Catholic Movies
Below is a selection of movies with Catholic themes. To the
right, I list a liturgical season or Feast Day that would be
particularly appropriate for watching. I link to them at Amazon.com,
but
another option is to try your library system. If your library system is
like mine, all of these movies are available (and you can even possibly
search the library catalogue online, place holds on the movies you
want, and have them delivered to your local library branch).
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DVD
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The Ten Commandments (1956)
Directed by Cecil B. DeMille
Run Time: 220 minutes
Starring: Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, and Edward G.
Robinson.
Moses leads the Israelite slaves from the tyranny of the Egyptian
pharaoh and into the desert where he is given the Ten Words by God.
Once the pharaoh's chief architect, Moses receives the attentions of
the Queen until he rebels and is cast into exile. It looks very "1950s"
and "epic," but it's good to watch (listen for how Anne Baxter says
"Mooooses" -- great stuff.) |
Lent
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DVD
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Jesus of Nazareth (1977)
Directed by Franco Zeffirelli
Run Time: 371 minutes
Starring: Robert Powell (as Jesus Christ), Anne Bancroft, Ernest
Borgnine, Claudia Cardinale, James Farentino, James Earl Jones, Stacy
Keach, Tony Lo Bianco, James Mason, Laurence Olivier, Donald Pleasence,
Christopher Plummer, Anthony Quinn, and more.
This is a well-done film of the life of Christ with a few points some
Catholics might quibble with, and a few points all Catholics will
quibble with. |
Easter
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DVD
Wide Screen
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The Passion of The Christ (2004)
Directed by Mel Gibson
Run Time: 126 minutes
Starring: James Caviezel (as Jesus Christ), Maia Morgenstern (as Mary),
Monica Bellucci (as Mary Magdalene), Claudia Gerini
Filmed in Matera, Basilicata, Italy and released on Ash Wednesday of
2004, it is the story of the last 12 hours of Christ's Passion. Both
Mel Gibson and James Caviezel, the man who plays Jesus, are devout
Catholics (Mr. Gibson being a very traditional Catholic) who were
devoted to making the film as accurate as possible, going so far as to
film the movie in Aramaic, Latin, and Hebrew. I cannot recommend
this movie highly enough! It is, very truly, less "a movie" than a
religious
experience. Brilliant! |
Lent, especially
Passiontide and, more specifically, Good Friday
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DVD
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The Robe
(1953)
Directed by Henry Koster
Run Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
Starring: Richard Burton; Jean Simmons; Victor Mature
In the Roman province of Judea during the 1st century, Roman tribune
Marcellus Gallio is ordered to crucify Jesus of Nazareth but is
tormented by his guilty conscience afterwards.
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Lent |
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DVD
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Spartacus (1960)
Directed by Stanely Kubrick
Run Time: 184 minutes
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier , Jean Simmons, Charles
Laughton, Peter Ustinov
Though not particularly a "Catholic movie," I put this film here
because it gives one an idea of the situation in Rome around the time
of Christ. Plot: The rebellious Thracian Spartacus, born and raised a
slave, is sold to Gladiator trainer Batiatus. After weeks of being
trained to kill for the arena, Spartacus turns on his owners and leads
the other slaves in rebellion. |
Time
After
Pentecost
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DVD
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Quo Vadis? (1951)
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Run Time: 171 minutes
Starring: Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr, Peter Ustinov
Returning to Rome after 3 years in the field, General Marcus Vinicius
meets Lygia and falls in love with her. She is a Christian and doesn't
want to have anything to do with a warrior. Though she grew up Roman,
the adopted daughter of a retired general, Lygia is technically a
hostage of Rome. Marcus gets Emperor Nero to give her to him for
services rendered. Lygia resents this, but somehow falls in love with
Marcus anyway. Meanwhile Nero's atrocities get more outrageous. When he
burns Rome and blames the Christians, Marcus goes off to save Lygia and
her family. Nero captures them, and captures other Christians to kill
them, but Marcus, Lygia, and Christianity prevail in the end. |
Time After
Pentecost
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DVD
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Becket (1964)
Directed by Peter Glenville
Run Time: 148 minutes
Starring: Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, John Gielgud
The story of St. Thomas a Becket, made Archbishop of Canterbury by King
Henry II who made him so for political purposes -- but who came to
regret it after St. Thomas had a true conversion and came to take his
new "job" very seriously, to the point of martyrdom. (Historical
innacuracy: Thomas a Becket was Norman, not Saxon) |
Time After
Pentecost & the Feast of St. Thomas (December 29)
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DVD
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Joan of Arc
(1948)
Directed by Victor Fleming
Run Time: 145 minutes
Starring: Ingrid Bergman, José Ferrer, Francis L. Sullivan
What can I say? It's the beautiful Ingrid Bergman playing St. Joan of
Arc in a way that modern portrayals of the Saint don't: without the
"Joan was a lesbian feminist who wasn't as Catholic as Catholics make
her out to be" overtones.
