User:Ravening Wolf on Sat, 28 Jan 2006 22:06:35 +0000
A strange, melancholy movie starring a very young Martin Sheen as a young "Catholic" priest who is sent to a remote Irish monastery to confront a group of monks who persist in carrying out Communion for the assembled masses in Latin, despite a specific Vatican edict commanding that all communion be carried out in English.
I have mulled over this film for the last week and I am still unsure as to what the intended message of the piece is. Trevor Howard as the Abbot of the heretical monastery is outstanding - a man who struggles with his own faith and yet who believes enough in his principles to keep up the actions expected, despite having his own doubts. The Abbot derives his strength from the monks who look to him as their leader, and paradoxically the monks derive their courage from their Abbot's apparent unwavering faith.
There is little action in this film and it betrays the stage origins of the script. This is not a bad thing, but this is certainly a cerebral movie. And do not let the fact that the film is seemingly about church politics put you off, there is little religious dogma to get involved in, and the real story is the relationships between the Abbot and the monks of his monastery when faced with an external ban on their habits.
I do recommend this movie - it will definitely make you think. And the performances of the monks are very good. Sheen himself still appears to be learning the trade!
User:Ravening Wolf on Sat, 28 Jan 2006 22:06:35 +0000
A strange, melancholy movie starring a very young Martin Sheen as a young "Catholic" priest who is sent to a remote Irish monastery to confront a group of monks who persist in carrying out Communion for the assembled masses in Latin, despite a specific Vatican edict commanding that all communion be carried out in English.
I have mulled over this film for the last week and I am still unsure as to what the intended message of the piece is. Trevor Howard as the Abbot of the heretical monastery is outstanding - a man who struggles with his own faith and yet who believes enough in his principles to keep up the actions expected, despite having his own doubts. The Abbot derives his strength from the monks who look to him as their leader, and paradoxically the monks derive their courage from their Abbot's apparent unwavering faith.
There is little action in this film and it betrays the stage origins of the script. This is not a bad thing, but this is certainly a cerebral movie. And do not let the fact that the film is seemingly about church politics put you off, there is little religious dogma to get involved in, and the real story is the relationships between the Abbot and the monks of his monastery when faced with an external ban on their habits.
I do recommend this movie - it will definitely make you think. And the performances of the monks are very good. Sheen himself still appears to be learning the trade!