Reborn (1981) Review

There will never be another Dennis Hopper. Nowadays, in public at least, actors are generally squeaky-clean, cardboard cut-out, PR mouthpieces. Hopper was anything but. He was a true original, who gave some terrific performances. From the freewheeling Billy in ‘Easy Rider’, to ‘Apocalypse Now’s psychedelically warped photojournalist, and the gas-huffing nightmare Frank Booth of ‘Blue Velvet,’ Hopper left his mark on cinema, in films that will never be forgotten.

1981’s ‘Reborn’ is not such a film. Directed by Bigas Luna, it centres around Hopper’s Rev. Tom Harley, a seedy televangelist on the look-out for anything- or anyone- that can boost his ratings. He hears tell of an Italian woman named Maria who is supposedly a healer. The woman is brought to America, where Harley intends to turn her miraculous abilities into a televised spectacle- proof of divine power packaged for mass consumption.

Written by Luna, Àngel Jové, Consol Tura and Robert Dunn, it is a very melodramatic, often unintentionally funny film. The dialogue is stilted when it isn’t inane, characterisation is based on cliché and the narrative never exploits the intriguing ideas at its core. Further, nothing is explained and the ending is rushed; leaving one more tired than enlightened. What could have been a corrosive satire of faith, media and exploitation instead plays out as something oddly inert and hum-drum, lacking any kind of dramatic momentum- when it is coherent at all.

The narrative introduces Maria as a healer whose abilities could, in theory, destabilise Harley’s entire operation, yet her gift is treated as little more than a vague plot device. She is shuttled from scene to scene without agency or any real sense of character. Her treatment as a narrative prop reflects the film’s broader problem: it gestures at big themes but doesn’t explore them. Harley’s exploitation of Maria could have made for a razor-edged commentary on the packaging of religious fervour for profit, but Luna seems uninterested in the moral or psychological stakes. Scenes that should build tension or insight drift by without consequence, and while the film hints at a clash between spiritual authenticity and media manipulation, it never commits to examining either.

Nor is it technically polished, featuring a synth-heavy soundtrack that sounds like it’s being played by someone with no idea how to use the instrument, or that the thing they’re leaning on actually is one. Director of photography Juan Ruiz Anchía’s cinematography is neither inspired nor inspiring, and the frequent use of ADR is jarring and heavy-handed. In addition, the editing is incredibly scrappy, scenes stitched together with all the finesse of a hippo brandishing knitting-needles.

As Harley, Dennis Hopper is typically energetic and wild. He was still in the throes of addiction at the time, which, arguably, makes his performance as the manic, manipulative preacher more dynamic and unpredictable. Throughout, he improvises a lot, which means not only does he get the best lines, but the only ones with any kind of life to them. For a certain kind of person, he might make the film worthwhile.

Michael Moriarty has some good moments as Harley’s fixer, though also appears substance-affected. On the blog ‘Enter Stage Right,’ Moriarty wrote he used to be a “very bad drunk”; his performance in ‘Reborn’ does little to contradict this self-assessment. Antonella Murgia and Kit Massengill do their best with terribly little as Maria and Hopper’s producer respectively, while a poorly-dubbed Francisco Rabal pops up intermittently, looking as though he’d rather be anywhere else.

In short, like Roland Klick’s ‘White Star,’ Bigas Luna’s ‘Reborn’ is a film Hopper fans (or Hop-heads, as they should be known) might enjoy, but it doesn’t have much to offer the general viewing audience. It is neither well-written, shot or scored, with anything compelling lost amidst a mire of mediocrity. It can be summed up by a quote Harley makes from Ecclesiastes 1:9-11 “everything is unutterably weary and tiresome.” ‘Reborn’ should never have been birthed in the first place.