Film review: God's Not Dead

“If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."

Chesterton is quite famous for having said that. Some may misinterpret this phrase as an excuse for lack of effort, but it is not what it says. I too took a while to understand it as well. And yet ever since I did, I have admired the wisdom of these words over and over.

Take the film I took Numbers Four, Six and Seven to last night. A no-Oscar-pretentious Hollywood production, not by a stretch. Some of the acting wasn't even very good. Low budget. 

Wait! I never go to the movies! And, there was a blizzard last night! 

Well, yes, a blizzard. 

This was taken while Number Four drove home at 20 MPH.

And no, I haven't seen a single Oscar-nominated film. No, wait, we did go see the Hobbit as a family. But I'm not sure it was nominated for an Oscar. 

Why? Because my idea of entertainment is not action films, and the rest of the films are either disgusting to see or trying to forcefully shove some weak ideal of save-the-earth or wrong-is-actually-right down my throat, both of which I don't welcome. Nothing wrong with great environmental projects--I am married to an ecologist, keep in mind--but from Hollywood what we get is "protecting the environment is the only moral absolute" and well, we know it isn't. Ultimately I don't trust the spiritual, interior life of Hollywood's producers or directors. 

There is an occasional great film--but I think the moral greatness of a film is almost always accidental, or even done despite of its producers like in the case of LesMis--they couldn't quite take away all of the great elements of the superb, very spiritual story of Victor Hugo's away from the production.

Back to last night's film. I heard about it and watched the trailer earlier in the day:



And I decided to go with the kids before it stopped showing in town. A film like that doesn't last, although it has had a surprisingly large viewership from what I read. I didn't expect a flawless production, but I expected, and enjoyed, a film that talks about what is real in life. Love. Faith. People's hearts seeing what they were blind to beforehand. Courage. 

I did get all that, and more. It wasn't sound Catholic theology but the theology wasn't off the charts either, nothing anti-Catholic. The protagonist, a college student who is singled out by an atheistic professor to prove the existence of God to the class, does a great job studying and preparing his three lectures about it he is allowed to give. Actually this young man is a Disney Channel actor and does a very good job in the film. 

Well, the trailer almost tells it all. There is appearance of a Duck Dynasty couple. I don't watch the TV show and I found them sincere and likable. There are issues of sin and love and loyalty or lack thereof, arrogance, greed, selfishness. There aren't any gratuitous graphic scenes of sex or violence. The photography and production levels are not amazing or breathtaking, but were fine, and told the story well. 

What I would have changed? Well when Lemaitre was referred to, I would have mentioned he wasn't simply a "theist" but a Catholic priest. I would have brought the sacraments into the story-line--especially Confession, and personally I would have preferred to skip the Christian rock concert in the finale. Adoration and Gregorian Chant would have been much better--but I had to love the members of that music group, which turns out to be a real Christian music group. They were all funny and sincere. And other minor things.

So back to Chesterton: “If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly." This story was worth doing, and they did a good thing with it. Not excellent or breathtaking, but they did it, and it was worth doing it. Go see it!

Thoughts on The Way

The Way, directed by Emilio Estevez, starring Martin Sheen.

So you should read this only if you have seen the film already. It came out recently on DVD.

The film has been praised by many and it undoubtedly has some great points. Perhaps they make the film worth watching, just for themselves:

• the wonderful photography of the holy images of the Camino de Compostela, including the statuary along the way, the gorgeous basilica's interiors and Mass.
• a strong, beautifully executed pro-life message, through the character of the one woman in the group of friends who talks about how her abortion early in life has marked her life
• the character of the French gendarme, my favorite character in the film, a man of deep faith, full of understanding, respect, and kindness towards the newcomer, suffering American

Alas, I found also a number of problems in the film. Starting with the blatant--I have heard and read several references to this, as in this blog--I refer to the casual treatment Martin Sheen demonstrates with his son's ashes. It is not difficult to find the Church's position on this, for instance here. So no, taking his son's ashes in a Ziploc bag inside a box in your backpack and scattering them along the way is definitely not recommended.

Then there is the issue of the characters Martin Sheen befriends along the way. From what I read, they may be indeed representative of the people on the Camino, if all a bit flat and stereotypical: a Canadian woman hurting inside from past problems, a Dutch man attempting to lose weight, an Irishman undergoing writer's block. Well, for one thing, yes, after walking 800 km the Dutch man would have lost some of his stomach for sure, but in the film he does not. The Canadian woman swears the whole way she will give up smoking when she gets to "the feet of saint James", but the viewer already knows she will not quit. The Irishman does conquer his writer's block as he begin writing about Martin Sheen's personal journey, but of all of the characters he is the most forced one. His entry into the story is short of a theatrical caricature. Let's say if you or I met someone acting like that we would keep walking. I would have liked to see also one who is there for its traditional, religious, historical meaning.

