The Parrish Art Museum in Southampton will continue its spring film series, “Identity and Survival: Films on Religion and Immigration,” with “The Apostle,” which will be shown on Friday, May 9, at 7 p.m.
In “The Apostle,” Oscar-winning actor Robert Duvall plays Texas preacher Euliss “Sonny” Dewey, who reacts to his wife’s infidelity by brutally beating her lover. He leaves town, changes his name, and relocates to rural Louisiana, where he resumes preaching as “The Apostle E.F.” and helps revive an old church.
Mr. Duvall, who also directed the film, used real gospel preachers and extras carefully selected from parishes of the Deep South, and the film treats its characters with nuance and complexity. The San Francisco Chronicle called the film “a warm, multifaceted study of a man who’s part snake-oil salesman, part loving father, part servant of God and part womanizing hothead.” Robert Duvall received one of his six Academy Awards Best Actor nominations for his portrayal of Sonny Dewey.
The film won three Independent Spirit Awards in 1998, as well as more than 10 other awards and three nominations in the United States.
Admission to the film is $7, or $5 for Parrish members. “The Apostle,” starring Mr. Duvall, Farrah Fawcett and Billy Bob Thornton, is in English, rated PG-13, and has a running time of 134 minutes. For further information, contact the museum’s public programs office at 631-283-2118, ext. 40.
The film series, curated by film critic and educator John K. Turnbull, continues with “The Secret Life of Words,” on May 16, at 7 p.m.
The films in this series have been made possible, in part, through the New York Council for the Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the New York Council for the Humanities or National Endowment for the Humanities.
on May 5, 2008