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Time After
Pentecost & the Feast of St. Joan (May 30)
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DVD
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The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer
Run Time: 114 minutes
Starring: Maria Falconetti, Eugene Silvain, André Berley, Maurice
Schutz
All reviews I've ever read about this silent film describe it as a
veritable masterpiece of film-making -- a film that is shown repeatedly
in film schools and is said to be the apotheosis of visual excellence
in film-making. The actress's performance has been described by Pauline
Kael as the best performance ever captured on film. But it is a
silent movie, so may not appeal to most people who aren't "film buffs." |
Time After
Pentecost & the Feast of St. Joan (May 30)
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DVD
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A Man for All Seasons (1966)
Directed by Fred Zinnemann
Run Time: 120 minutes
Starring: Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Leo McKern, Robert
Shaw, Orson Welles, Susannah York, Nigel Davenport, John Hurt
The story of St. Thomas More, an attorney during the time of Protestant
"Reformation" in England, who suffered martyrdom by beheading rather
than capitulate to Henry VIII's idea of religion. Winner of 6 Academy
Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Scofield),
Cinematography, Screenplay, and Costume. |
Time After
Pentecost & the Feast of St. Thomas (June 22)
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DVD
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The Song of Bernadette (1943)
Directed by Henry King
Run Time: 156 minutes
Starring: Jennifer Jones, William Eythe, Charles Bickford,
Vincent Price
The story of St. Bernadette Soubirous, who had the vision of Our Lady
at Lourdes and whose body still lies incorrupt at her convent at
Nevers, France. This movie won Academy Awards for Best Actress
(Jennifer Jones), Cinematography, Art Direction, and Music, and
won nominations for Best Supporting Actor and Actress, Best Director,
Best Picture, Editing, Screenplay, and Sound Recording. |
Time After
Pentecost & the Feast of the Apparition at Lourdes (February 11)
and the Feast of St. Bernadette (April 16)
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DVD
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Thérèse (1986)
Directed by Alain Cavalier
Run Time: 94 minutes
Starring: Catherine Mouchet
This French movie (English subtitles) is a very strange and haunting
one. It will not please the "I need action and explosions" types (they
will loathe it), but for those who are able to be calm, meditative, and
appreciative of visual beauty, this one is most definitely for you. It
is a visual poem in shades of blue and white, and the way the camera
treats faces in this movie is something to behold. What I appreciate
about this film is its capturing of the stillness of a convent's
interior and how that makes one appreciate the little things -- the
rustling of freshly washed white linen, sound of bare feet on cold
stone floors... If you "get" what I am saying, buy or rent this movie.
(Warning: after Thérèse becomes quite ill and confined to bed, don't
eat anything while watching if you have a queasy stomach. One little
quickie scene that involves a bizarre form of mortification/relic
veneration might bother you.) |
Time After
Pentecost & the Feast of St. Thérèse (October 3)
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DVD
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Into Great
Silence (2007)
Directed by Philip Groning
Run Time: 162 minutes
Starring: Real Carthusians.
This is a documentary that takes you inside the Grande Chartreuse in
the French Alps. From Amazon: "In 1984, German filmmaker Philip Gröning
wrote to the Carthusian order for permission to make a documentary
about them. They said they would get back to him. Sixteen years later,
they were ready. Gröning, sans crew or artificial lighting, lived in
the monks quarters for six months filming their daily prayers, tasks,
rituals and rare outdoor excursions. This transcendent, closely
observed film seeks to embody a monastery, rather than simply depict
one it has no score, no voiceover and no archival footage. What remains
is stunningly elemental: time, space and light. One of the most
mesmerizing and poetic chronicles of spirituality ever created, INTO
GREAT SILENCE dissolves the border between screen and audience with a
total immersion into the hush of monastic life. More meditation than
documentary, it s a rare, transformative experience for all." |
Lent
and Time After
Pentecost
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DVD
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The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952)
Directed by: John Brahm
Run Time: 102 min.
Starring: Gilbert Roland, Angela Clarke, Frank Silvera Richard Hale.
Score by Max Steiner.