Another problem is the very premise of the film: "You don't choose a life, you live it". Good grief, and what exactly does that mean? I beg to disagree. We absolutely make choices for our life, the question is not if we choose it or not, but what choices we do make, and how we make them. A no-brainer here.

But what about Martin Sheen? What about his character, a wealthy, California doctor who had just  lived a very routine life so far? We are to believe that he is transformed, that his impulsive desire to take his son's ashes and scatter them through the Camino, accomplishing for him what his premature death made impossible, is a personal journey of discovery. Discovery of what exactly? The film seems to hint that he discovers himself and therefore God, or at least Love: he gets over, if reluctantly, of his closeness and anger, he begins caring for his newfound friends, and he evens hints to a priest along the way that his gift of a Rosary has "come in handy" (although that is not shown), and finally he is seen praying at the basilica, kneeling.

Finally, what crowned my concerns about the film is the very end. The final, five-second scene. After trekking with this man for almost 900 km we are to believe he has undergone this transformation. He now is a human being who has let go of his hangups, who has found God or at least Love. What would I like to see him doing? I know exactly what I would like to see him doing: I would like to see him going back to his responsible life of a caring doctor (which he was shown to be in the beginning of the film), taking now with him this newfound dimension of Love of Neighbor. So instead of wasting hours playing golf with his obnoxious friends, I would like to see him choosing instead to volunteer at the Soup Kitchen, caring for people in his life in a personal way, praying and being active in church, or doing similar works of charity. That is our calling, and a hard one, to do God's work where our life happens to be. So I'd like to him taking and applying to his daily life what he gained from the journey in the Camino. Instead, he is shown walking aimlessly, hippie-like, alone, through the streets of Morocco. Uh? How is that the life of someone who found true Love?

So this is my take. I have thought enough about the film after watching it at our neighbors' twice over this past weekend and just had to write this. I will post this on Amazon and Love2Learn.

New film!

Interesting article about a new Catholic film!

As I posted in the comments box, I knew about this Catholic uprising during the Reign of terror... because of the Catholic textbook Project's History books!

Wonderful film!

We received it for Christmas and have watched it in installments. Tears streamed from my eyes last night as the beautiful final scene filled the screen. We were all watching it, from Husband and Number Four to Number Seven, and we were all delighted in it.

I don't think I knew much about Saint Philip Neri beforehand although his name is so very familiar.  He is not a great saint of great accomplishments or great written treaties. He did not travel and his intellect did not shine above others. 

What was great about him? His immense charity, his humble love for all who encountered him, poor and rich alike, wealthy merchants or nobles, murderers and pariahs, all were targets of his deep love and charity. He also had the ability to use great humor in all he did--all smiled and laughed around him! He lived in a hard time for the church and his unusual confraternity was investigated by the Curia more than once, only to disarm the pope completely when faced with his deep love for others and total trust in God's Providence.

The film was made for Italian TV and the production is very good. We loved the actors and the costumes. An impressive details is w they managed to gather such similar -looking actors to portrays the child and grown up versions of his followers, it is almost as if they started the film when they were children and waited ten years to continue, so similar they were. 

Distributed in the USA by Ignatius Press, available anywhere, we bought it on Amazon.


Note: I read the other reviews on Amazon and am very respectful of them and recommend their reading. Perhaps because we had such a wonderful time watching it as a family, and perhaps because we already know real facts are changed in films about saints, I still give it 4 stars. The film does show Christian love in many beautiful ways and we live in a world so thirsty for that. After the film we read a brief account of his life online and were further enriched.

The Hobbit: The Trailer!

Enjoy!
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/thehobbit/

Interview with Of Gods and Men actor

I just listened to the interview, and actor Lambert Wilson speaks beautifully of learning Gregorian Chant for the film, and how he went back to the Cistercian monastery after the film to sing and chant more Gregorian Chant.

The film is about Cistercian monks in Algeria who face some tough decisions...

Only the first part of the interview is about the film. It makes me want to see the film even more, but it is still not availabe. I am hoping the fact that it was in the Oscars will make it available soon.

The King's Speech: a note from a reader

I got a note from a dear Canadian blog reader today:

I know you are a movie aficionado, Ana. Last night, my family watched The King's Speech at our local theatre. It was such a lovely movie, that I just had to write. The King's Speech is a truly great movie that is made even better by the fact that it is a true story. It is set in England, with WWII on the doorstep, and a young and morally confused new king (Edward VIII) has resigned after only a few months on the throne. The new king, George VII, is a good choice for the throne, but has a very debilitating stammer. The age of radio is dawning, and the new king is expected to give all sorts of radio broadcasts....Go and watch it, Ana. Lots of history. Good cinematography. Well edited. Great acting. You will LOVE it.
Guaranteed!
K.

PS the only disclaimer is that there are two instances of swearing the movie. The king's speech therapist uses the "swear words" technique in the king's therapy.

