Priest (1994)

Director:

Antonia Bird

Writer:

Jimmy McGovern (writer)

Release Date:

24 March 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

In a world of rituals, in a place of secrets, a man must choose between keeping the faith and exposing the truth.

Plot:

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...

Plot Keywords:

Priest | Love | Church | God | Confession

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Linus Roache	...	Father Greg Pilkington
Tom Wilkinson	...	Father Matthew Thomas
Robert Carlyle	...	Graham
Cathy Tyson	...	Maria Kerrigan
Lesley Sharp	...	Mrs. Unsworth
Robert Pugh	...	Mr. Unsworth
James Ellis	...	Father Ellerton
Christine Tremarco	...	Lisa Unsworth
Paul Barber	...	Charlie
Rio Fanning	...	Bishop
Jim R. Coleman	...	Funeral director
Bill Dean	...	Altar boy
Gilly Coman	...	Ellie Molloy
Fred Pearson	...	Patrick
Jimmy Gallagher	...	Mick Molloy

MPAA:

Rated R for depiction of mature themes involving sexuality.

Runtime:

105 min | USA:98 min | Argentina:98 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:18 | Iceland:12 | South Korea:18 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-16 | Germany:12 (w) | Hong Kong:III | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Blundellsands, Merseyside, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Director Antonia Bird cut a scene of Linus Roache's bare buttocks to ensure only an R rating in the USA.

Goofs:

Continuity: 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.

Quotes:

Charge Sergeant: [Father Pilkington is being charged with public indecency] Occupation?
[Father Pilkington is too embarrassed to answer]
Charge Sergeant: What's your job?
Father Greg Pilkington: Priest.
Charge Sergeant: Catholic?
Father Greg Pilkington: [quietly] Yes.
Charge Sergeant: [grinning] You little devil!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Italiensk for begyndere (2000)

Soundtrack:

ANYONE WHO HAD A HEART

Strong, complex, well-acted religious drama

You need to have watched a few BBC dramas, and like the style in order to really appreciate this film. It may seem slow in the eyes of viewers used with the American cinema approach, but I tremor to the thought of how Hollywood could have spoiled this film, and I am happy that the script fell in Brits hands first. 'Priest' is a complex film, dealing with hard issues of incest and homo-sexuality, but first with the conflict between the priest mission as a moral leader and the Procustian laws of the Catholic church he needs to obeye by. The ideological content may be controversial for many, it was partly for me as well, but I cannot help admiring the well kept balance, the dramatic tension, and the masterful way the excellent team of actors is filling the roles. I wonder how comes that Linus Roache is not a bigger star after having made this film about one decade ago. He certainly deserves to be in the same line as some of his generation colleagues who have succeeded that well in American and world cinema.

Yes, the film is controversial, you may not agree with some of the ideas and it looks sometimes as a cinema manifest, but it is still a good and human film. I less liked the final, which is the only place in the script where art logic seems to surrender to the religious concepts. 9/10 on my personal scale.