The Silence of the Church (2013 TV Movie) User Reviews

The silence of the lamb.

[dbdumonteil · 8/10 · 11 April 2013]

After the pope's apologies ,this made-for-TV work could not have come at a better time.

In his car,a young man (Robinson Stevenin) hears a church choir he was formerly part of ,and it brings back memories,harrowing memories;when he was about 12 ,he had an angel voice which helped him join a secondary school where the elite studies ;the principal was a pleasant middle age man who fell in love with the boy and abused him.

The story features numerous flashbacks ,which depicts the relationship with a great sense of decency ,from a "pure friendship" to "sexual relations".Robin Renucci gives a superlative performance of a nice-looking priest ,all-smile,who passes for a saint to some parents' eyes. In an interview he insists he did not want to portray his character as a monster but as a priest committed to his work;the way he seduces (and in a way blackmails)his victim is terrifying ("it will be our secret ,only God will know; you should not betray me,remember what Judas Iscariote did to our Lord;our love is sacred ").Mister Renucci gives a subdued performance,but a very effective one:even a smile or a look can be scary.Robinson Stevenin,playing opposite such a veteran ,manages quite well in his portrayal of a young man whose past comes back to haunt him :we feel his shame when he confesses:" I took pleasure when he fondled me".Anyway ,he was not the priest's first victim and one of the boys took his own life at 12.The movie insists that the bishop (who knew about his priest's tendencies)is also responsible for these horrors;hence the title "the silence of the churches".

A must-see.

The story of another child sexually abused by the Catholic Church

[bwoodin08 · 8/10 · 1 April 2014]

This well-made French film is not shy about showing all the shame and degradation of the victim, with the sanctioned cover-up for the priest, the bishop, and the whole hierarchy of the Catholic Church in its complicity of this horrific scandal in France. Too bad the only revelations on American TV are from programs like Frontline and news stories, which really don't tell the whole story in a narrative form with its obvious outcome. The only American film I'm aware of with an allusion to sexual abuse is "Doubt" and then it's peripheral.

Despite the new Pope's apology, and Benedict's lame one, (too little too late), the Church continues to cover up priests ghastly behavior in the U.S. The problem is world-wide, and yet even here in America we get apologists for the Church, instead of shame for its behavior, and little or no attention paid to victims, who are now getting "paid" for years of secrecy and their own sad and undeserved shame.

A very well done film, and Robinson Stevenin as Gabriel sees it through to a conclusion, and demands recognition by the Church at the highest level. Finally, he gets it, but long after suffering psychological damage that will never be healed by money or apologies.

good job

[Kirpianuscus · 17 June 2016]

a not comfortable theme. and great acting. a film who reminds one of the delicate problems of Catholic Church in a delicate, precise manner. the best, maybe, because not the case is the essence but the feelings, the transformation of a form of friendship in abuse, the grace of flash backs and the admirable performance of Robinson Stevenin. a film about solitude. and justice. and exorcism of the past. and the courage to give the truth. the manner to create his character of Robin Renucci is almost seductive. not the monster. only the victim of himself. image of not a character but portrait of a sinner who, seductive, charming, full of good intentions, popular and part of his social masks , front the rumors , accusations and proofs, defines a side of Church.a film who impress for its rare elegance. and for the right way to explore a delicate file of the Church.