Two Pope Films

We have recently watched both of these and loved both of them, although Karol tells more of his early life and uses one actor for all of the pope scenes. I had never watched either one of these and Number Five is responsible for requesting them and bringing such historical wonderful movies into our home! Highly, highly recommended--our whole family was enthralled!

Sissi: family film

I remember watching this film in Brazil with my mother and siblings... long ago. Last night we watched it, and even the teens and Husband enjoyed it! It is in German with subtitles and it is funny, dynamic and theatrical and the subtitles did not bother Number Seven. The film is based on the life of Empress Elizabeth of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, and it is the ultimate princess movie with the dresses, the romance, the palaces and settings, and culminating with a huge Catholic wedding in Vienna. The film is a trilogy and we will watch the second one tonight!

We loved it!

Third Man on the Mountain is a 1959 Disney film I had never heard of! We all enjoyed it, teenagers, kids, parents. The Matterhorn is a famous European peak spoken about at my home growing up quite a bit. One of my brother loves rock climbing, and as a youth he would go on climbing expeditions led by a Benedictine monk and priest who also happened to be their Math teacher at their Abbey school for boys. Growing up in Rio we couldn't help hearing about rock climbing as the newspaper showed photos of foreign rock climbing expeditions in and around our Cidade Maravilhosa. Most of them were successful, but some were not, and these served as frequent prayer intentions.

The film's themes are rock-climbing, life in a Swiss Alps village, and above all honor and courage. The mountain scenes were beautiful. Also, the reviews on Amazon provide some interesting and curious information. Truly an awesome choice for family movie night!

Product Description: Based on a true story, here is the thrilling, critically acclaimed account of Rudi Matt (James MacArthur), a young kitchen worker who is determined to conquer the Citadel -- the jagged, snowcapped peak that claimed his father's life. Encouraged by both a famed English climber (Michael Rennie) and the youth's devoted girlfriend (Janet Munro), Rudi goes through a grueling training period before he is ready to face the incredible dangers of the killer mountain. Shot on location in Zermatt, Switzerland, and featuring spectacular scenery and an outstanding cast, THIRD MAN ON THE MOUNTAIN is one of the finest adventure films of all time!

St. Giuseppe Moscati

Husband and kids watched this and gave it 5 stars! Husband's critical eye is... overatcive often, so five stars on Netflix is a huge compliment!

Here is the official page from the publisher.

Outstanding!

My four daughters and I enjoyed hours of watching the new BBC Emma these past few days. It is excellent! Faithful to Jane Austen's work, filmed in gorgeous photography, settings and costumes. The acting is impeccable and we just loved the actress who plays the main part--as well as her excellent Mr. Knightly, likeable, a man of integrity, generosity and nobility of soul.

Don't miss it! I have compared the two other versions available in this post.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: trailer

This is my personal favorite of the Narnia books... can't tell much about the quality of the literary adaptation from the trailer.

Don Matteo, priest-detective TV series on DVD

Don Matteo, Italian production for television, 1999-2000. Read about it on Ignatius Press page and the positive customer reviews on Amazon.

Does anyone remember the Trinity movies? My family loved those when I was a teenager... I remember Mother laughing so much. Terence Hill was the main actor of those Western films, and he is back as a good Catholic priest in Don Matteo. Our whole family has been watching one episode at a time and we love it!

The priest has a funny housekeeper, and two policemen-sidekicks who make my kids laugh out loud! Together, and with Don Matteo's loving heart, good Catholic morals and excellent detective skills, they solve various interesting murder mysteries. Last night we watched Murder in the Library, where Don Matteo is called to Rome to solve a murder of a scripture scholar, all filmed in the Vatican!

This is an Italian production and it is not dubbed, but the subtitles are well-done and my kids can handle them well. We were all saying Italian expressions by the end of the show! Enjoy! Available from Ignatius Press, Amazon or Netflix.

The Mark of Zorro

We rented a new DVD copy of the original Zorro... a fun family movie, with plenty of Catholic references, and a very nice quality copy!

A great show!

Best family show in a looong time! We love it--our entire family, teens, kids, adults! So much fun and such depth of the human spirit--and although not strictly accurate, it does justice to Alexander McCall Smith's beautiful and honorable creative mind!

Do not miss it!


Note: ... this is definitely a PG show for those who are wondering.

Twilight Samurai

We have loved Samurai films through the years. This one has a different tone, less action, and portrays the ordinary life and love of a poor samurai. We watched it as a family last night.

Wikipedia has a good synopsis of the film. Great photography, subtitles.

A new website for movies Catholics love!

Check it out at moviescatholicslove.com

Enjoy the show!

A new film about Fatima

From what I read it went to Cannes.

I just watched the trailer... looks good!

Thanks, Candise!

I can't wait!

The BBC film for the international best-selling book by Alexander MCall Smith, The Number One Ladies' Detective Agency, will be available soon in the USA. I can't wait!

Preview it here.

More about it from the author's official website.