- Actors: Lucille Billingsley, Zella Graham, Cal Harberts, Dan Harberts, Phil Harberts
- Directors: Errol Morris
- Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC, Import
- Language: English
- Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
- Region: (US and Canada This DVD will probably NOT be viewable in other countries. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
- Number of discs: 1
- MPAA Rating:
- Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
- Release Date: July 26 2005
- Run Time: 85 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00094AS6I
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon.com
Errol Morris launched his fascinating, Oscar-winning career with this instant classic, a documentary about pet cemeteries. The subject is darker and weirder than even Stephen King could dream up, yet the movie is also wildly funny and lingeringly sad. As Morris gets his people to soliloquize for the neutral camera, they confirm that their love for their pets is utterly sincere--and that eccentricity runs deep in the American grain. Although the ostensible topic is animals, the owners and clients reveal much more about the species that walks on two legs; the depth of human feeling on display is bottomless, and the ability of humans to anthropomorphize their pets is astounding. (Surely some of these animals must be utterly bewildered by their keepers.)
The film looks at two California cemeteries, one failed, one flourishing. First-time viewers often have the experience of laughing through the first half of the picture--this is an outrageous group of people who wouldn't be out of place in a Christopher Guest comedy--and then growing emotionally involved. Morris's flat, dead-on style makes the movie a mirror, so that cynics will see a fool's parade of weirdoes, while pet lovers will warmly identify with so much tenderness toward animals. (And Roger Ebert, the film's biggest champion, will see one of the 10 best movies ever made.) It's a strange experience, but likely one you'll never forget. --Robert Horton
Description
From Academy Award®-winning* director Errol Morris (The Thin Blue Line) comes this acclaimed film about success and failure in the grave business of animal interment. "Memorable, moving and poignant" (Channel 4 Film), Gates of Heaven is "so rich and thought-provoking it stays in your mind for tantalizing days" (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times). When financial hardship forces California's Foothill Pet Cemetery to close its pearly gates, its dearly departedloved ones are relocated to the nearby Bubbling Well Pet Memorial Park. During this tense transition, filmmaker Morris meets a collection of eccentric cemetery operators and anguished animal-lovers and elicits a meditation on love and loneliness that's "strange, chilling [and] appallingly funny" (Newsweek). *2003: Documentary Feature, Fog of War (with Michael Williams)
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
best documentary I have seen,
By Al Kihano (Iskandria) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Gates of Heaven (VHS Tape)
What is most impressive about this film is that it manages to get ordinary people talking about extraordinary subjects without the speakers' ever even realizing the depths of their observations.By asking people to speak of their deceased and beloved pets, Errol Morris has coaxed out of them deeply moving reflections about heavy philosophical issues. There are few films that combine humor, sympathy, and thought in so stirring a fashion.
4.0 out of 5 stars
The film is more about human beings, rather than pets.,
By
This review is from: Gates of Heaven (VHS Tape)
'Gates of Heaven' is a film by Errol Morris that deals with an ambitious pet cemetery in California. What makes this documentary so facinating has nothing to do with the actual animals, but rather the people who love and care for them. As the film progresses, one will realize it is actually a study of human nature and psychology. With the central focus of giving pets a secure resting place, the film incredibly shows human frailty, ambition, and sadness.For those who have never had pets, this film can be hard to relate to. My family has never owned any pets, but I've had friends who have had pets. They are very attached to the pets, and the pets are like family memebers. One has to watch this movie with an open heart, or they will never understand the feelings of the people in this documentary. To some of these people, a pet is more of a friend than a human being will ever be, and there is some real truth behind that. People might get different interpertations of what Morris is trying to show here. To me, 'Gates of Heaven' uses the pet cemetary business as a backdrop to show a much deeper aspects of human nature.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars (30 customer reviews) 29 of 32 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The paradox,
By D. W WISELY "chiffandfipple" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Gates of Heaven (DVD)
You don't know me. I'm not given to hyberbole. But, Ebert's right about this film: There's not a better American film. And it IS a thoroughly American film. It's about business, money, pets, love, success, failure. It's all here. I'm grabbing this and taking it with me when the spaceships come. (They're due in September.)
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
human nature on film,
By timmy - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Gates of Heaven (VHS Tape)
Here's what is amazing about Gates of Heaven: Two completely different people could watch it and both enjoy it from different perspectives. For one, this could be a heartwarming, courageous tale about dedicated pet-owners and their struggle to build pet cemeteries. For another, this could be simply a hilarious look at human nature and its peculiar quirks and tendencies. Errol Morris knew he was getting more than information about pet cemeteries when filming Gates of Heaven; he was capturing real, sincere moments by people possessing all kinds of characteristics. Sadness, cynicism, laughter, envy, and the unflinching love for pets is present throughout Gates of Heaven. This film isn't really a documentary about pet cemeteries at all. Rather, it is about human beings, the passions we have, and how we achieve them in this life. Near the end of the film as I watched a young hippie cemetery owner playing his guitar up in the hills, I realized how far this film was reaching for, and how successful it was in reaching it. From the jealousy of a man towards his younger, more successful brother, to the hilarious (and somewhat sad) monologue by a lonely old woman, Gates of Heaven ultimately shows that no matter what people strive to achieve, whether it be pet cemeteries or President of the United States, it's their heart and souls that will remain timeless. 6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The film is more about human beings, rather than pets.,
By Dhaval Vyas - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Gates of Heaven (VHS Tape)
'Gates of Heaven' is a film by Errol Morris that deals with an ambitious pet cemetery in California. What makes this documentary so facinating has nothing to do with the actual animals, but rather the people who love and care for them. As the film progresses, one will realize it is actually a study of human nature and psychology. With the central focus of giving pets a secure resting place, the film incredibly shows human frailty, ambition, and sadness.For those who have never had pets, this film can be hard to relate to. My family has never owned any pets, but I've had friends who have had pets. They are very attached to the pets, and the pets are like family memebers. One has to watch this movie with an open heart, or they will never understand the feelings of the people in this documentary. To some of these people, a pet is more of a friend than a human being will ever be, and there is some real truth behind that. People might get different interpertations of what Morris is trying to show here. To me, 'Gates of Heaven' uses the pet cemetary business as a backdrop to show a much deeper aspects of human nature. |
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