Catholic-ometer: 4.5 of 5
Enjoyability: 4.5 of 5
Indie movies are, of course, a mixed bag, much more so than Hollywood films, because in Hollywood, there's very little quality added to the mixture. I honestly didn't know much about this film going into it; only that it was a historical fiction, based around the life of Josemaria Escriva; founder of Opus Dei, and another character named Manolo. Nothing else. I had no idea how events in the movie would unfold.
Maybe that's for the best, however. I should say, right off the bat, that the half point down on the Catholic-ometer is solely for historical inaccuracies in depicting the life of Saint Escriva, and even then, those inaccuracies were few and far between. The half point down in enjoyability comes from another factor, which I'll explain in a moment.
To start with, as indie movies go, this one is very well-written. Much of the dialogue is truly captivating, and the pacing of the film is refreshingly-methodical. It's a bit difficult to review it without spoiling anything beyond that. I noticed several trends in this movie, however, which I feel it might be important to describe.
The first is a mentality of "black and white;" a very Catholic perspective, and one I'd love to see more of in movies. Josemaria's life and Manolo's life are shown in intervals, with Josemaria starting his religious group, supporting them, protecting them, and keeping them from trying to take revenge for the evils going on around them. Manolo, on the other hand, is working as a double agent in an army complement; the dirtiest and least honorable work one can have in wartime.
Josemaria's work in supporting his group, and helping them to survive is truly exceptional, and his devotion to holiness shines through magnificently in the performance he gives, while the selfishness and envy of Manolo make him seem like almost more of a devil than a man; even in a place of rampant killing, like the trenches of wartime.
All of this is set against the backdrop of the Spanish civil war that Josemaria survived when he was young, and make no mistake; it is a "war movie." There are battles, explosions, planes bombing and shooting at people, and people killing innocents, out of nothing but empty hatred. There's a good reason for the rating it got. Furthermore, there's a good deal of cursing, though not to the degree seen in Juno, and some implied sex, between some of the people in Manolo's company. This is not, by any means, a lighthearted movie for the kids. No war movie is. Then again, neither war the Passion of the Christ, and it was, I think, the most outstanding movie I've ever seen.
Another theme that runs back and forth through this film is forgiveness; an appropriate theme in a movie that contrasts an extremely holy saint with an extremely vile sinner. Most of us, by the grace of God, will never sin as often or as deeply as Manolo does, but if we ever did, we'd need to make a choice; either give in to despair, or look for forgiveness.
I said before that this movie is not for kids, and this is the other reason; it's meant to be thought about more deeply than kids can do. The characters are complicated, and their situations need to be considered carefully, if you want to keep up. It's a movie that challenges you to think about our human nature, and the situations we find ourselves in, in a whole new light, and depending on the kind of person you are, you may end up thinking of the characters differently. It's a captivating indie movie, and a thought-provolking ride.
Now for the reason why I gave it a half point down in enjoyability. It's not because of the bloodshed, ugliness or cursing. It's because I was really hoping to see more of Saint Escriva.
Manolo is a fictional character, made up for this movie, to contrast with Josemaria, and between his escapades in wartime, and the future version of himself, musing on the whole thing, he gobbles up a good percentage of the movie. In fact, I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that the movie is more about him than about Saint Escriva, and that's really not what I was hoping for.
I could be the eternal pessimist, and assume that it was done this way on purpose, but honestly, I can't imagine that being the case for a moment. If they'd only wanted star power, they wouldn't have made an indie film, much less one about a Catholic saint. My conclusion, therefore, is simply that they wanted to tell a story about black and white morality, and about forgiveness, and that they just didn't spend enough time on the saintly side of it; probably by accident.
In the end, I feel I can reccomend this movie to any adult who's willing to see it and think about it with a little intellectual honesty. Whether you're closer to the saintly Escriva, or to the Oedipus-like Manolo, watching this movie may help you to realize things about your life and your faith that could help you on your journey towards Heaven. In fact, I'd watch it with some friends. You may have a few things to talk about when you're walking out of the theater.
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