Calvary

John Michael McDonagh – 2014 – Ireland

Calvary is an excellent Irish drama that is the definition of effective character study and one of the best films of the year.  Brendon Gleeson is quietly powerful from start to finish as a parish priest in an isolated seaside village.  Gleeson’s imposing frame and presence indicate immediately that his character, Father James, is not the stereotypical nebbish who joined the priesthood to hide from real life in a safe and ego-stroking vocation.  We learn that James is a widower with a grown daughter and that he committed to a life of faith and service as part of a mature life decision.  But he lives in faithless times.  Nearly everyone in the village is contemptuous of him and the church; or more accurately, they resent the church and choose to abuse him as its nearest representative.  People seem to like him personally, and yet their anger over the excesses and abuses of the church makes them unable to see him as a human being.  One day, in confession, a member of his flock who says he was sexually molested by a priest years earlier promises to murder James one week hence.  The man says he will sacrifice James not because he has done anything wrong but because he hasn’t; because he is a good man.  It is to be an act that will especially outrage people and be remembered.  Like a terrorist, he feels that the innocent, not the guilty,  must be made to suffer if the world is going to take notice and take action.  As the days go on, James seeks counsel and comfort while also seeing faithfully to his duties.  Harassment escalates as well, but whether or not it is by the announced murder is a mystery.  James’ test is not one of faith; he endures no brutal nights of angry prayer where he demands that God protect him in exchange for his years of obedience; nor does he plead for a sign that he should flee for his life.  His test is one of character.  He seems at peace with God and knows that his endurance is not to guarantee himself a better seat in heaven but may inspire those around him to live better lives.  I found the film very profound in its treatment of faith as a practical matter.  Most films along these lines are all about wrestling with the existence of God, but Calvary is about the choices people make in the face of adversity when that wrestling is long over.