Mother Teresa: In the Name of God's Poor (1997)

Director:

Kevin Connor

Writers (WGA):

Jan Hartman (story) &
Dominique LaPierre (story) ...

Release Date:

5 October 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Plot:

This is the true story of Mother Teresa, beginning in Calcutta, India, where she faces adversity from every direction and where she lays the foundation for her crusade to help the poorest of Gods poor. |

Plot Keywords:

Mother Teresa | Apostrophe In Title | Punctuation In Title | Nun | Religion

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Geraldine Chaplin	...	Mother Theresa
Keene Curtis	...	Father Van Exem
Helena Carroll	...	Mother Superior
David Byrd	...	Archbishop
William Katt	...	Harry Harper
Ravindra Randeniya	...	Police chief
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Belle Connor	...	Lorete Pupil
Neil Daluwatte	...	Deputy Commissioner
Chamintha De Silva	...	Charu
Upali De Silva	...	Angry Worshipper
Nimmi Harasgama	...	Christina
Sunil Hettiarachchi	...	Bald Man
Veena Jayakody	...	Charu Ma
W. Jayasiri	...	Mr. Goma
Leonie Kotalawela	...	Hospital Nurse
Hemasiri Liyanage	...	Manik
Saumya Liyanage	...	Student Leader
Anna Mathias
Cornelia Hayes O'Herlihy
Yolanda Peiris	...	Mabel Goma
Hilarian Perera	...	Dying Brahmin
Prageeth Sanjeeva	...	Jyoti
Roger Seneviratne	...	Student Leader
Alan Shearman
Peter Shepherd	...	Nobel Official
Sangeetha Weeraratne
Nilanthi Wijesinghe	...	Mrs. Goma
Yashoda Wimaladharma

Also Known As:

Mutter Teresa (Germany)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

UK | Germany | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Company:

Family Channel, The

An honorable try at capturing a great spirit

Geraldine Chaplin is too refined-looking to play Mother Teresa. Her nose is too patrician; her eyes too elegant. Her being cast here poses the same problem that I had when watching Ingrid Bergman play Golda Meir or Dorothy McGuire in "The Enchanted Cottage." But Chaplin digs her heels in boldly, and never turns her eyes away from the formidable task at hand. It's this resolvedness that gives this movie what little vitality it has. The movie itself is a dull account of Mother Teresa's life as a missionary to the poor of Calcutta. It chooses to present the facts as if it were reporting it to a disinterested group of her peers. This may seem appropriate for a stoic, but it doesn't explain why people were so moved by this woman. And what is reported is fudged anyway. Imagine a story about Mother Teresa's life with no speech about abortion. The moviemakers treat her condescendingly; she's relegated to the status of a well-loved grandmother whom the family locks in her room when company is expected, because she might embarrass them.

There isn't even any mention of the controversy that rose around her when she accepted money from cheats and tyrants. What good is a soul with its sight on Christ without controversy and crosses and the memory of His Passion? What good is a movie that avoids the thorns of religious fervor, that settles for a trite appeal to us to be more giving?

The movie sings in monotone--like an annoying mantra. At least "The Song of Bernadette" had moments of rapture to look back on. But "Mother Teresa" is flat. It's as if the reverberations she set off fell on deaf ears, and the poorest of the poor were still left wanting.