A Beautiful Final Tribute to Roger Ebert

"Roger didn't just dominate his profession, he defined it." - Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, speaking in tribute at the funeral of Roger Ebert.


I attended the funeral of Roger Ebert this morning at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. The day started out overcast and rainy; I could have easily said, "It's a lousy day," and skipped going. But after what Ebert went through? How could I even think of not attending? I am so thankful I did.

The ceremony was the traditional Roman Catholic ceremony, performed so simply and beautifully by three priests backed by a choir and organist. The priest who delivered the eulogy (sorry I don't have his name), also teaches film classes at Loyola University in Chicago and knew Roger and his wife Chaz quite well and spoke about their discussions of life and film.

He mentioned how certain 20th century authors such as Flannery O'Connor, Graham Greene and Evelyn Waugh had all found "a dark place." Ebert, to the priest's way of thinking has also "made a discovery in the darkness," and as a life-long Catholic, "had found a different Jesus." Quoting from the 2002 film The Hours in which Nicole Kidman portrayed the author Virginia Woolf, he repeated one of her lines: "To love life for what it is." Clearly Ebert always shared that sentiment, even after cancer robbed him of many of his everyday activities.

Towards the end of the ceremony, several dignitaries and one co-worker from the Chicago Sun Times spoke in tribute. Mayor Emanuel started things off in a light-hearted way, saying that when he was growing up and wanted to see a movie, there were two things he had to know; "what time did it start and what did Roger Ebert think of it?" That comment drew a nice laugh from the large crowd (not quite overflow, but almost a full house). Emanuel ended up his speech by talking about all of Roger's work, be it a film critic, journalists, author, tv host, blogger, et al. "What Roger loved most of all was living."


Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois called Ebert, "a righteous oak. We thank God for his purposeful life." Jonathan Jackson, son of civil rights activist, Jesse Jackson, read a brief tribute from his father as well as one from filmmaker Spike Lee, who reminded us that Ebert was one of the few critics who understood the message of Lee's film Do The Right Thing, back in 1989. His boss at the Sun-Times (I do not have his name), said that he never had to worry about Ebert getting his work in on time, adding that "Roger was 24/7 before any of us ever heard that term."


Finally it was time for Ebert's wife Chaz to speak. Amidst a standing ovation, she admitted that she wondered about getting out of bed this morning to attend to this and that speaking was the farthest thing from her mind. "But I knew that Roger would have wanted me to speak." Adding a charming human touch, she pointed to her dazzling hat she wore for the occasion and said, "Besides, Roger loved this hat."

Her brief speech was lovely and heartfelt. "Roger was a champion for social justice. He had such a big heart." She finished by saying "I feel like Roger is here with us."


The hymn Amazing Grace was played during the middle of the ceremony. One line in this hymn struck me as very appropriate for this day.

"Tiz grace that brought me safe thus far,
"And grace will lead me home."


Through his marvelous life, Roger Ebert touched the hearts of so many people. Here was a cathedral filled with mourners not for a politician, not for a world leader, not for an athlete but for a film critic. Clearly he went far beyond his duties in that role to tell us a message about living life to the fullest. Yes, Roger Ebert is heading home, a man draped in God's grace.

Documentary Channel: "The History of American Film Criticism"

During the month of December, the Documentary Channel is presenting a "Best of" series of some of the most honored documentaries of the past few years. I will be reviewing several of these films over the next two weeks. Here is my review of the film For The Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism - Tom Hyland

"Why is agism acceptable in the print media and the electronic media?," asks Michael Wilmington, former film critic for the Chicago Tribune at one point in the documentary For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism. Wilmington's question is a response to the fact that as traditional media wants to court a younger audience, those are exactly the people who are now being assigned the job as critics.

This issue is one of several intriguing ones introduced in this excellent film, a work that is aptly titled as it thoroughly examines the history of film criticism in America. The film is divided into chapters, beginning with the first reviews - little more than plot synopses - coming at the end of the 19th and during the beginning of the 20th century and continuing up to the digital age where reviewers fill the internet via personal blogs. In between these eras, writer/director Gerald Peary - himself a film critic - addresses and interviews some of the country's finest film reviewers, from Roger Ebert to Stanley Kauffmann to Molly Haskell.

One of the aspects of American film criticism that's analyzed here is the spat between Andrew Sarris and Pauline Kael. Sarris, was one of the first (perhaps the first) American film critic to espouse the auteur theory that had been popular with the French critics of the 1950s and '60s. This theory stated that the director was the author of the film and Sarris went on to explain this in great detail in his famous book, The American Cinema: Directors and Directions, which he wrote in 1968. Kael, who had recently been hired by The New Yorker as their film critic at that time, disagreed with this theory, calling it "amateurish." Critics throughout America took sides, some opting for Sarris' approach, while others preferred Kael's thinking. Sarris is quoted here saying that "We helped each other establish a dialectic."

Other topics in this film include the need for film criticism, how directors and producers react to negative reviews (the famous story of Kenneth Turan's less than stellar writeup of Titanic is detailed) and how younger film critics of today have arguably changed the way movies are made in Hollywood. Of course in a film that deals with the history of American film criticism, reviewers such as James Agee, Vincent Canby and Bosley Crowther are given their due.

While this is a film aimed at movie buffs, I think anyone interested in American films will find this film to be most entertaining. Highly Recommended


For the Love of Movies: The History of American Film Criticism will be shown on Documentary Channel on Thursday, December 15 at 8:00 and 11:00 Eastern time.