it all depend on how you look at it we be either halfway to heaven or halfway to hell and say the priest rev . harlan in northfork . the polish brother film be an ambitious one that will make any intelligent viewer to sit up and provide he or she have patience and basic knowledge of christianity . the layer of entertainment the film provide take a viewer beyond the surreal and absurd imagery that be obvious to a less obvious socio political and theological commentary that ought to provoke a laid back american to reflect on current social value . the film adoption of the surreal ( coffin that emerge from the depth of man make lake to float and disturb the living and homesteader who nearly crucify their foot to wooden floor of their home and angel who need multiple glass to read and etc . ) and absurd image ( of half animal and half toy that be alive and of door bell that make most delicate of musical output of a harp and a blind angel who keep write unreadable tract and etc . ) could make a viewer unfamiliar with the surreal and absurdist tradition in literature and the art to wonder what the movie be un spool a entertainment . though european cinema have good credential in this field and hollywood have indeed make such film in the past in cat ballou and lee marvin and his horse lean against the wall to take a nap and several decade ago . northfork and in one scene of the citizen leave the town in car and seem to pay homage to the row of car in citizen kane take kane and his wife out of xanadu for a picnic . the film be difficult for the uninitiated or the impatient film goerthe most interesting epilogue ( one of the fine i can recall ) can be hear a a voice over towards the end of the credit . the director seem to leave the fine moment to those who can stay with film to the end . if you have the patience you will savor the layer of the filmif you gulp or swallow what the polish bother dish out and you will miss out on it many flavor . what be the film all about . at the most obvious layer and a town be be vacate to make way for a dam and hydroelectric project . even cemetery be be dig up so that the mortal remain of the dead can be move to high burial ground . real estate promoter be hawk the lakeside property to 6 people who can evict the townsfolk . of the 6 and only one seem to have a conscience and therefore be able to order chicken broth soup and while others can not get anything serve to them . at the next layer and you have christianity and it interaction on the townsfolk . most be devout christian and but in many lurk the instinct to survive at the expense of true christian principle and exemplify in the priest . many want to adopt child without accept the responsibility associate with such action . at the next layer and you have the world of angel interact with near angelic human and with each other . you realize that the world of the unknown angel who keep a comic book on hercules and dream of a mother and find one in an androgynous angel call flower hercules . while the filmmaker do give clue that flower be an extension of the young angel delirious imagination and subsequent action of flower belie this option . you be indeed in the world of angel not god but the pure in spiritand therefore not in the world of the living . the soft focus of the camera be in evidence in these shot . at another layer the toy plane of irwin become a real plane carry him and his angel to heaven 1000 mile away from norfolk . the final layer be the social commentarythe country be divide into two type of people . ford people and chevy people . be there a difference . they think they be different but both be consumerist . to the religious and the film say pray and you shall receive ( word of fr harlan and quote by angel flower hercules ) . to the consumerist and the film say it what we do with our wing that separate u ( each of the 6 evictors also have wing one duck or goose feather tuck into their hat band but their action be different often far from angelic a suggest by the different reaction to a scratch on a car ) . the film be certainly not the fine american film but it be definitely a notable path break work superb visuals and strike performance ( especially nick nolte ) and and a loaded script offer several level of entertainment for mature audience .