set-up for the rug to be pulled out from under us again.
It reminded me so much of the fantasy dream Belle indulges in the Bunuel classic Belle Du Jour. The prostitute is able to leave it all behind for a happy and normal life and start a family with an adoring husband. Whoops! It's not real.
