Aimee Semple McPherson (film)
| Aimee Semple McPherson | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Richard Rossi |
| Produced by |
Frank Carvajal Connie Fleishauer |
| Written by | Richard Rossi |
| Starring |
Mimi Michaels Rance Howard Carl Ballantine Teres Byrne |
| Music by |
Richard Rossi Nita Sinaga |
| Edited by |
Adam Lightplay Jaime Prater |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 110 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Aimee Semple McPherson (2006) is a feature length dramatic biopic about evangelist "Sister" Aimee Semple McPherson.
The cast includes Mimi Michaels, Rance Howard, and Kiera Chaplin. Richard Rossi wrote, directed and also acted in the film. Rossi shot the film with a $300 consumer camcorder. The movie has a jittery, sepia-toned 1920s motif, employing silent film cards and a period look with a contemporary documentary style. The film was made under a special agreement with the Screen Actor's Guild for experimental films with budgets under $75,000.
Rossi admitted telling his own story allegorically through telling Sister Aimee's. In November, 2001, Rossi, a healing evangelist, received restoration treatment for depression and healing from childhood abuse at Healing for the Nations ministry in Atlanta, Georgia. "I was trying to help everybody else, but I was feeling empty inside," Rossi said. "It was like I was trying to fix the whole world, but I couldn't fix myself. It was a pretty lonely feeling."[1]
Critical response
According to Christianity Today, the film "goes much deeper" than previous portrayals of McPherson, including The Disappearance of Aimee, a 1970s television movie starring Faye Dunaway and Rossi's own 37-minute 2001 documentary film Saving Sister Aimee.
Christianity Today praised the film, saying "Rossi gives insight into the emotional dysfunction arising from Pentecostalism's adulation of flawed and charismatic leaders...the film veers into psychohistory and reflects the psyche of the writer/director."[2] The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, (the Pentecostal denomination Sister Aimee founded), released a press statement that they do not endorse the film because of Rossi's exploration of McPherson's personal struggles -- like those were somehow irrelevant to her as a person. VideoHound's Movie Retriever gave it two stars out of four.[3]
The film was released on DVD on April 22, 2008.[4]
See also
- Aimee Semple McPherson
- Baseball's Last Hero: 21 Clemente Stories, another biopic film by the same director
References
- ↑ Griffiths, Lawn (August 27, 2005). "Finding Sister Aimee". East Valley Tribune.
- ↑ Armstrong, Chris (January 1, 2005). "Aimee Semple McPherson". Christianity Today.
- ↑
- ↑ Zukowski, Kelsey (February 7, 2008). "Sister Aimee: The Aimee Semple McPherson Story DVD Review". FilmArcade.net.