At the beginning of Billy Woodberry’s Bless their little ones In Hearts, Charlie (Nate Hardman) explains to a group of drinking buddies that there comes a time in every man’s life when he must “make a choice between the spiritual and the material.” Up until now, Charlie has always chosen the material, and his statement suggests a conscious spiritual shift, perhaps as a form of self-preservation to avoid despair. After all, he struggles around houses day in and day out, begging for work and filling out job applications, but all he ever has to show for it is the occasional temp job as a landscaper or a few dollars selling catfish caught on the side of the road.
Charlie’s faith in the spiritual may not last long – his faith is only ever rewarded with dashed hopes – but it remains the central theme of Woodberry’s touching and melancholy feature debut. Written with piercing clarity, Charles Burnett’s screenplay describes Charlie’s spiritual disintegration due to his persistent unemployment and the strains of his marriage to Andais (Kaycee Moore), who is stuck at home in Watts with three young children to care for. Her husband’s mistakes weigh on her, especially when he starts cheating on her.
The ongoing argument between Charlie and Andais one hour after God bless their little hearts is particularly insightful because it shows how underlying resentments in a marriage reach boiling point. But it’s the film’s languid sense of time that most clearly evokes the limbo the couple find themselves in as they wait for something to happen that will improve their lives.
Woodberry lingers in dead time, with numerous scenes of Charlie’s everyday activities – shaving, walking through an abandoned train yard, filling out job applications – taking place in real time. At such moments, the film is reminiscent of Jeanne Dielmanyet while Chantal Akerman uses duration as a means to express the oppressiveness of domestic routine, Woodberry uses it to capture the spiritually exhausting nature of time, detached from meaning and self-worth.
While Andais is “tired, tired, tired” from working herself to the bone in the household, Charlie is worn down by poverty and his inability to fulfill the role of breadwinner. They are deeply emotionally fractured and seem unable to heal. Even when Andais nods off on the bus or tries to take a nap while her children prepare dinner, their rest is short-lived. When Charlie comes home before dinner, he asks Andais if she is sleeping, to which she replies, “I wish I was sleeping.” More than most other films about poverty, God bless their little hearts understands that it can feel like a nightmare from which there is no escape.
Image/Sound
Milestone’s transfer comes from a UCLA Film & Television Archive restoration from the original 16mm negative, and is nearly flawless. The myriad intricacies of the homemade set are presented in vivid detail, while fairly strong contrast ensures clear vision in the night scenes. The sound is clearly limited by budget constraints, so there is a slight echo in numerous scenes, but dialogue is always clear and audible.
Extras
Film scholar Ed Guerrero provides a well-researched audio commentary that covers the works of many of the LA Rebellion filmmakers. He is prone to long pauses and his delivery can be a bit stilted, but he offers plenty of strong scene analysis and is particularly engaging when discussing the similarities and differences between the LA Rebellion and blaxploitation films produced at the same time. In a separate interview, Guerrero talks about how he first saw God bless their little heartshis favorite scenes and what the film owes to Italian neorealism.
Also included is an interview with Billy Woodberry, who reflects on his friendship and collaboration with his mentor Charles Burnett in conversation with conservator Ross Lipman. Additionally, in a 30-minute workshop recorded at Indiana University’s Black Film Center in 1990, Woodberry recalls his time at UCLA and the camaraderie he developed with all of the LA Rebellion filmmakers. Rounding out the disc are Woodberry’s 1980 short film “Pocketbook,” behind-the-scenes photos, a re-release trailer, and essays by Professor Samantha N. Sheppard and filmmaker Alison Anders.
In total
Billy Woodberry’s classic about the LA rebellion gets a beautiful transfer and several must-see extras, courtesy of Milestone Films.
Score:
Pour: Nate Hardman, Kaycee Moore, Angela Burnett, Ronald Burnett, Kimberly Burnett, Langston Woodberry Director: Billy Woodberry Screenwriter: Charles Burnett Distributor: Milestone films Duration: 85 minutes Evaluation: NO Year: 1983 Release date: July 23, 2024 Buy: video
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