Waking the dead

A story that intermingles political persuasion and ideological difference with profound, spiritual love, “Waking the dead” is a moving, intelligent film by actor turned director Keith Gordon. The year is 1972 and Fielding Pierce is a young ambitious working-class Coast Guard officer determined to become president of the United States. He meets Sarah Williams, a Catholic activist of left persuasion with a strong anti-American bent, and a great love is immediately born. However, despite their profound and intense connection - both physical and spiritual - Fielding and Sarah represent different perspectives on matters of politics, social change, and America as a nation. The era in which they live - Vietnam, military dictatorship in Chile, post-Cold War - not only tests their allegiances but foregrounds their different values and questions the possibility of their relationship. A tragic event forever tears them apart. The story ricochets between past and present, contrasting the rise of Fielding’s political career with the birth and sudden death of his love affair with Sarah. However, her spirit continues to haunt him and ultimately affects the nature of his political work and ambitions. Thanks to strong performances and excellent editing and music, “Waking the dead” is an immensely melancholic, tender film that works on various levels. It is at once a tragic love story, a study of different eras (‘70s counterculture, ‘80s conservatism), and a political indictment of America. Above all, it is a stirring meditation on the possibility of living and loving someone with a different value-system and of affecting their thoughts, actions and views in a positive way. Cast includes Billy Crudup, Jennifer Connelly and Ed Harris.