Gates of Heaven

September 21, 2009 2:20 PM

Clips from the Errol Morris documentary Gates of Heaven which Roger Ebert named one of the ten best films of all time. Lady in the Doorway ll Music Man ll Gates of Heaven ll Couples Scene ll Humans cannot be this way ll Say it out loud
posted by vronsky (29 comments total)

Related: Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (clip, whole video).
posted by filthy light thief at 2:26 PM on September 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Near this spot are deposited the Remains of one,
Who possessed Beauty without Vanity,
Strength without Insolence,
Courage without Ferocity,
And all the Virtues of Man without his Vices.
This Praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery
If inscribed over human ashes,
Is but a just tribute to the Memory of
BOATSWAIN, a DOG
Who was born at Newfoundland, May, 1803,
And died at Newstead, Nov 18th, 1808.

- Lord Byron
posted by Joe Beese at 2:28 PM on September 21, 2009 [5 favorites]

Also: Gates of Heaven is available in full, on the Chinese video site, Ku6.com (with Chinese subtitles and other weird video overlays, possibly adverts).
posted by filthy light thief at 2:31 PM on September 21, 2009

By the way, thanks for showing me that Morris made more than Fast, Cheap and Out of Control. While not a bad film, it didn't do that much for me. This sounds much more interesting, as it's centered on a story rather than disjointed subjects that may (or may not) merge into a greater work. His second film sounds interesting, too.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:41 PM on September 21, 2009

Great, now I have to go and figure out how to play Jefferson Airplane's "Comin' Back to Me."
posted by Sys Rq at 2:45 PM on September 21, 2009

(In a hammock, no less!)
posted by Sys Rq at 2:46 PM on September 21, 2009

filthy light thief: "By the way, thanks for showing me that Morris made more than Fast, Cheap and Out of Control."

oh my. if you haven't seen The Thin Blue Line, Mr. Death, or A Brief History of Time, then you really need to correct that. I'm a fan of Fast Cheap, but that shouldn't be the only work of his someone has seen.
posted by shmegegge at 2:52 PM on September 21, 2009

...and Standard Operating Procedure, which I think is phenomenal. His First Person series is highly underrated, too--the Sondra London episode is particularly compelling.
posted by carrienation at 3:01 PM on September 21, 2009

While on the subject, let us also never forget Morris's Miller High Life Ads. This one is my favorite -- it takes me back to my Boston days.
posted by hifiparasol at 3:02 PM on September 21, 2009

Am I the only person who thinks Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control is his best film?
posted by vibrotronica at 3:21 PM on September 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Am I the only person who thinks Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control is his best film?

My money says that you are.
posted by xmutex at 3:25 PM on September 21, 2009

These Miller commercials are crazy! They're like no tv commercial I've ever seen.
So many of them, too - were they actually aired? The date says 2003 but I was sure they were older - they seem part of the 1970s avant garde.
posted by Flashman at 3:30 PM on September 21, 2009

Oh come on people. A little love for Vernon, Florida, please.
posted by billysumday at 4:04 PM on September 21, 2009 [2 favorites]

The Fog of War is very good as well.
posted by brundlefly at 4:04 PM on September 21, 2009 [2 favorites]

Flashman: the Miller commercials definitely aired. I remember the one about a guy grilling, and the narrator was talking about Noah being a hero for remembering to get the cows on the ark. I always laughed when I saw it.

Vernon, Florida is honestly one of the greatest movies of all time. I've seen it maybe twenty times. I'd put Gates of Heaven up there, too, but there's something about Vernon, Florida that's particularly fascinating.
posted by billysumday at 4:10 PM on September 21, 2009

Here's the Noah one.
posted by billysumday at 4:16 PM on September 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Those Miller commercials definitely aired in 2003/4. They were freakin awesome. I remember that campaign distinctly. I never realized that Morris did them.
posted by spicynuts at 5:24 PM on September 21, 2009

Fast, Cheap and Out of Control is one of my favorite movies ever. It says so much, and so obliquely, about man and his place in the universe. Morris is my favorite documentarian. I have had discussions with people about his intent in Gates of Heaven...I was annoyed when people in the art-house audience laughed at the guitarist's inflated musical ambitions, but I though Morris was being clear-eyed and even sympathetic toward his subject, not elitist. The audience was full of elitists, IMO. I've known guys like him.
posted by kozad at 5:32 PM on September 21, 2009 [2 favorites]

Every year or year and a half someone reminds me of the Errol Morris site and I sit through every single Miller commercial. They're genius. Of his movies I've only seen The Fog of War which was wonderful. The Miller ads are better.

Someone changed the voice over on the bacon one, which enrages me.
posted by fleetmouse at 5:35 PM on September 21, 2009

Also: Gates of Heaven is available in full, on the Chinese video site, Ku6.com (with Chinese subtitles and other weird video overlays, possibly adverts).

Please buy it or rent it instead, because even if you hate MGM, Errol Morris is awesome and deserves every penny of his royalties, and it's not like he's Mick Jagger or Diddy who wouldn't miss them.
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:38 PM on September 21, 2009

My favorite pet epitaph:

HERE LIES TROUBLE
HE WAS NO TROUBLE
posted by benzenedream at 5:51 PM on September 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

benzenedream: "My favorite pet epitaph..."

Mine - which I found in, if I recall correctly, the reminiscences collected in a Southern recipes cookbook - is very short:

Everybody's pal
posted by Joe Beese at 6:18 PM on September 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

This - from PostSecret - is probably the single saddest thing I've ever seen.
posted by Joe Beese at 6:22 PM on September 21, 2009

"but I though Morris was being clear-eyed and even sympathetic toward his subject, not elitist."

I think this is true in GOH more than any of his other films kozad. He can occasionally hold his subjects up to ridicule, and the sympathy that say the Maysles, Barbara Kopple, or even Herzog (Little Dieter Needs To Fly), can create through their characters sometimes eludes him.

His first person series, though uneven does have some great segments. Stairway to Heaven for instance, about Temple Grandin, autistic designer of abattoirs.
posted by vronsky at 7:40 PM on September 21, 2009

Morris' Miller campaign is the high water mark of modern advertising. If you haven't seen the longer form Odyssey ad, it's 2 and a half minutes of awesome.

"When ol' J. Edgar builds a dam, it stays built"

He's also responsible for the Apple Switch ads.
posted by billyfleetwood at 8:17 PM on September 21, 2009

I was wondering which weird doc to watch on holiday in October - now I know
posted by DanCall at 1:14 AM on September 22, 2009

"When ol' J. Edgar builds a dam, it stays built"

What I love about that ad is that all the shout-outs to classic conservatism -- Barry Goldwater, "still Cape Canaveral to me," etc. -- appear over a soundtrack by Woody Guthrie.

Those ads are some of the best filmmaking of the past 30 years.
posted by hifiparasol at 10:03 AM on September 22, 2009

I missed this yesterday, but I have to say that this is one of my favorite movies.

Also, Fast, Cheap and Out of Control is the only movie I ever went to see alone.
posted by Stylus Happenstance at 4:03 PM on September 22, 2009

Thanks, Vronsky. Put it on Netflix list, watched it, and am here to report that it was excellent. I've seen other Morris documentaries (and I'm a fan of "Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control"), but this one was very much worth seeing.
posted by acrasis at 5:47 PM on September 27, 2009