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Reviews
The Chosen (2017)
Sincere surprise
A lot of times there are movies that are based on Christ that are hokie and poorly executed. I have to say, the series is extremely cinematic and beautiful in its visual approach. The story is fresh way of telling the gospel story from those real life people on the periphery of Jesus' ministry, i.e.: Nicodemus, the Apostles, Mary Magdalene etc.. By connecting to these characters often and early makes the impact they have when they encounter Jesus just that much more powerful and moving. The writing is fantastic, witty, funny, and real-to-life dialogue that I can buy into. Lastly, the performances are perfect. I'm not sure who a lot of the performers are, but they all bring a convincing and "connective tissue" to their characters that make them real and relevant. I'm sure the directing had a huge role in helping them accomplish this with the actor/director relationship. This series is a must see for anyone looking for an honest depiction of the gospel story even if you are a non believer, the episodes won't disappoint if you like genuine storytelling.
The Young Pope (2016)
3 some disappointment
I was really enjoying this show until the "Three Some" scene in episode 6. As a practicing Catholic and an artist I was keeping an open mind. The story line and characters are worth delving into the "what if". Intriguing circumstances with Pope Pius the XIII led to good healthy conversation with my family. The cinematography and camera was very "Italian" and wonderfully composed. But alas, like all shows on HBO/Showtime, they had to go "gay". I can understand depicting priest as gay, because that's reality, but the need to show graphically the sexual act shows a lack of artistry and creativity from a filmmaker of whom I was beginning to appreciate. But now I can't show this show to my family and have a healthy conversation about our Church and our faith due to scenes like this that may pop up. One may say it's adult content, preview then show to my family. However regarding the above mentioned scene, I don't think there's anyone adult enough to see such a thing depicted on screen and not be affected adversely. It was very disturbing and unhealthy depiction of love and sex. Paola Sorrentino you bummed me out! Orson Wells said, "The enemy of art is the absence of limitations". Sorrentino and HBO you could be well served to take this to heart. You lost a fan.
San Pietro (2005)
In Short: The film is about the life of the early Church after Jesus' Crucifixion and how St. Peter led them until his death in Rome
I'm sorry to burst any religious bubbles here, but it was one of the most disappointing portrayals of this amazing time of Church history I have ever seen. I was very excited when I saw this film in the video store and with Easter coming up. I thought it would be a very appropriate for the time of year. I also was excited to see Omar Sharif as St. Peter and I thought this movie was going to be pretty good. Omar Sharif didn't disappoint, however, just about everything else did. With one exception: The cinematography, which was quite beautiful at times.
However the acting was terrible. I was trying to figure out why their voices were out of sync, and I thought, "Oh well it's an Italian film." But Sharif's mouth as did other actor's seemed to be speaking English. There are few who looked like they were speaking another language (assume Italian) hence the dub, but the majority was terribly out of sync. It's listed as an English speaking film, so I don't know what happened. To be honest, I think "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" was in better sync.
The direction was something to be desired. It almost seemed as if the director Giulio Base did one take on everything and said, "That'll work, let's fix it in post if needed". When it seemed that Base was trying to create an "individual moment", it only worked because of Sharif. However, with the dubbing/sync issues some of it was absolutely laughable. Especially whenever the character Mark (Possibly the Gospel Author) would cry (Which seemed to be more than my 3 year old daughter). It just wasn't believable.
The story itself seemed relevant and historically plausible until we get to Rome and we're introduced to a fictional, forbidden, love story and to a fictional slave family, whose father is a masked gladiator. This is when the wheels fell off completely for me. The story moves into the realm of nonsense and it's unclear what is fact and what is fiction. In Rome, all of a sudden these two fictionalized B & C story lines are introduced after almost 90 minutes into the film. I didn't care about these people, I cared about Peter and Paul and wanted to know what happened to them, the other stories just seemed thrown in there by a studio or executive producers thinking we needed a love story. It was a distraction rather than an enhancement.
If one of the underlying objectives of this film is to show Rome and St. Peter as the beginning of the Papacy and the establishment of the Holy See then this fictional tale of this family and the two forbidden lovers just deflates the authority of this story. In addition, the gladiator fight scenes looked like two 10 year-olds playing Power Rangers on their front lawn. The "out of the blue" conversion at the end of the Roman official who hated Peter and resisted Christianity the whole time is never addressed, but he's given the final words as St. Peter hangs from the cross to the effect, "All of Rome has changed because of you Peter". Why on earth would you allow that, in addition to people just sitting around as if Peter is being crucified in their living room? If this happened like this I don't know, but due to above mentioned fictional aspects of the film I doubt the scenes accuracy. The only aspect that I do know was true was Peter being crucified upside down and the words he used, which were beautiful "I am not worthy to die in same manner as our Lord".
I don't even want to get started on the editing, which had no rhythm and pulled us out of scenes like smelling salt did to Apollo Creed in Rocky I & II. Editor Alessandro Lucidi as is Base, is no strangers to this genre. However if the director doesn't give you anything to cut out from to cut to then you're stuck with what you have I guess.
The story was too spoon fed for me, almost written for a 12 year old audience. I would recommend the film for Catholic school students grades 4th 8th. I don't think a lot of Evangelicals or Protestants would approve of the story due to its portrayal (however true it may be) of the establishment of Rome as the "Heart of Christ Church" as Sharif's St. Peter put it. However, maybe somehow the Holy Spirit can overcome the obstacles of this film and deliver the message it was trying to make to those mentioned above. I just think the filmmakers missed a great opportunity to deliver a powerful and true story. Peter and Paul keep talking about "The Truth" but in the context of this film "The Truth" comes into question. I have feeling the producers might have come into the edit bay after the director's cut and really messed this film up, because I can't buy that Base would make the decisions he made.