The monologue Roger Ebert said William Faulkner “would have killed to have written”
Even though film criticism has changed a lot in order to adapt to the different demands of social media platforms, a major portion of modern criticism can be traced back to the extensive impact Roger Ebert had on this domain. In fact, it’s almost impossible to imagine what the YouTube review channels of today would have looked like without Ebert and Gene Siskel’s legendary show.
Writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, Ebert not only introduced American audiences to pioneering filmmakers from all around the world but also highlighted the works of burgeoning auteurs who would go on to define the New Hollywood movement. Ranging from his vital defence of Arthur Penn’s subversive Bonnie and Clyde to his championing of a young, unknown Martin Scorsese, Ebert’s contributions to American film culture can hardly be quantified.
Due to his popularity within the mainstream discourse surrounding cinema, Ebert was always asked about his opinions on the masterpieces he considered to be the greatest in history. While he regularly put Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane at the top of all such lists, he also used these opportunities to celebrate relatively lesser-known gems as well.
In an article titled ‘Ten Greatest Films of All Time’, Ebert placed the works of directors like Alfred Hitchcock, Yasujirō Ozu and others alongside Welles’ magnum opus. One interesting addition to his selection is Errol Morris’ 1978 documentary Gates of Heaven, which not only served as a career breakthrough but ended up as an endlessly fascinating entry in a decade full of timeless classics.
Although the focus of the narrative is on people who are associated with the pet cemetery industry, Morris’ still-developing unique style transcends singular subjects and seems to make an all-encompassing commentary on the human condition.
“He points his camera at his subjects and lets them talk,” Ebert wrote. “But he points it for hours on end, patiently, until finally, they use the language in ways that reveal their most hidden parts. I am moved by the son who speaks of success but cannot grasp it, the old man whose childhood pet was killed, the cocky guy who runs the tallow plant, the woman who speaks of her dead pet and says, ‘There’s your dog, and your dog’s dead. But there has to be something that made it move. Isn’t there?'”
He continued: “In those words is the central question of every religion. And then, in the extraordinary centrepiece of the film, there is the old woman Florence Rasmussen, sitting in the doorway of her home, delivering a spontaneous monologue that Faulkner would have killed to have written.”
That’s extremely high praise, especially considering that Gates of Heaven is a documentary, and such moments of brilliance are few and far apart in that format. Due to Morris’ monumental achievement, the film never lost its magic for Ebert, even though he saw it multiple times throughout his life.
