Year: 2014
Director: John Michael McDonagh
Writer: John Michael McDonagh
Stars: Brendan Gleeson, Chris O'Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Aidan
Gillen, Dylan Moran, Isaach De Bankolé, M. Emmet Walsh, Marie-Josée Croze,
Domhnall Gleeson, David Wilmot
“Calvary” is John Michael McDonagh’s second
film after “The Guard” and also starring Brendon Gleeson, but this time as a
priest. The story takes place in Ireland, after the child-abuse scandal, when
the church is openly despised and mocked, accused of cynicism or simply seen as
irrelevant in a time when corporations rule the country.
As a film about a priest, “Calvary”
doesn’t come off as the typical movie about religion and it doesn’t feel preachy.
As someone who’s not a fan of the church in any way, I didn’t feel like
watching a religious film, it is simply a striking film about human relations, life
and death, morality and stoicism. It explores fate as a path towards finding
forgiveness and staying true to your ideals and mission.
Set in a world where there’s no
justice for the guilty, “Calvary” looks at the sacrifice of the good. From the
very beginning of the film, we hear the death threat against the priest that will
drive the story: “There’s no point in killing a bad priest. But a good one…
that would be a shock.” After this “confession” Father James (Brendon Gleeson) has
one week to prepare himself and to make a decision whether to run away, to turn
in the man who threatened him or to stay. During that time we’re trying to
figure out who made the threat. However, it is not the typical whodunit story. “Calvary”
consists mainly of various conversations with all the parishioners, which are
cleverly written and include a surprising amount of dark humor.
Father James is a flawed man, but a
good priest that genuinely tries to help and understand his “flock” without
judging them. He is witty and sometimes unorthodox; has a humble home, but also
a convertible car. He has his own troubled past and just as troubled daughter,
which give him more depth. Father James doesn’t pretend to know all the answers
and simply tries to give some sensible advice. He doesn’t mind discussing possible
situations when killing could be justified or suggesting pornography as an
outlet for frustration.
In contrast to James is Father Leary,
who seems to be much more innocent and kind, but he’s naïve, ignorant and “has
no integrity.” He has no experience and he didn’t make the mistakes James made
in the past, thus being far less unprepared to be a good priest.
“Calvary” has a big ensemble cast
with a lot of great performances, but Brendon Gleeson is definitely the heart
of the film. His acting is grounded, but warm and poignant. He has no problems convincing
us that he is this flawed, but ultimately good and stoic priest. And by the end
of the story, after he talks to all these people, you learn a lot not only
about the world around him, but about his own fears and virtues. With such
great performances, no wonder the last act of the film is so hitting.
“Calvary” can be seen as a bit more “theatrical”,
heightened movie, full with extraordinary, bigger-than-life characters.
However, it is extremely well written, engaging and believable. The nature in
the movie has this indifferent and overpowering presence, with the Knocknarea
hill looking like a monolith, placed by the gods to remind us of the cruel randomness
of the world. Similarly, the horrible sentence doesn’t seem to have any logic or
sense of justice behind it: “I’m going to kill you, because you’re innocent.” What
if Father James chooses to reach his limits to help his parishioners and become
the innocent one to pay for the others? Is it possible for his virtues to endure?
You have to see (and decide) for yourself.
The movie has 7,5 on IMDB
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2234003/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
7,6 from users and 77
from critics on MetaCritic - http://www.metacritic.com/movie/calvary
89% on RottenTomatoes
- http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/calvary_2013/?search=calva
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