Vernon, Florida (1981)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Errol Morris

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Early Errol Morris documentary intersplices random chatter he captured on film of the genuinely eccentric residents of Vernon...

Plot Keywords:

Florida | Hunter | Preacher | Eccentric | Turkey

Cast

Albert Bitterling	...	Himself
Roscoe Collins	...	Himself
George Harris	...	Himself
Joe Payne	...	Himself
Howard Pettis	...	Himself
Claude Register	...	Himself
Snake Reynolds	...	Himself
Henry Shipes	...	Himself

Runtime:

55 min

Country:

USA | West Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Certification:

UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Vernon, Florida, USA

Company:

Errol Morris Films

Quotes:

Henry Shipes: Listen to that sound? Hear that sound? Getting in an out of trees? That flop-flop sound? Mm, that sound will sure mistake you for turkeys. Listen. Hear that flop-flop. Limbs breaking. Hear that good flop, then? Listening to that gives me the turkey fever. Mm, I wish there were as many turkeys as there are buzzards.

Movie Connections:

Featured in A Brief History of Errol Morris (2000)

I still live in vernon

well near it.....I remember seeing errol morris one autumn afternoon as he stood in the street with tripod and camera back in 1981....I had just gotten off from work at the elementary school (where I still teach)....its hard to remember how different things were then...because the physical side of vernon is still the same....although this is going to change soon....the widening of the main street is going to literally wipe out the town as we know it.

the jury is still out on the purpose of morris' film....most of the town folk look at it today as a mockery....however some who were in it thought differently then (movie stars)....I watched it recently (again) and took it at face value...it was funny....however knowing vernon like I do...I must say that in my days at vernon high school...I remember variety in the culture....all were not rednecks or eccentrics...

morris just let the cameras roll....if there were any genius in the filmaking....it was in the editing...as these characters were patched together to create this look at a seedy, unique town.

to me the "condescending" (as some of the critics have declared) part is summed up in the music (if you can call it music) at the very beginning...this sets the tone for the entire picture....on the other hand...the genuine honesty and realism in the turkey hunter's interview is just that...the reason I know that.... he is my cousin...I have known him all of my life...that attention to details is the way he tells stories...I have heard countless ones through the years.