Antonia Bird
Il prete

Among the qualities of a successful film, in my opinion, besides good technical and acting levels, there is also the ability to spark discussion.

"Priest" by Antonia Bird is a film worth watching because, far from being religiously conventional, it provokes a debate on one of the ecclesiastical dogmas that has always had supporters and detractors, namely the revelation (or not) of the content of a confession, in the event that it brings to light a terrible truth.

But let's proceed in order: Greg, a young and idealistic Catholic priest, is sent at his own request to the industrialized Liverpool of the '90s, more precisely to a poor, predominantly working-class parish. Here, a very unorthodox priest delivers sermons, which, according to Greg, resemble political rallies of a laborist nature. The young priest, however, argues that in the man-society debate, the latter cannot be assumed as the scapegoat for the individual's sins; in other words, man must face his responsibilities and recognize himself as a sinner.

The depiction of the suburban environment is very realistic, with the faces of little-known actors, except for Tom Wilkinson ("In the Name of the Father") and Robert Carlyle ("Trainspotting"), appearing chiseled from stone. But realism is one of the best qualities of Anglo-Saxon cinema, from the period of the so-called 'angry' British cinema of the '60s, added to the more recent lessons from Ken Loach ("Carla's Song") and Jim Sheridan ("My Left Foot").

The fortuitous discovery that the young housekeeper is the lover of the priest, her housemate, causes Greg to succumb to a human passion that, of course, must remain secret and which we won't reveal. Thus, he soon falls into confusion because, beyond his personal sentimental affair (in this regard, the film's poster is very explicit), he must carry a secret linked to what was learned in confession.

The film unfolds along two tracks, namely Greg's personal weakness and the revelation in the confessional by a fourteen-year-old of her father's sexual abuse towards her. The young priest is shocked, invites the girl to talk about it at home, but the only result achieved is that shortly after, he is harshly invited by the incestuous father to mind his own business, while the unorthodox priest advises him to just make hints: it's the triumph of hypocrisy, the logic of washing dirty linen at home. At this point, Greg is in despair: he feels that unlike Christ, who had certainties, he only possesses faith.

It's at this point that we witness one of the most dramatic and incisive scenes of the film, where two layers of the narrative overlap, so at the exact moment the young priest curses God and asks Him to get off the cross instead of not caring ("it's the term Greg uses"), we witness the mother's discovery of the incestuous practices. She immediately reaches the priest, curses him, and wishes him to burn in hell, as he was aware of her husband's sordid sexual practices. The encounter with the woman only increases the young priest's impotence, who at this point succumbs again to passion, but discovered in flagrante delicto, he must leave, after a suicide attempt, the parish. However, at the insistence of the unorthodox priest, Greg decides to return and is convinced to say Mass with him. During the homily, he bravely defines the Church as a band of Pharisees and hypocrites, and without too much scruple, in front of a stunned and scandalized assembly because of the young sinner's presence, invites those who wish to leave. The final scene of the film should not be spoiled, suffice it to say that the Mass unfolds in an atmosphere permeated by the words of the evangelist John: "Let the one without sin cast the first stone" and "Do not judge, and you will not be judged."

Anyone looking for good cinema, the kind that, as we said at the beginning, provokes discussion, will find it in this film which is intended for a varied audience, meaning that Catholics will have the chance to reflect on a theme, that of the confessional secret, which at heart could just be a way to keep the classic skeleton in the closet well hidden, while for non-believers, it confirms that the true Church is the one that commits in person, a street Church, not that of the higher-ups.