Post by StevePulaski on Dec 10, 2014 16:45:16 GMT -5
Calvary (2014)
Directed by: John Michael McDonagh
Directed by: John Michael McDonagh
Brendan Gleeson and Chris O'Dowd.
Rating: ★★★½
John Michael McDonagh's Calvary is a film about a great deal of things, but one of the biggest is the personification of inevitable forces, most notably death. The film opens with Brendan Gleeson's Father James being told a detailed story about a man's repeated sexual abuse by a priest when he was a young boy, and tells Father James that he will kill him the following Sunday for the crimes because he "did nothing wrong." The man justifies his actions by saying it would be more disconcerting for the Catholic Church to see a good priest die rather than one who was innocent and kind-hearted, doing everything he could to use his heartbreak to assist others. Father James now lives with the uncertainty in his life that he only has a week to live.
We go through our lives knowing - subconsciously or consciously - that we will die one day and, before that, we will likely watch people around us die; it's a fact that we can do nothing about, so why fret over it until situations worsen? My point about the personifications Calvary showcases is that Father James obviously knows he will die sooner or later, but being told in a convincing manner that he has only one week to live has the ability to alter one's mind entirely. Many of us, if told that, would presumably begin "living life to the fullest," as the cliche goes, now being consciously aware of our expiration date. Father James, however, is a priest with nothing to hide and no imperatives to check off his bucket list; he persists on with his routine of listening to other people's problems and going about his days, fulfilling the purpose of the Catholic Church with every passing day.
However, the potential final week of his life brings him to reach out to his daughter, Fiona (Kelly Reilly), who is recovering from her recent suicide attempt. She is still bitter and angry at her father for leaving her for the priesthood after her mother's death. In addition, James becomes in contact with people like Jack Brennan (Chris O'Dowd), a bitterly sarcastic man who is known to beat his wife and reject the lord's teachings and Michael Fitzgerald (Aidan Gillen), an elderly millionaire who's lonesomeness brings him to reveal to James how most of his money was obtained illegally. Father James tries to leave one lasting impact in the lives of the people he meets before his fate is presumably met.
Calvary catches Brendan Gleeson in his finest hour in a performance of minimalistic beauty and careful, precise craft. Gleeson is often soft-spoken as Father James, tender and human, never raising his voice and acting, not Catholic, but Christlike in his behavior and mannerisms. He has never been a burden to watch on screen, especially in the last few years, where he has taken on numerous projects that really allow him to immerse himself in a performance (including a racist but humorous police officer in The Guard, also directed by McDonagh). Gleeson's tenderness in Calvary further reiterates my point that almost every film has a role for him and would likely benefit with just a touch of Gleeson.
Furthermore, cinematographer Larry Smith and McDonagh have shot Ireland on film in a manner I, personally, have never seen it captured before. It's a breathtaking, picturesque view of the scenic country that captures every possible shred of beauty the land has to offer, while giving audiences one of the most atypical stories to come out of the country in years. The Ireland depicted in Calvary is one where the population is becoming faithless and untrustworthy of political and religious forces, after the mistrust in their banks during the financial crisis and the numerous sex scandals that plague the churches. The Ireland here is one drifting away from religious authorities and Father James realizes this. Consider the scene where he sits alone at a bar and is mocked by his peers for his religious ways. He is frightened by what could possibly happen if religion sees itself shrink to a practice followed by the minority, and wonders if there is even a place for him anymore. Where does a priest go when he sees his duties unneeded?
Calvary, through and through, is an unlikely film, a film with an uncommonly tranquil yet meaningful look at religion and coming from a country where criticism towards religion isn't a common practice. Within the film, issues of remaining Christlike in a time of uncertainty, the questions of usefulness, and the future of religion (or lack thereof) in a certain location all come up and are presented within a beautifully-photographed film with a career performance at its center. Calvary is one of the strongest films of 2014 that you've never heard of, which is saying a great deal for a film that just about came out of nowhere.
Starring: Brendan Gleeson, Chris O'Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Domhnall Gleeson, Aidan Gillen, Dylan Moran, and Isaach de Bankolé. Directed by: John Michael McDonagh.