DAVID ADAMS watches the story behind US poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s carol…
I Heard The Bells (AU – PG)
In a Word: Tender
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (played by Stephen Atherholt) with members of his family in I Heard The Bells.
Christmas is fast approaching and that means Christmas movies – and with them the danger of watching something that oozes with sap or that verges on the sacrilegious.
I Heard The Bells manages to thread the needle of telling a genuinely interesting true story – that of how “America’s poet” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow came to write the carol I Heard The Bells – while also capturing the heart of what Christmas is all about – the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ and the ongoing hope we have in Him.
“Through Longfellow’s experience we’re directly confronted with big questions of faith and doubt, hope and despair – and the real meaning that can be found in Christmas. It’s a moving portrayal of one man’s “dark night of the soul” and how he and his family struggle to cope amid adversity.”
It’s the early 1860s and Longfellow (played by Stephen Atherholt) is at the height of his fame – a renowned wordsmith and advocate against the injustice of slavery – and, along with his beloved wife Fanny (Rachel Day Hughes) is raising a large and loving family in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It’s then that tragedy strikes the family which, along with the oncoming Civil War in the US, threatens to irrevocably tear them apart. The grief-stricken Longfellow lays down his pen and plunges into deep despair before, eventually, circumstances lead him to rediscover his hope, restore his faith and pen what became a famous Christmas carol.
Through Longfellow’s experiences we’re directly confronted with big questions of faith and doubt, hope and despair – and the real meaning that can be found in Christmas. It’s a moving portrayal of one man’s “dark night of the soul” and how he and his family struggle to cope amid adversity.
Director and co-writer Joshua Enck puts faith at the very centre of this film (it’s not often you see a prayer team mentioned in the movie’s credits), but he avoids being overly didactic and instead lets the narrative itself unfold the meaning it contains. Well edited and acted (Jonathan Blair’s performance as Longfellow’s son Charley is among them), I Heard The Bells also deservedly brings to the fore the story of someone whose life and writings are perhaps these days not as well as known as other writers of his era (think Dickens).
A fitting film to watch in a world where Christmas may not be so merry for many – and yet the hope of Jesus Christ remains. As Longfellow himself wrote:
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
For the US website, head to www.iheardthebellsmovie.com. For where the movie is playing in Australia, head to https://iheardthebellsmovie.com.au.