The story, beautifully filmed in Technicolor, of the greatest miracle
of the Church Age, witnessed by thousands: the miracle of Our Lady
appearing to Lucia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta. |
Time after
Pentecost & the Feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary (October
7)
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For Greater Glory (2012)
Directed by: Dean Wright
Run Time: 145 minutes
Starring: Andy Garcia; Peter O'Toole; Eva Longoria
This movie about the Mexican Cristeros is one I can't vouch for since I
haven't seen it. I've heard both good and bad -- that the pacing was
slow, but also that it was "awesome," "excellent," and "well worth
watching." Roger Ebert said that
"it is well-made, yes, but has such pro-Catholic tunnel vision I began
to question its view of events." Well, we don't mind the "pro-Catholic
tunnel vision" at all, do we?
In any case, the subject matter is a very important one -- one that
should be taught to young Catholics.
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Time
after
Pentecost & the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12) |
DVD
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Black Robe (1991)
Directed by: Bruce Beresford
Run Time: 1 hour 41 minutes
Starring: Lothaire Bluteau; Aden Young; Sandrine Holt; August
Schellenberg
In the 17th century, a Jesuit missionary and his small party of
companions try reaching the Huron tribe in Canada, all while facing
mistrust, Iroquois warring parties, and harsh winter conditions. The
movie contains strong violence, so be warned.
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Time
after
Pentecost & the Feast of the North American Martyrs (September 26)
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DVD
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The Mission (1986)
Directed by: Roland Joffé
Run Time: 235 minutes
Starring: Robert De Niro; Jeremy Irons; Liam Neeson; Aidan Quinn
Eighteenth-century Spanish Jesuits try to protect a remote South
American tribe in danger of falling under the rule of pro-slavery
Portugal.
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Time
after
Pentecost |
DVD
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Monsieur Vincent (1947)
Directed by: Maurice Cloche
Run Time: 1 hour 54 minutes
Starring: Pierre Fresnay; Aimé Clariond
St. Vincent de Paul struggles to bring about peace and harmony among
peasants and nobles in the midst of the Black Death in Europe, carrying
on his charitable work in the face of all obstacles. In French with
English and Spanish subtitles.
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Time
after
Pentecost
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DVD
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Boys Town (1938)
Directed by: Norman Taurog
Run Time: 96 minutes
Starring: Spencer Tracy; Mickey Rooney
The true story of Father Flanagan who, when told by a death row
prisoner that he might not have fallen into a life of crime if he'd had
help as a child, builds a home for boys in trouble on 200 acres of land
10 miles outside of Omaha, Nebraska. This institution became known as
"Boys Town."
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Time
after
Pentecost |
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Vaincre ou
Mourir (2022)
English title: Vanquish or Die
Directed by Paul Mignot and Vincent Mottez
Run Time: 100 minutes
Starring Hugo Becker; Valentine Piffard
A French language film about the Catholic Vendée peasants who fought
the Republican Revolutionaries to defend the Faith and their land.
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Time
after
Pentecost |
DVD
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Cabrini (2024)
Directed by Alejandro Monteverde
Run Time: 2 hours 22 minutes
Starring: Cristiana Dell'Anna; Giancarlo Giannini; John Lithgow
From IMDb: From Alejandro Monteverde, award-winning director of Sound
of Freedom, comes the powerful epic of Francesca Cabrini, an Italian
immigrant who arrives in New York City in 1889 and is greeted by
disease, crime, and impoverished children. Cabrini sets off on a daring
mission to convince the hostile mayor to secure housing and healthcare
for society's most vulnerable. With broken English and poor health,
Cabrini uses her entrepreneurial mind to build an empire of hope unlike
anything the world had ever seen.
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Time
after
Pentecost |
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DVD
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The Exorcist (1973)
Directed by William Friedkin
Run Time: 122 minutes
Starring Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller
This is the most terrifying movie ever made. It's about demonic
possession (based on a true case of the possession of a young boy)
and
has been described by real exorcists as completely realistic
(except for the silly head-spinning). This movie is shocking and
horrifying
and, because of its subject matter, contains extreme vulgarity and
blasphemy (some quite explicit and sickening). Therefore,
discretion should be used! This movie's not for children! But
if you want to see what possession looks like, this movie might be for
you... Winner of 2 Oscars (Best Screenplay and Best Sound), nominated
for 8 others, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Lead Actor
and Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Art Direction). |
All Hallow's Eve
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DVD
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The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
Directed by Scott Derrickson
Run Time: 119 minutes
Starring: Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Campbell Scott, Jennifer
Carpenter
The suspenseful story of a real-life exorcism and, mostly, the court
room drama that ensued after the possessed girl died while under a
priest's care. Much less of a "shocker" than "The Exorcist," this movie
pits the secular world against the religious world in a
thought-provoking and respectful way. Highly recommended, even by
exorcists and priests such as Fr. Brian W. Harrison, O.S., who wrote at
Seattle Catholic
"The Exorcism
of Emily Rose" gets it right. Scarily, yes, but at the same time
beautifully, powerfully — inspiringly. This one is the real thing,
folks. (I speak as a priest who has had direct experience with
real-life exorcisms: in Rome, with Fr. Gabriel Amorth, the Pope's
leading exorcist and author of several books on the subject.)
