Mark Reviews Movies: FLANNERY

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Review by Mark Dujsik | July 16, 2020

If you've seen one documentary made for public television about a famous artist, you probably have a solid idea of the format. Archival photos and footage show on screen, as a recognizable voice narrates the person's letters and writings, and some talking-head interviews provide a bit of context—all of it accompanied by some soft music on the soundtrack. Flannery is definitely one of those documentaries in terms of its familiar and predictable form. Directors Elizabeth Coffman and Mark Bosco do, though, dig just a bit deeper into the life and work of their subject than we might anticipate.

That subject is Flannery O'Connor, the Southern writer from the mid-20th century, whose name, perhaps, is better known than her actual work. Among her relative contemporaries in Southern literature, O'Connor's name and writings aren't recognizable as those of, say, William Faulkner or Harper Lee or Truman Capote. Coffman and Bosco don't see that as an obstacle, though. In a way, they take it as a challenge.

O'Connor, who died at the age of 39 (She suffered from lupus for at least her final 12 years) after publishing two novels and a collection of short stories (A second was published posthumously), certainly has her fans. They appear here in interviews of varying quality and depth. Tommy Lee Jones offers some broad praise, and joining other experts, author Alice Walker, who notes that O'Connor lived down the street from her family, provides some thoughtful dissection of the racial elements of the subject's work within the context of the society in which she lived.

We expect the straightforward recitation of a biography. We expect experts tying the author's work to her life experiences. We might not, though, expect such a frank and considered discussion about O'Connor's portrayal and personal opinions of racism, as well as how her wider and devotedly spiritual worldview influenced so much of her writing (Some of her stories are re-created through crude animation, mirroring O'Connor's early desire to become a cartoonist).

The film, then, is unexceptional in terms of craft, but that becomes an afterthought. Coffman and Bosco primarily want to place O'Connor's style, approach, and themes within the context of her time and place, while championing her as a "reporter" of the culture in which she lived and as a unique voice—even among her more celebrated contemporaries. In those regards, Flannery works.

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