Posted on 10/10/2011 12:23:55 PM PDT by NYer
There have been many movies that have priests as important characters. There are movies about saints and some of them are awesome. But my post today is about priests as characters, as men involved in a story. I was watching the excellent Tom Wilkinson as Father Moore in “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” the other day on cable. It got me to thinking about some of my favorite priests as characters and also some of my least favorite.
So for discussion purposes, I thought I would get into the who’s and whys. After all, what is a Catholic blog for if not discussing movie priests. On with it.
Let’s just get this one out of the way. Max Von Awesome (aka Sydow) as Father Merrin in the Exorcist. Max played Merrin perfectly. He flawlessly embodied Merrin with reluctance, resolution, and resignation. He knew he would likely die in this exorcism, but he went ahead with it. He conveys an aged and long earned wisdom that is doubly remarkable considering he was only 44 at the time. Max has the dubious honor of being tops on my list of the creepiest movie Jesuses, But for Merrin, Max was perfect.
This bring up a point. I like to see men cast as priests portraying priests as men. Not crazy macho or anything silly like that, just men. A couple of examples.
Pat O’Brien in “Angels with Dirty Faces.” Karl Malden in “On the Waterfront” and Ward Bond in “The Quiet Man” These were some of the manliest actors of their time. The frequently portrayed characters that were tough but with hearts of gold and that’s what we got from their priest portrayals. I wish we would see more of this in the movies.
(Excerpt) Read more at ncregister.com ...
Loved the scene where he tries to discern Bernadette's understanding of the term "Immaculate Conception" which necessitates his explanation of it to her. After asking her if she understands his explanation and receives a negative response from her, his reply is priceless. Something to the effect, "Why should you? The greatest theologians have racked their brains for centuries over it."
Great Tv Movie!! Real story.
Yes. One of the best parts happened after the movie. The priest did smuggle the family of the Colonel out and to safety. He did visit the Colonel in prison regularly after the war and before the Colonel died, the priest led that colonel to life in Christ. Happy, happy endings!
Yes! I remember I have it on dvd! I watch at least twice a year! Real heroes too! Not just cinematic only heroes. Thanks for sharing!
Worst evil priest I can think of is in the movie FLESH AND BLOOD about 16th century merceneries.
I watched one the other night that I thought was pretty good- Isaiah Washington in “Least of These”.
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