By the way,
the real life girl about whom this movie centers was named Anneliese
Michel (sometimes her first name is spelled Annelise), and she died in
1976. May she rest in peace.
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All
Hallow's Eve |
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Films with a
Catholic Sense of the World
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DVD
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Meet John Doe (1941)
Directed by Frank Capra
Run Time: 135 minutes
Starring: Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward Arnold, Walter Brennan
Capra directed this, and the great Barbara Stanwyck plays in it. That's
enough there for me to like this movie, but what really gets me is the
ending. The plot: Stanwyck is a reporter who prints a fake letter from
a "John Doe" who threatens suicide over the social ills of the day.
That sells newspapers, so the scheme is continued with the newspaper's
hiring Gary Cooper to play this suicidal "John Doe." What happens?
You'll see and will love it. And if the last few lines don't make you
cry, fuhgetaboutit! This is a film more for adults than children. |
Christmas
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DVD
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It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Directed by Frank Capra
Run Time: 130 minutes
Starring: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore
If you don't know this movie by the wonderful (and Catholic! and
Italian!) Frank Capra, you've been living on Mars. This is the
American Christmas movie, and for good reason! I don't care what the
cynical, intellectual elites say, I love "Capracorn"! And I deeply love
Jimmy Stewart (don't miss his "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" -- another
Capra-directed movie; "Magic Town"; "The Stratton Story"; "Rear
Window"; "Vertigo"; "Rope"; "The Man Who Knew Too Much"; "Call
Northside777"; "The Shop Around the Corner" -- I'd better stop. But I
do love me some Jimmy.). Anyway, just forget about
the bad angelology (angels are not those who've died, of course) and go
with the story. |
Christmas
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DVD
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I Confess (1953)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Run Time: 95 minutes
Starring: Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter, Karl Malden
Not one of the great (and Catholic!) Hitchcock's best, but a fine film
that plays with the ideas of murder, falsely accused innocent men, and
the sacred seal of the confessional. This will bring a tear to your eye
as you see how Hollywood used to treat the Catholic Church compared
with the way things are now, when every priest is depicted as a radical
or a troubled, drug-addicted or alcoholic, money-grubbing, fornicator
or pedophile. So
sad.
Pssst... If you want to know where Hitchcock's cameo is before seeing
it, highlight the area between the brackets with your mouse [during the opening credits, he is crossing a
staircase. According to a site visitor, Hitchcock is also the first man
seen leaving the Church as the Mass ends.] |
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DVD
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Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Directed by Michael Curtiz
Run Time: 97 minutes
Starring James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart, the Dead End Kids
Rocky Sullivan and Jerry Connolly were tough kids who grew up together
in the toughest part of New York --- Hell's Kitchen. Early on, Rocky
(the great -- and Catholic! -- James Cagney) gets sent to reform
school, where he learns how to be a first class criminal. Jerry, who
had escaped from the law, goes straight and becomes a priest. As
adults, they reunite in the old neighborhood: Jerry works with the kids
who could end up on either side of the law; Rocky has returned looking
for a safe place to stay 'til he can get back into his old racketeering
organization -- something that his old partner isn't anxious to have
happen. This great oldie is filled with that "I'm gonna get you, see"
dialogue delivered in that over the top Brooklyn accent that makes old
gangster movies so memorable. The final scene is a film classic, a
must-see, and, as in all the old movies, evil gets its reward. |
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Watch
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The Dead (1987)
Directed by John Huston
Run Time: 83 minutes
Starring Anjelica Huston, Donal McCann, Dan O'Herlihy, Donal Donnelly
This film (John Huston's last) is a very slow-paced character study
based on James Joyce's "The Dead." To watch this movie is to be a fly
on the wall at a very mellow, pleasant and charming Twelfthnight dinner
party in turn of the century Ireland -- then to leave it and experience
a haunting and powerful meditation on death. This one's for poets... |
Lent
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DVD
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On the Waterfront (1954)
Directed by Elia Kazan
Run Time: 108 minutes
Starring Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, and Rod Steiger
The young and so very beautiful Marlon Brando takes on corrupt union
bosses --
including his own brother. Karl Malden plays the brave, heroic priest
who nudges at his conscience, encouraging him to do the right thing,
even at the cost of great suffering. This classic won 8 Oscars,
including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Actor
(Brando), and Best Actress (Eva Marie Saint) -- and has the immortal
lines, "I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody,
instead of a bum, which is what I am." |
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Babette's Feast (1987)
Directed by Gabriel Axel
Run Time 102 minutes
Starring Stéphane Audran, Birgitte Federspiel, Bodil Kjer, Jarl Kulle,
Jean-Philippe Lafont
A sumptuous, visually rich movie that is, on the surface, about a
French Catholic woman who flees to Denmark after her husband and son
were killed. There, she works as a domestic for two aging Protestant
sisters and ends up winning the lottery. Then, after fourteen years of
cooking Danish foods in a Puritan style as the sisters instructed, she
uses her winnings and skills to prepare a French feast for twelve
(undoubtedly not a coincidental number) -- a meal that changes their
lives.
