... because you have all of the elements of an Oscar nominee there. There is a crisis of faith, a clash of logic versus faith, an extremely childlike woman accused of a most horribile crime, and fine acting, and a release date at the end of the year 1985, when the Academy tends to be paying attention. Problem is that the script really fails to tie anything together.
Agnes (Meg Tilly) is a young childlike nun who, in spite of her seeming innocence, has given birth to a baby with the newborn found dead in the waste basket in her room, seemingly murdered by Agnes. Psychiatrist Martha Livingston (Jane Fonda) is tasked by the court to interview Agnes and determine if she is fit to stand trial. She finds resistance in Mother Miriam (Ann Bancroft), who believes the baby was divinely conceived.
Livingston does more than just interview Agnes, as that wouldn't be a very engaging film. She turns in to the Canadian Columbo and unearths some unexpected details in the process that really have nothing to do with Agnes' fitness for trial. Livingston has long sense lost her faith, worn down by life, and by a mother who is in the throes of dementia and doesn't even know who she is. She is also dedicated to science, so this divine conception mumbo jumbo she is just not buying.
It is weird when Agnes becomes hysterical and then demonstrates the stigmata. But then I had an anti-vaxxer colleague once who had hysterical chickenpox after I told her I had a shingles shot. She had already had chickenpox as a child. Had I not told her about the shingles shot would she have broken out in hives? If Agnes had not known about the stigmata would she have demonstrated this phenomenon?
The reason I have a spoiler warning on this review is, after the plot goes in circles longer than I had patience with it, and demonstrates more secret passage ways in the convent than a medieval torture chamber, the cause of the baby's birth is revealed to be exactly what you'd expect it to be. Some peasant boy romancing Agnes, bedding Agnes - perhaps raping her, with the result being pregnancy. Agnes just wasn't knowledgeable enough about the facts of life to know what happened to her. Why some people keep saying that the cause of her pregnancy is left unresolved I have no idea.
I give it five stars as a fine demonstration of the acting craft.
Agnes (Meg Tilly) is a young childlike nun who, in spite of her seeming innocence, has given birth to a baby with the newborn found dead in the waste basket in her room, seemingly murdered by Agnes. Psychiatrist Martha Livingston (Jane Fonda) is tasked by the court to interview Agnes and determine if she is fit to stand trial. She finds resistance in Mother Miriam (Ann Bancroft), who believes the baby was divinely conceived.
Livingston does more than just interview Agnes, as that wouldn't be a very engaging film. She turns in to the Canadian Columbo and unearths some unexpected details in the process that really have nothing to do with Agnes' fitness for trial. Livingston has long sense lost her faith, worn down by life, and by a mother who is in the throes of dementia and doesn't even know who she is. She is also dedicated to science, so this divine conception mumbo jumbo she is just not buying.
It is weird when Agnes becomes hysterical and then demonstrates the stigmata. But then I had an anti-vaxxer colleague once who had hysterical chickenpox after I told her I had a shingles shot. She had already had chickenpox as a child. Had I not told her about the shingles shot would she have broken out in hives? If Agnes had not known about the stigmata would she have demonstrated this phenomenon?
The reason I have a spoiler warning on this review is, after the plot goes in circles longer than I had patience with it, and demonstrates more secret passage ways in the convent than a medieval torture chamber, the cause of the baby's birth is revealed to be exactly what you'd expect it to be. Some peasant boy romancing Agnes, bedding Agnes - perhaps raping her, with the result being pregnancy. Agnes just wasn't knowledgeable enough about the facts of life to know what happened to her. Why some people keep saying that the cause of her pregnancy is left unresolved I have no idea.
I give it five stars as a fine demonstration of the acting craft.