Diane Keaton’s ‘HEAVEN’ from 1987 Gets Re-Released in HD

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By Gregory Crofton

Most of the people interviewed in HEAVEN, a documentary directed by the late Diane Keaton, someone best known for acting in Woody Allen films, do believe there’s a better place to go after living on Planet Earth.

They could be right! Somehow we ended up here on Earth, right?

Making a feature-length documentary about heaven, 80 minutes in this case, was an ambitious task even in the hands of someone as creative and accomplished as Ms. Keaton. But she pulled it off, and now thanks to Lightyear Entertainment, it is being re-released Feb. 17 on Blu-ray, digital platforms and VOD.

For sure there is no film out there like it. She relies humor and clips from old films and chapter heads like: “Are You Afraid to Die?” and “Is There Love in Heaven?” to build its loose narrative structure.

Clearly some money and friends who work in the world of film helped get this doc assembled. And you know Woody got a chance to send Diane some of his notes and thoughts on the movie before it was finished, as they were close collaborators.

Its soundtrack includes Lionel Richie and Diana Ross’s “Endless Love.” And there’s good lighting and a few neat sets. But the real draw of the film is its line up quirky Americans and the answers they come up with.

“I would imagine the first time you make love, you want that to last forever. It’s a great sensation,” says a 30-something man wearing a bowling shirt and sitting with a six-pack of beer on a white table in front of him. “Of course the gal I was with, she passed out. I tried to revive her. It was kind of a lost cause but it was a great experience.”

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Keaton, who died from pneumonia at 79 in October, led a very productive life. She wrote books, made movies and flipped 50 houses. She also adopted two children in her 50s. One of her first projects behind the camera, according to IMDB, was directing a video for Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven is a Place on Earth.”

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