2014 - Dir: John Michael McDonagh - 1 hour 41 minutesCalvary emerges directly from the current crisis of Irish Catholicism brought about by sexual abuse by priests and its institutional covering-up. This subject may be distasteful for some - but it has happened and can no longer be swept under the Papal carpet.
This is the kind of movie that galvanizes and discomfits while it’s on screen, and is terrific fodder for conversation long after its credits roll. Even if you are neither Catholic nor Irish, this “Calvary” will engage your attention. This is a whodunit with a difference, a black comedy with aspirations, merrily lifting its name from the small hill outside Jerusalem where Jesus was slain. “Calvary”: the title serves notice and puts the viewer on guard. It flashes like the final destination on the front of a bus, as director McDonagh proceeds to steer us back and forth along the west coast of Ireland, veering between the profane and the sacred, the damned and divine. We know where this is leading, whether we like it or not. Your best advice is to sit back, hang on to your rosary beads and enjoy the ride…..
Maybe the director intended to create a composite portrait of a place from which the sea of faith has, within a generation (and, some would say, with good cause), begun its long retreat. The owner of the village pub, talking to Father James, refers to “your kind,” as if religion were the mark of an alien race. Tellingly, the community's most purely contented individual appears to be the non-believing doctor, who sucks cigarettes outside the hospital and accepts his own limitations with a lip-smacking relish. There are moments and characters here that initially amuse… but the laugh is stillborn as we realise the grim chill of the reality that is 21st century Ireland. A dark comedy tinged with bitterness.
The Director/Writer: At the age of 11 John Michael McDonagh could be found most Sundays carrying processional crosses and ringing Sanctus bells while his little brother, Martin, now a playwright and filmmaker, sang in the choir. Mr. McDonagh recently said he himself never had problems with a priest, aside from one in secondary school who caned him repeatedly. He wrote the script to the 2003 film “Ned Kelly” and wrote and directed the Irish comedy detective film “The Guard”. He’s no stranger to controversy having referred to the Irish film industry as “amateurish” during an award ceremony. He’s currently working on the third in his so called “suicide trilogy” - apparently a much lighter comedy entitled “The Lame shall Enter First”.
Brendan Gleeson: (Not to be confused with Jackie Gleason) Though Mr Gleeson is rapidly building a reputation as an Irish character actor, there’s the skill of a classical actor underneath all the blarney. He spent a good part of his early career on stage at Stratford upon Avon and only began acting in films in his late 30s. He’s worked with the likes of Mel Gibson and Stephen Spielberg and was Professor Mad-Eye Moody in the Harry Potter films. He’s been a teacher but has never been a priest.
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