In reviewing John Candy: I Like Me, I found myself curious about other actor-directed documentaries– just as Heaven, directed by the late Diane Keaton, is being reevaluated. It’s been tricky deciding how exactly to eulogize Keaton here on Diractors, as her directing never made too much of an impression. Even in this context, Heaven is interestingly sidelined. It’s really watchable, as Diane’s voice is deeply felt in the film, as if only she can make something this profound feel quirky. Keaton’s light touch is very welcome in something that confronts religion, seen through a rare eye of genuine curiosity. It’s such a simple question for her to ask the subjects, made up of generally ordinary people: What happens when we die? This inevitably branches off into more funny and amusing questions that makes even the subjects look stumped, then forced to cook up a funny answer: “Do you get fat in heaven?” “Is there sex in heaven?” Questions that fulfill desires not always consistent when living. Moments like these, and one interview duo composed of an atheist and a believer, make you question if this is a doc for Diane or an intended guidance.
Then there’s what Keaton uses to show just how little of Heaven as a concept we actually know, with the footage of depictions on film. Angels, clouds, gods, and pearly gates are all things that, nearly 40 years later, haven’t changed much if you asked a stranger to help you intercept what a vision of the afterlife is. Nor is there much from recent film history to help Keaton establish a reworked imagining of the afterlife; as at this point, all she had to work with were silent/golden age films. These visuals are a nice reminder of how all we have to go off of for a reference is the Christian references themselves. I do love the interview Keaton gave to Letterman during the release of the movie. She can’t stop hysterically laughing, but you can see how much genuine anxiety there is to describe something without much investigation. Almost so subjective to the point of never finding a conclusion.
I had the chance to talk to Arnie Holland, owner and president of distribution company Lightyear Films, which is giving Heaven the rerelease treatment in theaters and virtual cinemas opening Friday, 11/14. We touch on working with Diane, the reception of the movie and how the legacy has changed through the years.
BOSTON HASSLE: How did the project and Diane come to your attention?
ARNIE HOLLAND: She came to us after Jane Fonda’s workout was distributed. Her manager came to us with her wanting to make a movie. This was always Diane’s original idea of what happens in the afterlife and surveying all these different types of people. It was never something we intended to go to her to make this.
BH: How was the creative control and budget decided?
AH: She had complete creative control and a sizable budget for this kind of movie, as we were just starting out as well. She was in a lull for her career, as this was between Woody Allen movies but before Nancy Meyers worked with her on Baby Boom. She got into the Directors’ Fortnight [at Cannes].
BH: It was well received at Cannes?
AH: Really well received. Even after taking several years to come out– she started making it in ’84, but we were reworked as a company when the transition from VHS to laserdisc was happening. We reported to RCA records as opposed to NBC. Being a new company, we went to Cannes before the deal for the new company closed, as we needed more money for us to distribute, not just for Diane.
BH: Were you open to something more director driven?
AH: Yes, and first we wanted to make sure this was going to theaters, which led to a bidding war after Cannes, which was won by Island Pictures.
BH: With something as unique as Heaven, it never held down Lightyear to a certain kind of movie.
AH: Exactly. Even with her being in New York and us being LA, proved no issue as we could now give her the time and money to comb over these interviews. She even remarked that her idea of heaven is selecting which film clips to use.
BH: It seems like a majority of the time, as well as for Diane, actors directing for the first time will take what they know from great filmmakers they’ve worked with.
AH: That’s correct. And these days, I see it as first time directors stretching themselves thin to make a genre movie that will play well in theaters. It was a great time for us when there were new technologies like home video and DVD, we had the chance to experiment and see what will hit.
BH: Keaton bringing star power guarantees it not being a complete failure. How do you see the movie’s legacy these days as her least discussed work of directing?
AH: Having her as a beloved movie icon helped the movie a lot.
BH: Even though she’s not seen in the movie.
AH: She’s just asking the questions. We saw it as safe, even approaching religious topics– easier to sell, and we hoped it would inspire conversations in audiences. The movie had mixed reviews, [from] differing critics’ views on what the afterlife was and whether it should be this ambiguous. I was always taken by how the normal people she talked to had some abstract views, despite not seeming like they would.
BH: Even so, the questions can be ordinary, despite the interesting subjects.
AH: And that’s when the specific questions help. other than “Is there a heaven?” It’s then turned around to “What is heaven like?” “Is there sex in heaven?”
BH: And yet just discussing heaven doesn’t feel provocative today.
AH: I’m not sure if it offends people then or now, but it gives you something to talk about, and that was part of what we saw in it, never mind what Diane included.
BH: Yet there is this commonality, that the theorizing makes for such an open ended movie and not a mysterious one.
AH: Plus the idea of what heaven was I’m not sure was discussed all that much to be theorized.
BH: How did the movie do on home video?
AH: It didn’t do too well. We did not have a great experience with Island Pictures, after they didn’t pay what they said they would after the theatrical release. I expected more from Chris Blackwell, who was a hero of mine for making Bob Marley a star– he was the president at the time. They basically said we didn’t clear all the clips we used, but I had the clips and music that was preexisting. What we know was cleared was lied about, since Blackwell wanted to save some back. We sued Blackwell and Island Pictures for not paying us, as the movie didn’t do too well.
BH: Was it like how audiences will forget about something for one reason or another, which can happen on the business end as well?
AH: Right and it worked out since we got a VHS, DVD, and blu-ray [coming out] next year, and virtual cinema this week, which we experimented with during COVID. With a remaster from SD to HD.
Heaven
1987
dir. Diane Keaton
101min.
