When one considers poets whose work revolves around nature, many names come to mind: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Percy Bysshe Shelley, all long dead. These were some of the names the late Mary Oliver drew inspiration from in her beloved poetry. Her legacy as one of America’s foremost poets is explored in Sasha Waters’ Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World. Told with archival footage of her interviews and through talks with people who knew Oliver, this documentary tells of Oliver’s origins in Ohio, her lifechanging stay at Edna St. Vincent Millay’s Steepletop farmhouse, her decades-long tenure in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and her busy twilight years doing speaking engagements. Woven throughout is her forty-year relationship with photographer Molly Malone Cook, and the hot and cold critical reception of her nature-focused poetry throughout the decades.
The film offers insights into the inspiration from which Oliver drew for her poetry through interviewers with biographers and other poets, including Donika Kelly, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, and Jason Reynolds. Aspects of her life are recounted by good friends like John Waters and by others who knew her like Maria Shriver. The film also presents recitations from big celebrity names who love and admire her, including Stephen Colbert, Oprah Winfrey, and Helena Bonham Carter.
Oliver queried the exquisite beauty and mystery of nature in her work. One example is “Clam” a poem through which Oliver derives meaning from a small mollusk and points out how similar we as humans are to them, illuminating our nature-based roots. Despite the, ahem, nature of her work, however, she was far from an Earth Mother. As Waters recounts, Oliver would chain smoke and eat turtle eggs right off the beach. Though a member of the queer community, she and Cook did not speak to current events in their work and were not directly activists, but lived happily and as they pleased. The film’s credits roll alongside snaps of her dogs (her muses), of which Oliver would no doubt approve.
What becomes crystal clear on watching Waters’ film is how much Mary Oliver was the everyperson’s poet. People from all walks of life have related to Oliver’s work, and continue to hold her in the highest esteem. This documentary is a beautiful letter to a poetic legend who will live on in the work she’s left behind. 5 stars, would recommend.
Which public library audiences would enjoy Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World?
This film would be perfect to stream for public library programming during annual events like Earth Day or International Women’s Day in March or National Poetry Month in April. Poets and poetry lovers like will come away with a deeper appreciation for Oliver’s work and reach while also likely learning something about her life that they never knew. Additionally, watching it would be an inspirational exercise in conjunction with a poetry composition workshop.
Would academic courses benefit from viewing this biographical documentary?
Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World would make a great resource for professors teaching with film. Its consistent theme of and homage to the craft of poetry makes it a prime accompaniment to an English literature or a poetry course. Oliver’s strong ties to nature as inspiration also make the film perfect to show in a creative writing or art course. Oliver’s prominence might also make her a good candidate to cover in a course devoted to women poets or creatives. Finally, the film’s lengthy discussion of Oliver’s love story with Cook might be explored in a gender studies or LGBTQIA+ history course as 20th century examples of famous folks in the queer community.
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