PRIEST
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1995 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule: A young and idealistic priest is
forced to choose between two evils, one is
immediate and personal, one is more abstract but
more fundamental to the beliefs of the Catholic
Church. Gad, I love a film that presents a
sophisticated moral dilemma, treats the audience as
adults, and gives no pat answers. Rating: low +3
(-4 to +4)
Even the most idealistic laws can be only an approximation of justice. Criminals who hurt other people can hide behind the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. They are given that right by the law so that the law can be used to prevent larger injustices. In A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS the character Sir Thomas More puts it extremely succinctly by saying, "I give the Devil benefit of law for my own safety's sake." (That is a great scene, by the way. I consider it the best single scene in any film I know.) What is true of the laws of this country is also true of the laws of the Catholic Church. It is a terrible responsibility to have to allow in the name of a law a very bad evil to continue in order to serve a greater good. And that is the responsibility that nearly destroys the young and idealistic Father Greg in Antonia Byrd's PRIEST, a film from a powerful screenplay by Jimmy McGovern.
Father Greg (played by Linus Roache) is a young and high-minded priest sent a rough Liverpool parish. He is there to replace an older priest who was fired when he fell from favor with his superiors. "Time to move on, old son," they told him insensitively. His replacement is Father Greg, who has little sympathy for priests or parishioners who do not live by the rules of the Church. This immediately puts him into conflict with Father Matthew (Tom Wilkinson), the other presiding priest of the parish. Matthew is more worldly and more tolerant of failure and sin. The two priests immediately have philosophical differences effectively over whether to follow the letter or the spirit of church law. But any chance Matthew might have in convincing Greg is lost when Greg discovers Matthew is sleeping with the housekeeper, Maria Kerrigan (Cathy Tyson). This is just the sort of decadence that Father Greg abhors, but he cannot completely condemn, knowing that secretly he himself has desires that would make him a sinner in the eyes of the Church. Greg, who came to Liverpool reasonably confident that he has all the answers, finds to his shock that there are questions deeper than his answers go. Like the main character in Nathaniel West's MISS LONELYHEARTS, Greg is unprepared for the real- world problems of the people around him. Soon all this is overwhelmed by his learning in the confessional of a terrible evil going on. He cannot take action without breaking his vow to protect the seal of privacy of the confessional. His choice of protecting the Church at the expense of one of his parishioners, combined with his knowledge that he is breaking other Church rules, places him in the jaws of a crushing moral dilemma.
The cast of PRIEST is mostly unfamiliar--the exceptions being Cathy Tyson of MONA LISA and John Bennett, a veteran of 70's horror films and episodes of "Doctor Who," here playing a priest so straight- laced and old school he insists on speaking in Latin over dinner. Still the acting is magnetic with especially good performances from Roache and Wilkinson.
It is perhaps ironic that members of the Catholic Church should choose this film to protest. McGovern's script could easily have made the Church appear entirely wrong. A lesser writer might have done that. Most American films make it obvious which side is correct in any conflict. But the dilemma in this film really is a dilemma and there are good arguments on each side. McGovern leaves it to the viewer to decide whether Greg has done the right thing or not. That is genuinely refreshing. I give PRIEST a low +3 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mark.leeper@att.com
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