This
one wasn't on the list, but I was really interested by its premise. I
find films (as well as books) that try to reconcile religion with a
godless world fascinating, as well as ones that explore religion from
an agnostic standpoint. This is why I've included Passolini's (an
avowed atheist) “The Gospel According to Matthew” (The Vatican's
favourite film) on my list. My interest in this topic was first
stirred by the Philip Larkin poem “Church Going” (link below), in
which Larkin speculates on the future role of churches in society.
The one line of this piece that speaks most plainly to me is, “For,
though I've no idea What this accoutred frowsty barn is worth,
It pleases me to stand in silence here” I feel as if religion is
never really outdated, sort of ironically, when its a part of
history. And parts of history, especially the missteps, are always
relevant when trying to make progress.
Missteps
in history form a large part of the premise of “Calvary”, as a
victim of sexual abuse from the church tells an innocent priest in a
confessional booth that he is going to kill him next Sunday. The
priest, played by Brendan Gleeson, is a man who simply wants to do
good for his community, but is frequently challenged and often mocked
in return. Gleeson gives a weighty performance as a flawed but noble
character, heightened against the elegantly savage Irish landscape.
Yet the interplay between these aspects and the oddball, comically
absurd characters is jarring. It took me a while to adjust to the
style, the off-beat black humour in the dialogue appearing too
artificial when juxtaposed with the gritty realism of Gleeson. Its
like taking all the gravitas from Johansson's character and her
surroundings in “Under the Skin” and sticking them in a Coen
brothers rendition of “Father Ted”.
However,
while this aspect of the film does come across as clunky, the
dialogue still works on its own merits. The absurdity of the
characters does make for a dramatically heightened atmosphere, where
the plot can get explore its subject matter to a greater extent.
Characters have comic depth to them and whether or not you know the
outcome of the “who's gonna do it” scenario, you are still drawn
to them. A Western aesthetic makes for a tense atmosphere, where
notions of plain 'good' and 'bad' are left at the door. This makes
the religious aspect slightly easier to deal with, yet its not a
wholly original one, it reminds me a lot of Graham Greene's novel,
“The Power and the Glory”.
The
jump from more artificial to more organic dialogue does sometimes
feel tonally inconsistent, with the irritating addition of
emotionally manipulative music in some scenes worsening the effect.
When one can look past this, there is a wealth of cinematic richness
underneath. The black humour always works when there are pauses in
between, little awkward glimpses into the abyss, which fit
comfortably into the whole crisis of religion in a godless world.
This is where the film succeeds, when the human takes centre stage
and for this the setting and characters are perfect.
Overall,
though, I think the film was much too heavy handed, the argument for
Institutionalised Priesthood too simplistic and straight-forward. Its
cynicism, portraying the community as bankrupt of any sort of values
if it were not for the church (rather than the community's ability to
moralise themselves). Without their priest they seem to be a lost
flock, which works in everything but the conclusion. This is why the
western quality, which evokes this lawlessness, doesn't work in this
regard, it feels overly manipulative. However, I think that the moral
of “forgiveness” can be salvaged from this. With some slight
alterations the film can be rather more about the good of the
individual, with religion as a tool, rather than the good of
religion, with the individual as a tool. For a moment, I thought this
was what the film was really about. And it is, to a certain extent.
But some of the phrasings of the narrative hold it back from speaking
real truths.
Reminded me also of: Tyrannosaur
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