Before there was Denzel and Halle, there was Sidney Poitier -- simply my favorite actor of all time. I'll watch anything that he's in and I haven't dislike anything I've seen. And I saw both sequels to IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT. LILIES is the film that won Poitier his best actor Oscar and until last year he was the only non-white person, male or female, to have won the top acting Oscar. While it's not a defining character for his career, he brings charm, wit and depth to a character that wins our hearts.
In the film, Poitier plays traveling work-for-hire man Homer Smith. He stumbles onto a small nunnery in the desert comprised of five German nuns and gets roped into building them a chapel. The war of wills between him and Mother Superior Maria (Lilia Skala, FLASHDANCE, HOUSE OF GAMES) is classic. The film deals with pride, faith, community, humility and race, but not once do you ever feel like the film is preaching anything. The story is so simple, but ends up being greatly profound.
Another charm of this film is the performance by Stanley Adams (EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SEX BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK) as Juan the café owner. The scene where he comes to the chapel site and gets Homer to allow the locals to help is unforgettable. Along with Poitier's win for Best Actor, Skala was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. The film also received nominations for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.
So many films present stories where an unbending person forces someone to do something they do not want to do. The unwilling person often has one weak motive to go along with it that abruptly falls apart conveniently right before the third act. While LILIES' plot structure is similar to those films, what James Poe's adaptation of William E. Barrett's novel has that those films don't is complex characters. All the issues I dealt with before reside in Homer as a person. Racism is something Homer must deal with, but it does not define who he is. It is an obstacle like any other. Those same issues define Maria as well. She is a German who escaped from Communist Germany, but people judge her as they will, no matter that she did in her past. Homer understands how that feels.
As the bullheaded Homer begins construction on the chapel, it's not only the nuns' dream that comes true. Homer doesn't get it his way, but in the end he still gets the dream that has alluded him without knowing he was getting it. The chapel stands for a lot of different things to many of the characters. But its most magical accomplishment is how it brings people of varying backgrounds together in one common goal. This is a wonderfully uplifting film. If you ever need a pick me up, go check this one out.
Buy "Lilies of the Field" Here!
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
