Just Been Watching…(55)

~ beetleypete

Calvary (2014)

***No real spoilers***

This is an Irish film, written and directed by Stephen McDonagh. It is filmed on location in a small town on the coast of County Sligo, and also in Dublin. With a couple of exceptions, the cast is made up of Irish actors familiar to film and TV viewers in Britain and Ireland, as well as some internationally-known stars like Brendan Gleeson, who has the lead role of a priest, Father James. This priest is unusual though. He was married and has a daughter, coming late to the priesthood after the death of his wife. He has experience of life outside of the Catholic Church, and that shows in his style and demeanour.

It starts in the confessional, where a male voice is heard telling Father James a story about his childhood. How he was repeatedly sexually abused and raped by priests, from the age of seven. He makes no confession, and does not seek absolution. Instead, he informs James that he is going to kill him, to pay back the church for the sins committed on him as a child. He even gives a time and place, Sunday week, on the local beach. We don’t see the face of this man, but we are aware that the priest knows who he is, as he recognises his voice.

That sets the scene nicely. We now know that Father James has eight days to live, and that he knows the name of his assassin. After consulting his bishop, the priest decides that he will not inform the police, despite the threat not meeting the laws of the confessional. As each day appears on the screen, we follow Father James about his everyday business, visiting his parishioners, and holding church services. The locals are a disparate bunch indeed. An adulterous housewife, a cynical local doctor, a disillusioned bar-owner, a gay policeman, and an annoying male prostitute. He also has to deal with an aggressive African mechanic, and a cantankerous old American writer, who wants to commit suicide. (A lovely cameo from M. Emmet Walsh, who was around 80 at the time, and looks it)

This is no longer the old Ireland, where priests could do no wrong, and expected deference from the community. There is much mention of the sex scandals that have rocked the church in recent years. Father James is often openly mocked, and many of the inhabitants claim to no longer have any religious beliefs. His daughter arrives for a visit, from her home in London. She has recently split from a long-term lover, and has tried to kill herself, by cutting her wrists. The two take time to bond once again, and examine the changes in their relationship over the years. As Father James struggles with his family and community responsibilities, the days leading to the fateful Sunday are counted down on screen.

This film is unusual and highly intelligent. It could have taken so many familiar paths, but chose none of them. It questions religion, deals with the collapse of the European economy in 2008, and the changes in society in Ireland that have followed that country’s social and financial elevation in recent years. When Father James asks the adulterous woman what she really wants to do with her life, she answers “Nothing. Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin”. She quotes scripture back at the priest, to show him what she feels to be the pointlessness of life. Visiting a serial killer in prison, a local man who has killed and cannibalised young girls, he is told “If God made me, then he knew what I would become”. All around him, Father James’ life is unravelling, and Sunday is getting closer.

This really is a top-notch film. Brendan Gleeson, in one of his best roles by far, feels as if he was born to play Father James. English actress Kelly Reilly is just right as his troubled daughter too. As well as Walsh who I mentioned above, there is a string of impressive supporting actors. Dylan Moran as a lonely rich man, Aiden Gillen plays the cynical doctor, and Gleeson’s son, Domhnall, is the young serial killer, Freddy. One of the bigger roles goes to Chris O’Dowd, playing the town butcher, Jack. He may be known to you from parts in ‘Bridesmaids’, ‘Loving Vincent’, and the recent ‘Molly’s Game’. The scenery of Ireland plays its part too, with the rugged coast and rural setting adding to the overall atmosphere. Despite moments of laugh out loud comedy, and a witty and often sparkling script, this is not an easy film, with its dark undercurrents never far from the surface.
But I urge you to try to see it.

Here’s the trailer.

37 thoughts on “Just Been Watching…(55)”

  1. I’m sure I have this film on my list to watch (on my watchlist on Amazon Prime) and now I must make sure I watch it. I love Gleeson and you’ve given me even more reasons to watch it. Thanks for the recommendation, Pete.

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  4. I’ve seen this film a couple of times Pete. Excellent throughout and with so many quirky but but believable characters. As for Brendan Gleeson I have never seen him in a poor film, I loved him in Bruges too, a film which, oddly enough starts with the killing of a priest. Brian C.

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    1. According to his bishop, he could tell the police. As it is not a confession of a crime that has happened, rather a threat, and there was no request for absolution, it is beyond the bounds of the confessional. But Father James chooses not to involve the police, and to deal with it himself.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  14. The name Kelly Reilly rang a bell, so I looked her up. Aha! She’s in three movies I own: the two “Sherlock Holmes” films and “Mrs. Henderson Presents.” I have some familiarity with M. Emmet Walsh, as I’ve seen him in at least half a dozen films. But I’m not at all familiar with Brendan Gleeson, though I agree that he certainly looks like a priest, and has a distinctive look about him that would allow him to play a wide range of roles. I have to admit, as I was reading about Father James and the “disparate bunch” of parishioners, I couldn’t help but think of a certain Father Priestley and the wacky Catho Novas of Venice Beach.

    “He even gives a time and place, Sunday week, on the local beach.” Gee, if I were in Father James’s shoes, I’d just avoid the beach… This does look like a good film. Great trailer!

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    1. Thanks, David. Gleeson is very well known. ‘Braveheart’, ‘Gangs of New York’, ‘In Bruges’, ‘The General’, ‘Troy’, some Harry Potter films, ‘Cold Mountain’, and many more.
      Father James has to go to the beach of course, as his conscience tells him he has to meet the man who wants to kill him.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. I certainly did not recognize the actor’s face or his name, but, after reading your comment and then checking his filmography, I realized that I have seen him in at least seven films, the most recent one being “The Raven.”

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