Photo/Calvary Movie
Calvary is a darkly comic Irish indie film. Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges, The Company You Keep) plays a simple country priest on the coast of Ireland who hears a confession from someone in his small flock who threatens to kill him in a week’s time.
Rather than actively investigate, though he has the assurance of his Bishop an investigation won’t violate the sanctity of the Confessional, the priest, Father James, decides to do as the would-be killer says and “get his house in order.”
Over the next few days, the Father begins to crack as he sees his church burn, his dog gets slain, and he relapses into alcoholism.
Calvary’s central focus is how Father James relates to those in his parish, including his estranged daughter (Kelly Reilly). And many of them seem to bear some spite toward him, and the Church.
However, the film is less a religious thriller and more a melodrama tinged with black comedy, plus elements of a murder mystery and art cinema.
Subtle but vivid clues about the assassin’s identity are dropped throughout – in dream sequences, dynamic compositions, and a great deal of exposition – narrowing it down to a handful of male characters (though that might not be the whole story).
Gleeson delivers an Oscar-worthy, star-making performance (he has a few of those already to his credit), as the tortured clergyman willfully meeting his fate; and JM McDonagh – clearly a fan of Robert Bresson, Godard, and all the greats – directs with the soul and sensitivity of a French cinema from 60 years ago.
But this is a quintessentially Irish picture. Breathtaking cinematography of the landscape makes Ireland a character in itself (and the locals are certainly as outspoken and heavy-drinking as the Irish are accused of being).
Catholic life and doctrine figure heavily too, almost indivisible from Irish identity, yet stuck seeing things from the outside.
Calvary is a visceral, unflinching look into another culture; as well as a personal spiritual journey that proves there is still room at the box office for deep, affecting character-driven drama alongside the whiz-bang blockbusters.
All audiences can, and should, appreciate its spirit and inventiveness. Calvary hit select theaters August 1.
