Review of God Told Me To (1976) by Timothy S — 27 Aug 2011

To borrow a phrase from Robin Wood, whose Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan led me to this film, God Told Me To is an "incoherent" text." The incoherence is on two levels: one) it is narratively difficult to parse the logical flow of the story (why is this happening? how did we get to this scene?) and two) unclear about its thematic and ideological objectives.

And yet there is still some very powerful elements in the film, especially those touching on religion and faith, especially how faith intersects with violence. Even though it's true that religion and violence aren't only a contemporary phenomenon still God Told Me To seems eerily prescient.

And, if nothing else, it has one of the most startling and perversely inventive religious symbols I've seen in any medium. But you have to wait til the last reel for it.