A young French Jesuit priest journeys west into the New World in the early 17th century, facing all the usual challenges of the primeval wilderness: savage natives, inclement weather, and so forth. The similarities to 'Dances With Wolves', released two years earlier, are hard to ignore, not least in the way both films reduce complex historical issues of cultural dislocation to a grade school picture book level, throwing the White and Red man together against a background of (in this instance) breathtaking Autumn and Winter scenery. But unlike Kevin Costner's more commercial prairie epic, the newer film favors grim authenticity over audience-friendly hindsight. And without even a leading man of Costner's crowd-pleasing appeal it becomes little more than a handsome but depressing history lesson, not exactly a winning combination at the box office. Lothaire Bluteau is no less beatific in the title role than he was as 'Jesus of Montreal', and director Bruce Beresford seems determined to continue making shallow, issue-oriented entertainment ('Driving Miss Daisy', 'Mr. Johnson') for audiences without much real interest in the issues.
Review of Black Robe
