Hey, Tim Jones here, again. Hoping JA.O's resident film critic par excellence, Steven D. Greydanus, might have some more information or thoughts on this project;
It looks like Jose Maria Escriva, founder of the Catholic organization Opus Dei, is the subject of a movie soon to be out in theaters.
The movie has finished shooting and is in post-production under the watchful eye of director Roland Joffe, who also directed The Killing Fields and The Mission.
I haven't seen The Killing Fields, but The Mission
I thought was a great film, and in one particular sequence gave one of
the most powerful demonstrations of the value of penance I've ever
seen. Not so much the value of penance in what they call the Economy of
Salvation, but the deep human need for meaningful penance… the longing all spiritually healthy people have to do something to make up for our selfish acts.
This is not at all
to say that we can earn our salvation through acts of penance apart
from the grace of God. Without his grace, we could not even begin to
repent, and our actions would be worthless.
Repentance and the desire
to do penance is one of the surest indications of the working of God's
grace, so the idea that acts of penance – actions we take to help make
up for our sins – are somehow opposed to faith is self contradictory.
Our sins can be forgiven only through the shed blood of Christ, but
that does not relieve us of the responsibility to do all we can to contribute to the process of our own salvation (which is also called "sanctification" – they are two names for the same process).
Anyway,
I'm sure members of Opus Dei will be looking forward to the film, as I
will be. It sounds pretty highly fictionalized, but Joffe is reportedly
sympathetic to the teachings of Jose Maria Escriva. I hope the movie
provides some cultural balance to counter the loony speculation that
followed in the wake of The Da Vinci Code.
(This was cross-posted at Tim Jones' blog Old World Swine)
Movie thread at Arts & Faith (so far only a couple of posts with news items compiled by my friend Peter Chattaway)
Yep, it’s pretty exciting. Joffe is a notable talent.
How come no one ever mentions that “The Mission” includes a defense of infanticide?
“How come no one ever mentions that “The Mission” includes a defense of infanticide? ”
Don’t know. It’s been quite a while since I saw the movie, and that didn’t come to mind.
It’s one of the reasons I dislike the movie intensely and was surprised the Vatican put it on an all-time great movie list.
It not only defends infanticide but is deceptive about doing so. It only comes up during the “inquisition” scene at the end when the “evil” cleric accuses the young priest of standing by and doing nothing to stop the tribe from abandoning third children.
Here’s the deception: the movie never shows this happening. It never shows a tribal couple laying down their child in the jungle to die a horrible death. The movie couldn’t show that in “real time” because if it did the audience would be revolted and (rightly) lose all sympathy for the hero.
Instead, we are given an explanation that, if memory served me right, makes it all seem good and pro-ecological. But offstage, of course.
I’m told that the best time to see the movie is when it first comes out, on the first week-end, and not later. Apparently this will have an impact on how long it stays in the theaters. It will be a fictionalised about forgiveness, but with good consultants, so that at least the figure of Saint Josemaria Escriva will be on the mark.
I am looking forward to this film. It sounds very exciting and well made.
Tim, you really should make an effort to see The Killing Fields. In fact, I think that everybody should see that movie to get an idea of what can happen when a fanatical government comes to power.