Edit
Storyline
Father Greg Pilkington (Linus Roache) is torn between his call as a conservative Catholic priest and his secret life as a homosexual with a gay lover, frowned upon by the Church. Upon hearing the confession of a young girl of her incestuous father, Greg enters an intensely emotional spiritual struggle deciding between choosing morals over religion and one life over another. Written by
Eric Chor <spiritcircle@yahoo.com>
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
Taglines:
In a world of rituals, in a place of secrets, a man must choose between keeping the faith and exposing the truth.
See more »
Edit
Did You Know?
Trivia
The Catholic Church in Ireland were very vocal about their views in having the film banned from theatrical distribution. The film censor disagreed and the film was released with an 18 certificate. This marked a major turning point in the relationship between the church and the Irish Film Censor board.
See more »
Goofs
Father Greg holds up a communion wafer which is smooth. The scene cuts to Graham and then back to Father Greg, and the wafer has a diagonal line across it.
See more »
Quotes
Father Greg Pilkington:
They used to ask us a question when we were in seminary: a man comes up to you in confession and tells you that he's poisoned the altar wine. Do you go out and say Mass? I had no problem with it; I'd go out and drink the wine. I suppose there's a little of the martyr in all of us.
See more »
Connections
Referenced in
Italian for Beginners (2000)
See more »
Soundtracks
"THE FIELDS OF ATHENRY"
Composed by
Pete St. John
Published by Celtic Music
See more »
A young handsome Catholic priest Fathrer Greg (Linus Roache) starts at a new parish in London. He butts heads with the older and more lenient Father Matthew (Tom Wilkinson) but they become friends. But Greg is gay and sneaks out to gay bars to meet men. He meets up with Graham (Robert Carlyle) and they fall in love--but Greg feels guilty about it. Also a young girl tells him in confession that her father is sexually using her--but he can't tell anybody. Slowly these two issues start to drive him crazy...
Excellent drama. This was attacked by the Catholic church (who didn't see it) as being anti-Catholic. Director Antonia Bird said she wasn't trying to blast the Catholic church--and she doesn't! She's pointing out some issues that the Catholic church has and should be dealt with. The church is not demonized--they show the good and the bad. The film is well-written--I never thought theological discussions could be interesting but they are! Also they don't pull back--there is some extreme anti-gay language but it is needed for the story. The sex scenes between Carlyle and Roache are pretty tame though--especially in the American version where they're edited (stupid censors!).
The acting is superb. Carlyle is just excellent: Wilkinson was also good but Roache is just incredible. You see the pain in his face and feel his struggle trying to reconcile his faith with his orientation. The most powerful sequence comes when he breaks down in front of a cross begging God to help him.
I don't want to make it sound like this is all gloom and doom. There are some very funny moments mixed in too. The ending is sad but realistic (unfortunately). A powerful and moving film. A must-see. 10 all the way.