Ticket to Heaven
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ticket to Heaven | |
|---|---|
 Movie Poster (1981) |
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| Directed by | Ralph L. Thomas |
| Produced by | Alan Simmonds Vivienne Leebosh Ronald Cohen |
| Written by | Josh Freed Anne Cameron Ralph L. Thomas |
| Starring | Nick Mancuso Saul Rubinek Meg Foster Kim Cattrall |
| Music by | Micky Erbe Maribeth Solomon |
| Cinematography | Richard Leiterman |
| Editing by | Ron Wisman |
| Distributed by | Miracle Films Ltd |
| Release date(s) | January 1, 1981 |
| Running time | 109 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Budget | C$4,500,000[1] |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Ticket to Heaven is a Canadian film produced in 1981 which dramatically portrays the recruiting of a cult member and his life in the cult until forcibly extracted by deprogrammers. The film was directed by Ralph L. Thomas.
A DVD version was released on June 20, 1998.
Contents |
[edit] Tagline
| “ | Too frightening to be true ... Too true to be ignored. | ” |
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—Original Release, (1981) |
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[edit] Plot
The film is based on the book Moon Webs by Josh Freed. The book revolves around Josh Freed and his friend "Benji Miller" and their negative experiences with the Rev. Sun Myung Moon and his Unification Church[2][3].
The film's protagonist, David, has broken up with his girlfriend of many years and travels to a summer camp out in the country-side. However, in actuality the facility is a training-grounds for a religious cult. The film portrays three main methods in which cults indoctrinate new members, including: low-calorie, low-protein diets, sleep deprivation, and "love-bombing". After participating in these tactics, David becomes indoctrinated, and works as a volunteer laborer for the organization.
The motto of the group's "father" is: "Stay up, earn money, destroy the Satan!" - where "Satan" refers to critics of the cult. Cult members are taught how to commit suicide in the event that their parents attempt to forcibly remove them from the facilities. Larry, David's good friend, discovers him in the camp and is shocked at the changes he finds in David's personality. Larry then devises a strategy to free his friend and restore his freedom of thought[4].
[edit] Reception
The film was selected as one of the top ten films of 1981, by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half out of four stars[3], as did All Movie Guide[5].
Time Magazine had a more critical take, complaining that: "Although it has plenty of impact, Ticket is often too busy being outraged to bother with niceties of characterization and plot."[6]
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Nick Mancuso | David, cultist |
| Saul Rubinek | Larry, David's friend |
| Meg Foster | Ingrid, cultist |
| Kim Cattrall | Ruthie, cultist |
| R.H. Thomson | Linc Strunc, deprogrammer |
| Jennifer Dale | Lisa |
| Guy Boyd | Eric |
| Paul Soles | Morley |
| Harvey Atkin | Mr. Stone |
| Robert Joy | Patrick |
| Michael Wincott | Gerry |
[edit] Awards
For details see the article 3rd Genie Awards.
One of the more critically acclaimed Canadian films of the early 1980s, it was nominated for 14 Genie Awards, winning four, including:
| Award | Winner(s) |
| Best Motion Picture | Ronald I. Cohen, Vivienne Leebosh |
| Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role | Nick Mancuso |
| Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role | Saul Rubinek |
| Best Achievement in Film Editing | Ron Wisman |
[edit] External links
[edit] See also
- Moon Webs (book)
[edit] References
- ^ Box office business for Ticket to Heaven (1981), IMDB, Budget CAD 4,500,000 (estimated), retrieved 2/23/07.
- ^ 'TICKET TO HEAVEN,' A SLEEPER ABOUT CULTS, Janet Maslin, November 13, 1981, The New York Times.
The movie is based on a nonfiction book called Moon Webs by Josh Freed, recounting the experiences of Mr. Freed and a friend he calls Benji Miller. In the book, Mr. Miller ventured from his Toronto home to San Francisco; there, without warning and without any explanation, he became a disciple of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. Neither Reverend Moon nor his Unification Church is named in the movie, but there is little effort to disguise the identity of the organization. When his friends finally found him, he had changed from a robust, healthy fellow to a hollow-eyed specter who sold flowers in the street to serve his master. Mr. Freed, hoping to understand what had happened to his friend, went through the first stages of Moonie indoctrination himself, and even after two days found it difficult to slip away. Eventually, he wrote a detailed account of what he had seen, and helped organize an effort to kidnap and deprogram his friend. The effort was led by Mr. Miller's parents, who were subsequently arrested for trying to win back their son. It's a fascinating, sobering story, and it makes for a thrilling movie. - ^ a b Roger Ebert, review, Chicago Sun-Times, January 1, 1981.
Although TICKET TO HEAVEN does not mention any existing cult by name, it is based on a series of newspaper articles about a former Moonie. - ^ "Plot summary for Ticket to Heaven (1981)", IMDB, retrieved 2/24/07. [1]
- ^ Ticket to Heaven, All Movie Guide, AMG Video ID, V: 49905, retrieved 2/24/07.
- ^ Rushes: Ticket to Heaven, Time Magazine, December 14, 1981.
TICKET TO HEAVEN
Here is a rarity: a muckraking movie that was not made for TV. The subject of this Canadian melodrama is a religious cult like the Moonies, and Director R.L. Thomas' tone is about as judicious as Friz Freleng's. David (Nick Mancuso), depressed over a short-circuited affair, falls in with some "Heavenly Children" who presoak his brain with homilies and then scrub it clean of all hope, feeling, self. Although it has plenty of impact, Ticket is often too busy being outraged to bother with niceties of characterization and plot. (Just how does David become converted? At what point does he snap out of it?) And so it ignores the central dilemma: that kidnaping an adult, however pure the motive or dear the victim, is against the law. Like a strident TV-news exposé, Ticket aims for the jugular instead of the mind—Geraldo Rivera moviemaking.
