***Some Spoilers***
I never planned to watch this initially, but when I did I was glad of it.
This is a classy picture, focusing on Stephen Fermoyle, a young Catholic who enters into the priesthood and charts his life and fortunes up until the outbreak of World War II. This makes for a long movie!
However, I feel that the length of the film in no way detracts from the enjoyment. The story is crafted with care and I became very involved with the film and it's characters fates. Granted, Fermoyle does, shall we say, get around a bit' but it's a lot more believable and shows far more intellectual edge than the Gump.
The film raises a number of big' questions along the way that challenge not only Fermoyle's faith, but ask questions of the watcher what is your view? - what would you have done in that situation? An example of this is when Fermoyle has to choose between the life of his sister or her unborn baby, a very agonising choice, well portrayed by Tryon. And to the film's credit it generally shows both sides of the argument in good debate with little or no patronising overtones. Any film that attempts to entertain and challenge the viewer and succeeds such as this should be applauded. After the end credits rolled I was still thinking about a number of things contained within the movie.
My only problem with the movie was that the sound quality was awful and it's a bit difficult to hear what's being said. A technohead with some flash equipment to clean up the movie is badly needed.
You certainly don't need to be a Catholic, or even religious (I'm not) to get a lot out of the film. Just a concentration span and a willingness to think! To echo another reviewer, please watch this - it's well worth your time.
8.5/10
I never planned to watch this initially, but when I did I was glad of it.
This is a classy picture, focusing on Stephen Fermoyle, a young Catholic who enters into the priesthood and charts his life and fortunes up until the outbreak of World War II. This makes for a long movie!
However, I feel that the length of the film in no way detracts from the enjoyment. The story is crafted with care and I became very involved with the film and it's characters fates. Granted, Fermoyle does, shall we say, get around a bit' but it's a lot more believable and shows far more intellectual edge than the Gump.
The film raises a number of big' questions along the way that challenge not only Fermoyle's faith, but ask questions of the watcher what is your view? - what would you have done in that situation? An example of this is when Fermoyle has to choose between the life of his sister or her unborn baby, a very agonising choice, well portrayed by Tryon. And to the film's credit it generally shows both sides of the argument in good debate with little or no patronising overtones. Any film that attempts to entertain and challenge the viewer and succeeds such as this should be applauded. After the end credits rolled I was still thinking about a number of things contained within the movie.
My only problem with the movie was that the sound quality was awful and it's a bit difficult to hear what's being said. A technohead with some flash equipment to clean up the movie is badly needed.
You certainly don't need to be a Catholic, or even religious (I'm not) to get a lot out of the film. Just a concentration span and a willingness to think! To echo another reviewer, please watch this - it's well worth your time.
8.5/10