On a deeper level, the movie is about everything from sacrifice, the
roads not taken, the mind-body connection, unrequited and uncosummated
love, the contrast between the Protestant and Catholic views of the
temporal world, and, most of all, grace, faith and hope. It is
beautiful to watch, with lots of blues, cold seas, white walls,
interesting faces, and extravagant foods. I highly recommend this
movie! |
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Bella (2008)
Directed by Alejandro Monteverde
Run time: 91
minutes
Starring: Eduardo Verástegui, Tammy Blanchard, Manny Perez,
Ali Landry, Angélica Aragón
I haven't seen this one yet, at least as of this writing, but I've been
told it needs to be on this
list. Here's the review from Amazon:
Life
is a complicated journey in which right and wrong are sometimes
indistinct and where the things that really matter are often unclear.
Bella is a powerful, leisurely-paced film in which Jose (Eduardo
Verastegui) and Nina (Tammy Blanchard) struggle to do what's right
while seeking meaning in their lives. A quiet, brooding man with a dark
past, Jose works as a chef in his brother Manny's (Manny Perez)
restaurant where he mostly keeps to himself until young waitress Nina
is fired. Touched by Manny's unfair treatment of Nina, Jose impulsively
leaves work to follow Nina and spends a day with her where he discovers
that she is pregnant and alone. The two become incredibly close in the
space of a day, sharing their pasts, feelings, and fears, and a lasting
friendship is born. As Nina struggles with her pregnancy options and
Jose comes to terms with a horrific incident from his past, the pair's
newfound friendship aids in growth and healing. In the end, Jose and
Nina's lives become permanently intertwined in a most beautiful and
unexpected way. Bella is a moving, introspective film that will inspire
serious personal reflection.
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Marty (1955)
Directed by Delbert Mann
Run time: 90
minutes
Starring: Ernest Borgnine; Betsy Blair; Esther Miniciotti
Marty's a nice-a Italian American boy -- but one who can't get a girl,
no matter how often he's asked when he's going to get married, or how
often he's told he should be ashamed for not having a wife. And no
matter how badly he'd love to find the right girl for him and build a
family. Will he find Miss Right? Watch and find out!
How I love this movie. If Ernest Borgnine doesn't break your heart, I
don't want to know you. |
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DVD
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A Hidden Life (2019)
Directed by Terrence Malick
Run time: 2 hrs
54 minutes
Starring: August Diehl; Valerie Pachner
Based on real events, A Hidden Life is the story of an unsung hero, Bl.
Franz Jägerstätter, who refused to fight for the Nazis in World War II.
When the Austrian peasant farmer is faced with the threat of execution
for treason, it is his unwavering faith and his love for his wife,
Fani, and children that keeps his spirit alive.
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DVD
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Apocalypto (2006)
Directed by Mel Gibson
Run time: 138
minutes
Starring: Rudy Youngblood, Dalia Hernández, Jonathan Brewer
This isn't strictly a "movie with a Catholic sense of the world"
(though it is in the sense that the very end of the final scene
promises Christian hope), but it's a movie that is important when
considering what it was the Spanish encountered when they sailed to
Central and South America, and how important Our Lady of Guadalupe is.
This movie is very intense, violent, visually stunning, and exciting.
Like Mr. Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ," it uses subtitles, but,
I assure you, it takes absolutely nothing from the viewing experience.
Next time someone goes on about "the evil Spanish vs. the peaceful
natives," show them this film. Cinematic perfection (Mr. Gibson's a
genius), but not for small kids. |
Feast
of Our Lady of Guadalupe
(December 12)
|
 Back to Being Catholic
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