The Second Coming of Suzanne (1974)

In San Francisco, California, three bankers infuriate Logan, a film director, when they tell him that no one is going to pay for his screenplay. Later, another banker named Fenton delivers paperwork to Logan at a seaside restaurant. As Fenton explains that he has secured a loan for Logan's film project, a cameraman named Heath films him. Fenton requests that Heath stop, but Logan accosts the banker and insults his lifestyle. Logan spots Suzanne, a beautiful, blonde woman, sitting at a table with her boyfriend, Lee Simon, a painter. Despite Lee's resistance, Logan takes the couple to a park where Suzanne watches ducks and the men discuss art. Afterward, Lee tells Suzanne that Logan is crazy. At a children's psychiatric hospital, Suzanne sits with a young girl named Dorothy on a bench while other children frolic. On a drive to the country, Logan tells Suzanne that in past lives he was a carpenter, a soldier, and a high priest. He believes that Suzanne must have been a saint in her past life because of the good karma she seems to have. On an airplane, television news commentator and syndicated columnist, Jackson Sinclair, berates a flight attendant for bothering him while he tries to type. After landing, Sinclair instructs his chauffeur to drive him to the office. On a film set, Logan tells Suzanne he sees her as Christ, but she walks away, prompting him to yell that he knows her and will get her. Lee asks Suzanne why she agreed to make a film with Logan, but she only says that Logan cannot hurt her. At a television station, an editor views footage of interviews with people on the street, inter-cutting the interviews with Sinclair's comments about a trend toward humanistic, liberal thinking in the United States. On a boat, Lee reveals a portrait of Suzanne that he painted, but stops Suzanne as she tries to touch it. They make love, and Lee recalls paintings of naked women in a museum. Dorothy's parents visit the psychiatric hospital, where the doctor tells them that their daughter is doing well and has formed a new attachment to Suzanne, a volunteer. Although Dorothy's mother is skeptical of her daughter's progress, the doctor insists that she is "one of a kind." Sinclair talks about growing up poor and altering his life dramatically through work and ambition. He says he owns two newspapers and three television stations, but remains thwarted by his childhood. Logan shows Clavius, one of his collaborators, a check from the bank that will cover their film budget, but Clavius expresses frustration that Logan and his cohorts are not organized. The film crew travels to a hilly area, and Logan announces that they will "crucify her" there. Lee writes poetry in his apartment and, later, paints a flagpole in the city. The police order Lee to come down, and a firefighter climbs a ladder to retrieve him; however, before the firefighter can reach him, Lee lowers himself to the street. A newspaper article recounts the incident, and Sinclair decides to talk to Lee after reading it. Sinclair and a policeman go to Lee's apartment where they find Suzanne instead of Lee. Sinclair takes Suzanne to lunch, and she accompanies him as he conducts street interviews in which people discuss their life philosophies. Logan films Lee lying on a hospital bed in a white room. Afterward, Logan films an overweight woman, poking her repeatedly with the camera lens as he chases her around a building. Logan finally stops as the woman becomes hysterical. On the hill where he plans to film Suzanne's crucifixion, Logan tells the rest of his cast that they will crucify her because Suzanne is right and they are wrong. The doctor tries to teach Dorothy, who is mute, to say "boat." In a field, Dorothy pumps water from a well, dabs some on Suzanne's forehead, and runs away. On the street, an African-American man accidentally runs into Sinclair, knocking him to the ground. Fazed, Sinclair stands back up and searches for his column in a newspaper. He speaks gruffly to his chauffeur, ordering him to drive to the office. On a windy cliff side, the chauffeur drives recklessly, and Sinclair panics, hallucinating that Suzanne is in the passenger seat. The chauffeur finally stops the car, gets out, and quits. Sinclair calls after the young man, asking why he hates him? That day, he delivers a gift to Suzanne on her boat, but she cannot use it because she has no electricity. Jackson admits that he hated his most recent column and that his chauffeur tried to kill him, explaining that Suzanne's innocence forces him to be insightful. Back at the psychiatric hospital, Suzanne comments that the world outside the gates is very different. She tells Dorothy that the young girl has found her way, but most people are still searching. She says she loves Lee, but he is in pain. At his apartment, Lee sticks a gun in his mouth and shoots himself. Logan films the crucifixion scene with several actors playing a mob. He promises Suzanne that it will be okay before she allows herself to be placed on the cross. Clavius calls out for Logan to stop when it appears that the director is actually nailing Suzanne's arm to the cross and she cries out in pain.Suzanne is nailed to the cross and when filming wraps she is left there crucified on the hill dead.