Calvary

Year:	2014
Country:	Europe
Language:	English
Genre:	Drama
IMDB:	IMDB Page
Rating:	8.5 Rate
Collection:	Seen It Wishlist
Community:	4 Have Seen


Director	John Michael McDonagh
Selected Cast	Brendan Gleeson as Father James
	Chris O'Dowd as Jack Brennan
	Kelly Reilly as Fiona Lavelle
	Aidan Gillen as Dr. Frank Harte
	Dylan Moran as Michael Fitzgerald

Images

Comments and Reviews


Magic Marmalade ● 18th May 2022		Rated 8/10 Kind of a whodunnit journey through the underworld of purgatory for a Catholic Priest that touches on all the current hot button topics you can image for the Catholic church. It begins in the confessional booth, where Brendon Gleeson's Priest, Father James, hears the confession of an unseen confessor, who informs him of his personal childhood abuse at the hands of some other priest... and that because of this, he is going to kill Father James in one week, on the local beach, where they are to meet... not because he is guilty of anything, but precisely because he is innocent, reflecting his own torments, and so to exact the perfect vengeance on the church itself through this murder. The confessor leaves, and James, somewhat sceptical, appears to be a little dismissive of it at first, but something troubling is evident... that the confessor may actually mean it. This sets in motion Father James' journey through the local community... (Comprised entirely of people exhibiting almost every shade of "sin" any good catholic can imagine, form adultery, terrorists, and even Cannibalism!) ...in order to try and discover who this person was, and try to convince them not to go through with it, and perhaps, being a good priest, help them instead. As he progresses through the community, the persecutions he suffers from this unknown person become more real, and more threatening... from the burning of his church, to the (rather upsetting) killing of his dog, and as he does so he is at once forced to consider his faith, not only in God, but the church, and also his own past, in his relationship with his daughter from his prior marriage. It does spring to mind, that this takes it's leaping off point from Father Ted, oddly, but rendered deadly serious, and accusatory, rather than funny, and simply cynical of the Catholic church. It's grim in places, and dry and unsettling, but very deftly handled. If you are a Catholic, it will be uncomfortable watching, and maybe you may even take some offence, but only superficially, as there is, I believe, a deeper message that is entirely consistent with the message of the Catholic beliefs... the sacrifice of the innocents for the sins of the world. ...And just one more thing (to quote Columbo :) ... once the film is finished, and you think about what you just saw, you may conclude, as I did, that maybe there was something else, plot wise, concealed within the film, which is never actually made plain, or overt, but puts an entirely different meaning on the whole film. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?



jaimeeduardo 17th Sep 2020

Add a Comment or Review about this movie

This Movie: Add Image : Add Video : Add Missing Info : Make Correction : Add to List : Add See Also : Add Tag : Edit Images : Show Image Data : Credits : BBCode