Who knows what’s next as the viral panic
spreads? It may increase the popularity
of streaming services that can be enjoyed safely in home isolation. From among what’s available I highly recommend
the phenomenal third season of the Netflix German series Babylon Berlin. I got so
hooked I ended up binge watching through the 12 episodes into the wee
hours. Major movie releases are already
being postponed, among these the 25th James Bond epic which was the
cover of the March/April Cineplex magazine, carrying the rather unfortunate
title “No Time to Die”. You’ll have to
wait for to see 007 again until November, if we all survive till then. Sorry for the gallows humour. However at my
most recent multiplex visit the noisy trailers for coming releases all seemed
to have a horror angle … dystopia sells apparently. Just as long as it stays on the screen! Below I review three films starting with an
updated and fuller commentary on one of my best of last year. Read on.
[updated March 9]
It’s taken several full viewings of this
remarkable film—among my 10 best films of 2019 and an Oscar nominee for best
international feature—to fully appreciate its depths. Director Jan Jomasa’s
third feature draws inspiration from actual instances of priestly impersonation
in Poland, which doesn’t lessen its unusual moral force. We are introduced to
the central character, a young man Daniel (Bartosz Bielenia who gives an
exceptional performance), through the hard knocks of a juvenile detention
centre. Daniel assists the prison
chaplain Fr. Tomasz at mass who tells the inmates: “Each one of us is the
priest of Christ”. That connects with
Daniel although he knows that his criminal record rules out admittance to a
seminary. How to hold on to the spiritual side he feels? When released on
parole, Daniel first lets off steam, indulging sins of the flesh. For a lark he
dresses up in clerical garb with a Roman collar. The impulse takes a serious
turn after he’s sent to the workshop of a country sawmill and before reporting
enters the nearby town’s church. There
he meets the daughter of the parish priest’s housekeeper and seizes an opportunity
to be a “priest”, telling her that more important than where you come from is
where you are going. Claiming to be a
recent graduate from the seminary, Daniel takes the identity of “Father Tomasz”
and quietly becomes a temporary replacement for the aging and ailing pastor. With
that comes the challenge of addressing the parish’s burden of suffering and ill
will resulting from a trauma that is still raw; its focal point a memorial to a
group of young people killed in a head-on collision. Among the dead, the housekeeper’s son, and
brother to the young woman who never attended his funeral. The townsfolk blame the accident on a lone
older driver, refusing him burial rites and ostracizing his widow. With layers
of hurt to be overcome, Daniel rises to a pastoral role. Even if he has to
“google” how to perform certain functions, he somehow finds the right words to
express the struggle and hope of faith, in doing so ministering to a grieving,
troubled, and divided flock. It’s as if by divine intervention his spiritual needs
and theirs overlap. As director Komasa
puts it: “For Daniel, spiritual guidance is the only pure thing left in his
life. I see his actions as a desperate attempt to tell the world what he would
do if he were given a second chance.”
That’s not the
end of the story of course. To its credit the movie doesn’t leave us with some
improbably blissful outcome. Things
start to unravel when the mayor who also owns the sawmill invites Daniel to
bless a new wing before the feast of Corpus Christi. That leads to a blackmail
attempt in the confessional and a dramatic confession from the altar. There’s
more to follow. Daniel hasn’t taken any vows and the real Fr. Tomasz arrives.
Daniel returns to a violent reality. But not before leading the Corpus Christi
procession; not before becoming an instrument for effecting forgiveness and
reconciliation. Beyond the penance that befalls him, that is blessing
enough. A+
This latest screen version of the
eponymous 1815 Jane Austen novel, directed by photographer Autumn de Wilde,
certainly dresses up in the costumes of the period’s mostly idle landed gentry
as they swan about their great houses and contemplate marriageable
matches. Emma Woodhouse (Anya
Taylor-Joy), in frilly frocks and ringlets, is a sweet young thing described as
“handsome, clever, and rich”. The main
worry of her doddering dad (Bill Nighy) seems to be catching a chill. Emma will eventually fall for the dashing
George Knightley (Johnny Flynn), exuding confidence while generously easing the
romantic troubles of comparatively homely Harriet (Mia Goth). The necessary religious rituals are provided by
a milquetoast simpering Church of England vicar Mr. Elton (Josh O’Connor) who
acquires a bride almost as annoying.
Watching this feckless, foppish and often frivolously indulgent affair,
one wonders how Britannia ever “ruled the waves”. As an aside, O’Connor has more to work with
in the role of the hapless Prince Charles in the new season of the Netflix
series “The Crown”. And he was brilliant
in the 2017 drama God’s Own Country
as a young farmer into gay rough sex.
The Emma cast also includes
several of the actors who play much edgier sexually fluid (or hormonally
confused?) teenage roles in another Netflix series “Sex Education”. Perish the thought. This Emma
is all very proper, and also it must be said, a bit of a bore. B-
Directed by Gavin O’Connor, this is
another sports redemption story, so you know the drill. The central character is Jack Cunningham who
works construction, is separated from his wife, and is a regular boozer. The role is played by Ben Affleck who’s had
personal experience with celebrity addiction and rehab, so that part’s maybe
not a stretch. Jack was also a star
basketball player back in the day at his Catholic Bishop Hayes high school and,
despite a night of drunken negativity, is enticed back to take over as substitute
coach of its current team. It isn’t a
surprise that the team will go from being losers to contenders. (America’s
school sports mania is on full display.) Jack gets a talking to from the team’s
priest chaplain about swearing, and from the assistant coach about leaving
empty beer cans. A couple individual player issues add minor wrinkles to the
team’s transformation. Add in a child
cancer death, sorrowful tinkly piano music, and a slo-mo pivotal game sequence
to boost the melodrama. I’m not sure Jack was ever on the wagon but there’s
bound to be a cathartic episode as well.
So this Ben is “back”. Will he
make it? Will they make it? Is the Pope
Catholic? C+
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