RESURRECTION brought Ellen Burstyn her fifth of six Oscar nominations, this time for her exquisite work in a gripping 1980 drama dealing with the extraordinary. Instead of battling supernatural demonic forces (The Exorcist), she’s embracing the gift and challenge of a miraculous power to heal, bestowed upon her by fate—or from something undefined, ‘out there’ in the cosmic beyond. A thoughtful and affecting delve into what could be termed spirit-fiction, it drew admiring reviews but then Universal fumbled the marketing strategy: the $6,000,000 film sank at 116th place, grossing just $3,910,000. Luckily, its afterlife exists on disc formats, a rewarding at-home experience of the ultimate in coming attractions.

A happy drive in a new car on the California coast ends in a horrendous crash. The wreck leaves ‘Edna Mae McCauley’ (Burstyn, 45) on the knife edge of leaving corporeal life when something pulls her soul back into consciousness. She’s made it out alive but paralyzed, with the medical verdict that she’ll never walk again. Returning to stay with relatives in her rural Kansas hometown, by sheer force of will she begins to recover. Not only defying the physical odds, she begins to manifest a latent psychic ability to restore the health of other grievously afflicted people. She can’t explain her newborn skill, and those who witness it have opinions that range from wonder and gratitude to alarm and anger. This acceptance and suspicion collide in the instance of ‘Cal Carpenter (Sam Shepard, 35), who becomes her lover. Intimate relationships can be tricky enough to manage without one partner possessing extraordinary abilities, public appeal and the capacity to shake beliefs.

From a nation-hopping supernatural thriller idea (Christ returns, as a woman) germinated by novelist and occasional screenwriter Stephen Geller (The Valachi Papers, Slaughterhouse Five), a homier, scaled-down (to Earth, as it were) screenplay emerged, written by Lewis John Carlino (Seconds, The Great Santini), directed by Daniel Petrie (A Raisin In The Sun, Lifeguard). Carlino and Petrie blended in some of Burstyn’s own philosophical concepts and beliefs about healing. The three did a deep dive into studies done by researchers into the paranormal. Instead of a jazzed-up sci-fi fantasy, the script takes Edna’s journey and talents at face value, demonstrating them in moving but non-showy examples, and leaves it to the viewer to interpret the how & why aspects; honest inquiry instead of facile exploitation, with essential elements of mystery, willingness and wonder.

In her autobio “Lessons In Becoming Myself ” Burstyn details that her spiritual journey has been lifelong, and she cites Resurrection as her favorite of the films she made. Her clout was crucial in steering the production, not just in working on the story but in hiring Shepard and a number of the supporting players. Shepard was known for his plays, 31 by then, but apart from a bit in the slog wallow Renaldo And Clara, had acted in just one movie, Days Of Heaven. The hot & cold romantic entanglement his testy character has with Edna is just one piece of her developing puzzle. After the trauma of the accident and arduous physical recovery, there are unresolved issues with her unforgiving bastard of a father (Roberts Blossom at his chilliest—fittingly, Burstyn and he did not get along), the saving graces of reacquainting with other family members (chiefly her wise grandmother), the challenge of celebrity as word spreads about her successes at curing the distressed (figuratively cutting the Gordian Knot with her hands) and doubts from medical professionals. Her luminous performance comes across as grounded not just in honed acting craft but in warm and genuine humanist authenticity. Spending time with Edna/Ellen lingers in memory a good while after the show comes to a very satisfying conclusion. It was no shame that she lost (‘didn’t win’ sounds better) the Academy Award nomination to Sissy Spacek’s spirit-imbued Coal Miner’s Daughter, an Americana heartwarmer about a real life heroine who used music to turn hurt into healing.

Subbing for Kansas are seven small towns in Texas (including history-blooded Goliad and Gonzales); Southern California coastal scenes were done in Palos Verdes and San Pedro. Superbly lensed by cinematographer Mario Tosi ((Carrie, The Stunt Man) the visual effects of the spectral entrance zone to the afterlife (or a transition to another dimension) are intriguing and comforting rather than eerie and dislocating. Maurice Jarre provides a pleasingly unobtrusive score. Along with Burstyn’s nomination, one went to Eva Le Gallienne for Supporting Actress, playing Edna’s salt-of-the-soil grandma. Eighty at the time, stage legend Le Gallienne, only appeared in two other movies, small roles in 1954’s Prince Of Players and The Devil’s Disciple in 1957.

With Lois Smith (a kind cousin), Jeffrey DeMunn (Edna’s husband), Richard Hamilton (a fire & brimstone loon), Richard Farnsworth (owner of ‘Last Chance Gas’, and the sort of happy-to-be-free character it’s a pleasure to come across), Madeleine Sherwood, Lane Smith, Sylvia Walden and Ralph Roberts. 103 minutes.