"Calvary," directed by John Michael McDonagh ("The Guard") premiered locally at the 2014 Indianapolis Film Festival last Friday night. Currently doing the rounds on the festival circuit, including turns at Sundance and the Berlin International Film Festival, "Calvary" is a stirring drama that is both bleak and inspiring as it examines questions of faith, duty, and mortality.
"Calvary" stars Brendan Gleeson ("In Bruges") as Father James Lavelle, who is a Catholic priest ministering to a rural Irish community and — more importantly — a good man. The film begins with a close up of Father Lavelle in a confessional. "I'm going to kill you, Father" says an unseen man, a parishioner whose identity Father Lavelle knows well. The troubled man explains that he was abused sexually as a child by another priest who died some time ago, so vengeance against his abuser is not an option. However, as the voice explains, "There's no point in killing a bad priest... But killing a good one? That'd be a shock." The voice gives Father Lavelle until the following Sunday, one week, to put his affairs in order before he returns to kill him.
And so the countdown begins towards Father Lavelle's own personal Calvary. Like the hill where Jesus was crucified, it is a place where Lavelle's faith will be put to the ultimate test. Will Lavelle break his vows and violate the sanctity of confession by identifying his would-be killer to the authorities, or will he turn the other cheek and leave things in God's hands even if it means his death?
The film follows Father Lavelle over the course of the week as he wrestles with these questions while tending to his parishioners, a defiant cast of characters who all seem to have grievances against the church and could potentially be the one who intends to kill him. Among them are a morally bankrupt millionaire (Dylan Moran, "Shaun of the Dead") looking to buy a little piece of absolution, an atheist doctor with a dark sense of humor (Aidan Gillen, "Game of Thrones") and a cuckolded butcher (Chris O'Dowd, "The IT Crowd") whose wife runs around town and taunts Father Lavelle with her wantonness. Meanwhile, Lavelle attempts reconciliation with his estranged daughter, Fiona (Kelly Reilly, "Sherlock Holmes"), who has come to visit him following a suicide attempt.
Director McDonagh expertly shifts between non-traditional "whodunit" and existential character drama with a healthy dash of black comedy thrown in for good measure. Brendan Gleeson is sublime as Lavelle, in what is the most fully realized portrayal of a clergy member I've seen in a film. Gleeson's nuanced performance is at times warm and funny, sometimes sober and compassionate, and at others intense and raging. It is a bravura piece of acting worthy of Oscar consideration, and is a career-defining role for an already well-established and gifted character actor.
"Calvary" is a powerful meditation on the church and its place in modern life and society, a hard look at the cost of faith and whether it is one worth paying. The film doesn't offer any easy answers, but the potent manner it asks the questions lingers long after the final frame. You could hear a pin drop in the downtown IMAX theater where I saw this once the credits started rolling.
"Calvary" opens in limited release nationwide August 1st.
4.5 Yaps
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvHl53Krxs8?rel=0&w=514&h=289]