Shortly after this movie was released the title of this film was changed to Hazel's People which is the common title you can find it under now. It is about the Pennsylvania Dutch (which is actually Deutsch or German) Amish people. It is a bit different and kind of a jarring look at an Amish family where one son is tragically killed while protesting the Vietnam War at university. His friend who looks like a hippie goes to tell his family the bad news and talk to them about their son but they are obviously reluctant to let this hippie into their lives and community. There is great acting in this movie and a good story, I recommend it. Good and close to being a great film.
3 Reviews
Good depiction of Mennonites in 1970s Lancaster County
steiner-sam19 May 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This was the first Mennonite attempt to create a feature film that accurately reflected the Mennonite community, especially those in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The film used Mennonite actors except for the three leads. The story is set in 1973, immediately after the military draft in the USA ended.
Eric Mills, a long-haired political activist from New York City, comes to Lancaster County for the funeral of his friend, John Witmer, who was killed by the police in a confusing confrontation after political protests against sub-standard housing and the Vietnam War. John's family appears to be conservative Lancaster Mennonite Conference folks who don't understand the path their youngest son took. Jim Witmer, John's older brother, also was studying in New York and has returned home with Eric from New York for the funeral. He tries to explain Mennonites (and Amish) to Eric, but it's obviously confusing.
Arriving in Lancaster they meet Eli, the minister of the family's church, and Hazel, his daughter who had been John Miller's girlfriend. Eli is open and accepting of Eric, put pushes him on the roots of his anger and the violence of the protests. Jim and John's parents, Menno and Anna Witmer welcome Eric, but have many questions about John's life in New York.
Eric stays with the Witmer family after the funeral after Jim returns to New York. He has a faith experience as he sees the gentle and seemingly consistent lives of these rural Mennonite people. He is also attracted to Hazel, who is quite brash for a young conservative Mennonite woman. Eric feels welcomed, but only to a certain level. Then Eric begins to see the inconsistencies within the Mennonite community. Anna's brother, Rufus, is part of a more liberal Mennonite group (General Conference Mennonite?) and is a hard-pushing entrepreneur who mistreats migrant workers that work for him. Eric also sees the young people of Eli's church mistreat a Mennonite girl whose father committed suicide the year before.
In the end, Eric and Hazel recognize they belong in two different worlds. Eric returns to New York City, and Jim comes home to stay.
"Hazel's People" is obviously a very low budget film, which is reflected in some of the transitions and cuts. And the DVD reproduction I purchased is appalling in its quality. The color range varies, and it almost seems like it was copied from a VHS tape and not from the original film.
Setting that aside, this was an interesting revisit to this film that was all rage in Mennonite communities in the 1970s. Geraldine Page did a great job of a self-abasing Mennonite mother in a conservative world. Pat Hingle was also effective as Eli the minister. Graham Beckel does the New York "radical" well.
The good use of humor throughout does much to leaven the otherwise grim story. Four-part singing is flaunted a little too often, and I'm not sure the obligatory barn-raising scene makes a lot of sense except to show off the Amish. The scene of "reformed" hippies speaking in Rufus's liberal church (with chairs instead of pews) also seemed over the top.
Eric Mills, a long-haired political activist from New York City, comes to Lancaster County for the funeral of his friend, John Witmer, who was killed by the police in a confusing confrontation after political protests against sub-standard housing and the Vietnam War. John's family appears to be conservative Lancaster Mennonite Conference folks who don't understand the path their youngest son took. Jim Witmer, John's older brother, also was studying in New York and has returned home with Eric from New York for the funeral. He tries to explain Mennonites (and Amish) to Eric, but it's obviously confusing.
Arriving in Lancaster they meet Eli, the minister of the family's church, and Hazel, his daughter who had been John Miller's girlfriend. Eli is open and accepting of Eric, put pushes him on the roots of his anger and the violence of the protests. Jim and John's parents, Menno and Anna Witmer welcome Eric, but have many questions about John's life in New York.
Eric stays with the Witmer family after the funeral after Jim returns to New York. He has a faith experience as he sees the gentle and seemingly consistent lives of these rural Mennonite people. He is also attracted to Hazel, who is quite brash for a young conservative Mennonite woman. Eric feels welcomed, but only to a certain level. Then Eric begins to see the inconsistencies within the Mennonite community. Anna's brother, Rufus, is part of a more liberal Mennonite group (General Conference Mennonite?) and is a hard-pushing entrepreneur who mistreats migrant workers that work for him. Eric also sees the young people of Eli's church mistreat a Mennonite girl whose father committed suicide the year before.
In the end, Eric and Hazel recognize they belong in two different worlds. Eric returns to New York City, and Jim comes home to stay.
"Hazel's People" is obviously a very low budget film, which is reflected in some of the transitions and cuts. And the DVD reproduction I purchased is appalling in its quality. The color range varies, and it almost seems like it was copied from a VHS tape and not from the original film.
Setting that aside, this was an interesting revisit to this film that was all rage in Mennonite communities in the 1970s. Geraldine Page did a great job of a self-abasing Mennonite mother in a conservative world. Pat Hingle was also effective as Eli the minister. Graham Beckel does the New York "radical" well.
The good use of humor throughout does much to leaven the otherwise grim story. Four-part singing is flaunted a little too often, and I'm not sure the obligatory barn-raising scene makes a lot of sense except to show off the Amish. The scene of "reformed" hippies speaking in Rufus's liberal church (with chairs instead of pews) also seemed over the top.
Powerful drama of Pennsylvania Mennonites and an outsider..
jake j17 July 2001
The title of this film changed shortly after its release and was renamed "Hazel's People" (also its video title) and was presented nightly for years at the "People's Place" Amish attraction in Intercourse, PA in the heart of Penna. Dutch country. The amazing thing about this venue is that the film is anything but a paint-by-numbers whitewash of the ways of modern-day new order Mennonites but an incisive view of a Mennonite family stunned into the reality of the outside world when their son is beaten to death at an unnamed NY university protesting the Vietnam War. His best friend (portrayed with brilliant integrity by a then-slender Graham Beckel in the best role of his career), must deliver a message to the Lancaster family and his long-haired, unkempt demeanor quickly brings the family and community's deep rooted prejudices to the surface. Beckel struggles with this hypocracy and perceives quite accurately that the Mennonite family suffers the same jealousies, insensitivities and cruelty of the modern world when fear and hatred are justified by religious unity. The film pulls few punches and sports the accomplished casting of the great Geraldine Page and under-used Pat Hingle as the parents who grow to understand their limitations as parents and believers. The film survives its painfully low budget by the strength of its timeless and potent storytelling. A small and unheralded gem that portrays the lifestyles of the more conservative Mennonite better, in its own way, than "Witness" did in its superficial view of the Amish. Simple, smart and courageous- ***1/2 SCRAPPLES
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