Truthfully, I spent years never having Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver on my radar. I'd never even really heard of her until, seemingly, one day everyone around me loved her and I suddenly became aware of her and began immersing myself in her world.
The Kino Lorber release Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World seemingly understands this strangeness for a poet who seemed to just one day pop up on the scene yet had, in fact, been an acclaimed poet for many years.
The film opens with Stephen Colbert in the first of many celebrity appearances. He's attempting to recite Oliver's poem The Summer Day, a poem he shares seasonally with his own children and a poem that clearly carries great meaning for him.
He tries to recite. He tries again. He tries again.
He simply can't.
For those who embrace Oliver, the impact is real and deep and meaningful. While Bukowski is and likely always will be this writer's favorite poet, the genuine connection is similar with Oliver as her simplicity, her words, and her genuine appreciation for the world around her have all combined to offer joy and comfort, peace and meaning to the many who faithfully read her words long after her 2019 death.
Directed by Sasha Waters, Saved by the Beauty of the World feels like a poem for and to Mary, however, it's also comprehensive enough of a documentary to draw in relative newbies like myself. It wasn't an hour after watching the film that I found myself going down the Mary Oliver rabbit hole to learn more about the poet and her poetry.
The early scenes in Saved by the Beauty of the World fascinate because we can practically feel the birth of a poet. Born in rural Ohio, Mary's love for nature forms early and it's that love growing alongside a complicated parental relationship that seems to form the foundation for her world to come.
Stability, which seemed so rare for Mary's life early on, seems to have defined much of her personal and professional lives. She worked, for example, with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Edna St. Vincent Millay and her sister, though academia was never quite the fit. Openly queer yet famously reclusive, she spent decades with longtime partner Molly Malone Cook in their Provincetown home.
While most would cite simplicity as one of the many things they appreciate about Oliver's poetry, Saved by the Beauty of the World paints a vivid portrait of Oliver's discipline. She was well into her 50s before fame found her, mostly owing to that Pulitzer Prize that brought a spotlight that proved to be both a blessing and a curse.
Waters has crafted an affectionate documentary, both incredibly well researched and marvelous in tone and spirit. There's an honesty to never-before-seen photos, archival footage, and even Mary's own archival items that feels so incredibly faithful to the poet. Saved by the Beauty of the World feels like a documentary that Mary Oliver herself would make had she chosen to dabble in film.
If there's a tribute to Waters, it's that she's crafted a film that both sheds light on the poet and makes us understand why she continues to be beloved and why she deserves to to be beloved. The film explores darker aspects of Mary's life, especially her childhood, yet never dwells on them in favor of focusing on the light that Oliver proceeded to create in the world.
Currently in a limited theatrical release with Kino Lorber, Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World is a lovely and beautiful documentary about one of America's most beloved poets whose words were, without fail, lovely and beautiful for lifelong.
Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic
