Calvary (2014)

After he is threatened during a confession, a good-natured priest must battle the dark forces closing in around him.

Director:

John Michael McDonagh

Writer:

John Michael McDonagh

Stars:

Brendan Gleeson, Chris O'Dowd, Kelly Reilly

9 wins & 28 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brendan Gleeson	...	Father James
Chris O'Dowd	...	Jack Brennan
Kelly Reilly	...	Fiona Lavelle
Aidan Gillen	...	Dr. Frank Harte
Dylan Moran	...	Michael Fitzgerald
Isaach De Bankolé	...	Simon
M. Emmet Walsh	...	The Writer
Marie-Josée Croze	...	Teresa
Domhnall Gleeson	...	Freddie Joyce
David Wilmot	...	Father Leary
Pat Shortt	...	Brendan Lynch
Gary Lydon	...	Inspector Stanton
Killian Scott	...	Milo Herlihy
Orla O'Rourke	...	Veronica Brennan
Owen Sharpe	...	Leo

Storyline

Father James is a small-town priest in Ireland whose Sunday confessionals suddenly include a threat to kill him in a week's time as a matter of principle. Deeply troubled and conflicted about how to respond, Father James tries to go on with his calling through that week. However, that proves impossible as he is confronted with a troubling variety of spiritual challenges from both his estranged daughter and his own parishioners. In those dispiriting struggles, Father James' life begins to fall apart as time runs out towards a confrontation that seems to crystallize his values and what he wants his life to be.

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Plot Keywords:

priest | death threat | confessional | catholic church | priest's daughter | 

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Taglines:

Killing a priest on a Sunday. That'll be a good one.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual references, language, brief strong violence and some drug use

Details

Official Sites:

FOX Searchlight [United States] Official Facebook

Country:

Ireland UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 April 2014 (Ireland)

Also Known As:

Calvario

Filming Locations:

Rush, County Dublin, Ireland

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$956,273 (United Kingdom), 11 April 2014, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$74,149, 3 August 2014, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$3,593,460, 10 October 2014

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Screen Ireland, British Film Institute (BFI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the final scene, Brendan Gleeson's character says he regrets never having finished Moby-Dick. In the movie "In the Heart of the Sea" he plays the role of Thomas Nickerson, a cabin boy who survived whaleship Essex that inspired Herman Melville to write Moby-Dick.

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Quotes

Father James Lavelle: Do you use pornography at home?
Milo Herlihy: I feel I've exhausted all the possibilities of pornography.
Father James Lavelle: All of them?
Milo Herlihy: Well, nearly all of them. I'm on to transexual pornography at the moment. Chicks with dicks, you know.

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Crazy Credits

The closing credits are inter-cut with empty shots of every main location that Father James Lavelle and his daughter Fiona had a significant conversation in.

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Connections

Featured in Film '72: Episode dated 5 March 2014 (2014)

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Soundtracks

One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer
Written and Performed by Rudy Toombs
Performed by Amos Milburn
Published by EMI United Partnership Ltd.
Licensed Courtesy of EMI Records Ltd.

User Reviews

The Gray Area of the Religion Debate

Over the years, the exact prevalence of religion—once a practice of every living individual—has begun to diminish. Even a land that predominantly houses Catholicism has seen many members stray from its church doors and holy hands. Father James Lavelle, a priest played by Brendan Gleeson, seems to be a hopeless believer who's surrounded by a heap of obnoxious, disrespectful townsfolk—a priest who seeks to absolve humanity from the remnants of sin that still plague it, still naïve enough to realize that goal is frankly impossible. In a world of drunkards, murderers, adulterers, rapists—there is no saving grace. This determined idea of forgiveness and cleansing fixed into Father James' devout mind might very well be his downfall—an idea of terrible ignorance, especially considering the fact that he belongs to a faith organization that has persistently concealed atrocious acts of child sexual abuse and the like for many decades.

Are these mean-spirited neighbors not justified in staring at this priest as if they were to spit in his face any minute, bearing in mind his profession and ties? Parents of this town are frightened for their kids, and though Gleeson in particular is good-natured and harmless, the mere sight of him accompanying a pre-adolescent immediately distresses the mother and father as they instantly grab their child with disgust on their face pointed at this poor old man. But again, the situation is so complicated and the multifarious angles described in such a predicament can be deemed understandable from the appropriate perspective. Those parents don't know Father James to the extent that we do, and to them, he's another one from the Catholic Church.

Despite being an Atheist myself, Calvary nonetheless paints a complex picture of a world divided—a film of great depth in its spirituality and philosophy. The majority of the movie is spent in local pubs and homes, laying witness to rich conversations between Gleeson and struggling townspeople whether it concerns his suicidal daughter (Kelly Reilly), a corrupt, yet conscience-stricken, banker (Dylan Moran), or an elderly man on the brink of death, enjoying the sound of a typewriter's clinking as he writes his final story (M. Emmet Walsh). A grim and depressing film this sure is, yet markedly powerful and thought-provoking as well. It advances on to ask questions and leaves us in wonderment. From an atheistic standpoint, it still left me with sympathy for this goodhearted man despite the fact that he was a downright preacher.

At the start, it seems like Gleeson's authority reigns supreme over the town. Being a priest, the people address him as so and welcome him to tête-à-tête, but as the narrative progresses, these same people increase in hostility and insolence as if the events over the past few days have suddenly changed their position. Once again, one of the most important issues this tale touches on is the infamous string of rape cases within the church hierarchy. In Ireland, alone, an influx of 9000 statutory rape reports came in in a single day when child sexual abuse truly came to light back in the 1970's—back when the hypocritical wickedness behind those sanctimonious quarters was gradually revealing itself to the faithful and the doubters alike.

And in this case, Calvary begins with an unknown individual who enters the confessional to discuss his prior sins with Gleeson only to actually begin spouting his utter anger at the church, recalling his years of youth when he "first tasted semen at the mere age of 7." His abhorrence for the clergy has stayed with him to this day and to the point where he vows to murder an innocent priest (Gleeson) as he was once attacked as an innocent boy—the desecration of purity or decency (though this man is not aware of the fact that Father James was once an alcoholic and fought with his own fair share of sins; he's not exactly the most guiltless being anyway).

Similar to last year's Philomena, Calvary emphasizes and criticizes the various facets that have wounded the Catholic Church's public image and forever changed many people's views of these institutions. Now, this movie is quite interesting on a tonal level because at times, it can be exhaustingly tragic and somber, but at the same time—every now and then— the witty style of the script will force you to guffaw at the expense of very serious subject matter. It's a tricky area, but Calvary's particular genre would best be listed as "dark, dark comedy"—the darkest of black comedies. Nevertheless, its mixture of humor, sincere/thoughtful themes, and a memorably tragic tale allowed this drama to cast its lasting effects into my mind long after I've concluded it.

Even though its stance and thematic material is substantially more ambiguous in comparison to Philomena's and some of the motives are left frustratingly opaque to the audience, the film just couldn't leave my thoughts. I would instantly recall its melancholy, Celtic score, its gorgeous and gloomily-lit cinematography (notice that the film cuts from the increasing hopelessness/bleakness of the narrative to shots of roaring waves and darkened nature as if to symbolize the ineluctable storm that the ultimate end of this tale is to bring), and the soulful emotion that drives the narrative forward. Calvary, much like another recent picture (A Most Wanted Man), delves you into contemplation over heavily controversial issues that continue to bedevil society into perpetual argument.