The loss of the late Oscar-winning fashion icon Diane Keaton in October 2025 was an immeasurable one.
She was as comfortable onscreen in comedies (including the eight she made with Woody Allen and four with Nancy Meyers) as she was in dramas (“The Godfather” and “Reds”). Keaton earned a special place in queer hearts as the mother of a gay son in gay filmmaker Thomas Bezucha’s “The Family Stone” and a caretaking daughter in the film adaptation of the late gay playwright Scott McPherson’s “Marvin’s Room” (for which she earned an Academy Award nomination).
Keaton’s directorial debut “Heaven” (Lightyear), originally released theatrically in 1987, rereleased in theaters in an HD restoration version in the fall of 2025, and newly available in a high-def Blu-ray edition, is a sight to behold. Comprised of interviews with more than two dozen people (including boxing promoter Don King) interwoven with an array of vintage black & white clips from Hollywood movies, “Heaven” boasts the kind of visual kitsch that would earn Keaton the Pee-wee Herman seal of approval.
The interview subjects are asked about a dozen questions, with the question “Are you afraid to die?” repeated throughout. Among the other questions posed are: “What is heaven?,” “Do you believe in heaven?,” “Is there love in heaven?” (which features the Lionel Richie/Diana Ross “Endless Love” playing in the background), and “Is there sex in heaven?,” to mention a few. The answers are as varied as you might expect from interview subjects ranging from pre-teens to the elderly. Some of the subjects even address Keaton by her first name, giving the experience a kind of familiarity.
As a director, Keaton makes avant garde lighting choices when it comes to illuminating her subjects. There are camera tricks that, while dated now, probably had an impact when the film was first released. The most shocking, and disappointing, thing about “Heaven” was Keaton’s decision to leave cringe-worthy comments (certainly to 21st century ears) in the final product. The first is from a deplorable, homophobic preacher who rages against gay people and their use of phallic (or as he pronounces it fay-lik) symbolism. The other is a racist remark from a woman who thinks that heaven will only be populated by white people. WTF?
Whether you think that “Heaven is A Place on Earth” (h/t Belinda Carlisle), “Heaven is 10 Zillion Light Years Away” (h/t Stevie Wonder) or that “Heaven is a place/where nothing ever happens” (h/t Talking Heads), simply put, Diane Keaton’s doc is a slice of heaven, with a side of hell.
Rating: B-
