Priest (1994)

A homosexual Catholic priest finds out during confessional that a young girl is being sexually abused by her father, and has to decide how to deal with both that secret and his own.

Director:

Antonia Bird

Writer:

Jimmy McGovern

Stars:

Linus Roache, Tom Wilkinson, Robert Carlyle

4 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

A young Catholic priest, Father Greg Pilkington, joins an inner-city parish. In confession a teenage girl reveals how her father is molesting her, leaving Father Pilkington in a quandary. Equally vexing to the priest is his own sexual orientation.

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Plot Keywords:

church | catholic priest | homosexual | sexual repression | liverpool england | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for depiction of mature themes involving sexuality

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.

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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.

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Quotes

Father Greg Pilkington: And how would you feel if someone robbed your car?
Boy Car Thief: I haven't got one.
Father Greg Pilkington: Well, suppose you did.
Boy Car Thief: I'd get a weed-on.
Father Greg Pilkington: Exactly. I'd get a... weed-on too.
Boy Car Thief: You haven't got a car.
Father Greg Pilkington: Well, what about Father Matthew?
Boy Car Thief: No one would wanna rob his car, would they?
Father Greg Pilkington: Because he's a priest?
Boy Car Thief: Because it's crap!

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Alternate Versions

The US version has been cut by seven minutes.

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Connections

Featured in Queerama (2017)

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Soundtracks

He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother
Composed by Bob Russell & Bobby Scott
Published by Harrison Music Corporation & Jenny Music
Administered by Chelsea Music Publishing Co. Ltd.

User Reviews

Intensely moving and moral film

I just re-watched Priest after 12 years, and I think it is even more powerful and relevant now it was then, given the scandals in the Catholic Church and the rise of religious militancy and fundamentalism in the world.

While occasionally teetering on the brink of preachiness and soap opera, Priest is saved by tight direction and very fine acting. It effectively shows the humaness of people in the Church, as opposed to how some would have you believe.

As a person not all attached to organized religion, I obviously find much to approve of here. But the strength of Priest is that someone who loves the Catholic Church for what is really is, the teachings of Jesus, and not what cruel, irrational and ignorant human beings have made of it will find much to be enriched by here. Priest is not anti-Catholic at all, not in the true sense of the word. Rather, it is anti human folly.

Of course that segment that is fundamentalist and inflexible, who cannot imagine - horrors! - that a Priest could be gay have and will continue to express their moral outrage and call this "hate speech."

As a final note, I also happened to read Roger Ebert's inexplicible review of Priest. If I hadn't seen his name on it, I would think it was written by Michael Medved. Since Ebert is generally religion neutral and very gay positive, I simply don't understand his outrage at all - very puzzling indeed. And he gives Mel's hideous Passion of the Christ, one of the most immoral and disgusting movies ever made (again most especially if you ARE religious) a perfect 10.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

UK

Language:

Latin English

Release Date:

24 March 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Priest

Filming Locations:

Blundellsands, Merseyside, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$113,430, 26 March 1995

Gross USA:

$4,165,845

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,165,845

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Miramax, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1