Calvary - Anyone Else Seen It?
Trsvis_Bickle
Posts: 9,202 Forum Member
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This is John Michael McDonagh's follow-up to his criminally overlooked 2011 debut, The Guard, and if you've seen that film, you'll recognise quite a few of the same cast members in Calvary.
Brendan Gleeson plays Father James Lavelle, a priest in a rural Irish parish, who receives a death threat from one of his parishioners, the threat being made in a powerful opening scene. The threat will not be carried out immediately; Lavelle has a week to make his peace with God.
There are two distractions to get past with this film; firstly, Gleeson, with long hair and beard looks strikingly similar to one of the Hairy Bikers (those TV chefs). Secondly, anything to do with Catholic clergy and rural Ireland instantly reminds you of Father Ted.
The Father Ted link is strengthened by the fact that Father Lavelle's flock consists of bizarre characters; a cuckolded butcher, an alcoholic retired banker, an atheist doctor and so on. These are all people leading lives of quiet desperation in the wake of the Irish financial crisis.
McDonagh's script is brilliant. The dialogue crackles with dark wit and Pinteresque observations on life. Yet the film is really about the darker aspects of human existence and deals with big themes; Catholicism, God, mortality, faith, betrayal, sacrifice and redemption. Weighty stuff indeed but it never feels preachy (see what I did there?) or heavy-handed.
The photography of the wild and beautiful Sligo coast and mountains is outstanding. The swooping aerial shots illustrate just how tiny and brief the lives of the human inhabitants of this landscape are. The land and the sea have been there for millions of years and will be there long after they are all dead - life really is just a walking shadow.
The film is not without its flaws, principally around casting. Aiden Gillen plays the taunting, atheist doctor with a permanent grin and seems unable to nuance his performance. This is a shame because his character delivers a chilling anecdote towards the end of the film, which would have had even more impact in the hands of a more capable actor. Dylan Moran plays the ex-banker and, although it's great to see him on the screen, he is simply not credible as a former Master of the Universe. There's also a wise-cracking rent boy who seems to have been plucked from a completely different film. In addition, the strings music that underscores the quiet moments feels a bit intrusive and emotionally manipulative (the rest of the soundtrack is terrific, by the way).
Overall, though, this is a terrific film that will haunt you - I'm still thinking about it a day later. Go and see it if you get a chance, if for no other reason than to see Brendan Gleeson, surely one of the most watchable actors alive right now.
Brendan Gleeson plays Father James Lavelle, a priest in a rural Irish parish, who receives a death threat from one of his parishioners, the threat being made in a powerful opening scene. The threat will not be carried out immediately; Lavelle has a week to make his peace with God.
There are two distractions to get past with this film; firstly, Gleeson, with long hair and beard looks strikingly similar to one of the Hairy Bikers (those TV chefs). Secondly, anything to do with Catholic clergy and rural Ireland instantly reminds you of Father Ted.
The Father Ted link is strengthened by the fact that Father Lavelle's flock consists of bizarre characters; a cuckolded butcher, an alcoholic retired banker, an atheist doctor and so on. These are all people leading lives of quiet desperation in the wake of the Irish financial crisis.
McDonagh's script is brilliant. The dialogue crackles with dark wit and Pinteresque observations on life. Yet the film is really about the darker aspects of human existence and deals with big themes; Catholicism, God, mortality, faith, betrayal, sacrifice and redemption. Weighty stuff indeed but it never feels preachy (see what I did there?) or heavy-handed.
The photography of the wild and beautiful Sligo coast and mountains is outstanding. The swooping aerial shots illustrate just how tiny and brief the lives of the human inhabitants of this landscape are. The land and the sea have been there for millions of years and will be there long after they are all dead - life really is just a walking shadow.
The film is not without its flaws, principally around casting. Aiden Gillen plays the taunting, atheist doctor with a permanent grin and seems unable to nuance his performance. This is a shame because his character delivers a chilling anecdote towards the end of the film, which would have had even more impact in the hands of a more capable actor. Dylan Moran plays the ex-banker and, although it's great to see him on the screen, he is simply not credible as a former Master of the Universe. There's also a wise-cracking rent boy who seems to have been plucked from a completely different film. In addition, the strings music that underscores the quiet moments feels a bit intrusive and emotionally manipulative (the rest of the soundtrack is terrific, by the way).
Overall, though, this is a terrific film that will haunt you - I'm still thinking about it a day later. Go and see it if you get a chance, if for no other reason than to see Brendan Gleeson, surely one of the most watchable actors alive right now.
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Comments
And it was filmed where I live in Co Sligo so I want to see where I can recognise.
One thing that I failed to make clear in my initial review is how monumentally good Brendan Gleeson's performance is - just mesmerising. On second viewing, I also withdraw my comments about Dylan Moran and the score; both are fine.
This is a stunning film. It's difficult to believe that this is only McDonagh's second feature film. The packed auditorium (Watershed, Bristol) was glued to the screen throughout and the silence at the film's conclusion was broken only by muffled weeping and discreet nose-blowing, such is the emotion conveyed on screen.
BTW if you're going to read online reviewws, avoid the Daily Telegraph (probably best to avoid it anyway;-)) as some twunt has posted a spoiler in the comments section.>:(
Superb - really clever, meaty and thought provoking. On the one hand it's a view of rural Ireland in the aftershock of Catholic scandals and economic disaster, at the same time it's much more than that.. but also less..
In a nutshell it's a very difficult film to describe in a nutshell!
I agree with you Trsvis, BG is absolutely monumental in this film, I thought he was superb in The Guard (he's always good) but this is another level again.
I disagree with you re Aiden Gillen though, I really rate him as an actor and thought he was well cast in this film..
One thing that I thought was very clever: With the likes of Chris O'Dowd & Dylan Moran I was expecting them to be giving a performance dripping with dark humour but they don't - there is some dark humour but a lot of it is about deep Irish melancholy, the humour, dark or otherwise takes much more of a back seat for this film IMO and for this film I feel it is better for it..