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Author Topic: Calvery...wow  (Read 2190 times)

DarkCrystal

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Calvery...wow
« on: September 04, 2016, 03:02:34 PM »
This has got to be one of the Top 5 Filmspotting discoveries I've had in the past few years.  Really wish this had gotten more acclaim, it seems to have flown a bit under the radar in the film critic and listener communities.

So surprised at the maturity and growth from his debut The Guard (essentially a well-made, smart, buddy cop movie) to Calvery which is a whole 'nother (<--heh) level.

Curious how many have had a chance to see this?

Bondo

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Re: Calvery...wow
« Reply #1 on: September 04, 2016, 04:42:24 PM »
I think it was in my top-5 that year. Really well considered take on personal and collective conscience.

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Calvery...wow
« Reply #2 on: September 04, 2016, 09:04:50 PM »
It was in my top 5 of that year as well. Fantastic film.

ses

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Re: Calvery...wow
« Reply #3 on: September 04, 2016, 09:42:30 PM »
It's a pretty amazing film.
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verbALs

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Re: Calvery...wow
« Reply #4 on: September 05, 2016, 12:29:29 AM »
Calvary? Probably the spelling is important for biblical reasons?

Part of my review to explain why a bunch of stereotypes abusing a priest over a serious social issue is so trite and shallow, not material for broad jokes;

Quote
A small town community rattling off every deadly sin, gleefully, into the stoic visage of the priest. For the purpose of...? Shocking him? Punishing him for the sins of the church? Personal dislike? Not sure. If this question does not solidify in any meaningful manner, perhaps the question of why these random people cannot talk in anything other than existential meanderings, doesn't either. Appreciating Gleason's performance isn't difficult even if it has been plonked within a vacuum of unreality. The murderous act, explained at the beginning, has nothing to do with the priest personally; which is explained as being the point of the act. The priest is symbolic, so when the killer strolls down the beach it could be anybody, and that also is the point. Nothing that happens in between expands or elucidates on these bookends. Someone is going to get pointless revenge for the senseless acts perpetrated against them and the more irrational the target of the retribution the more apt it will be. For a film constructed as a "who will do it?" it is empty and as a "why is he doing it?" it is deliberately contrary.

I can see the fascination that the author has with Irish culture. I refer to him as "the author" because I don't see the words lifting off the page and forming breathing human beings. His characters aren't stereotypes but they feel to me to be caricatures. The camera follows Gleason and things happen to his priest that generate personality and depth, but there isn't much sense to the "why" of the things that happen......unless the idea is to capture this atmosphere of crisis for the church in the face of historical abuse. A man swears at the priest for talking to his daughter. In that sense the film vaguely waves in the direction of the issue rather than addressing it in any substantive way. If I were to take that premise seriously, I could generate some disgust for a painful issue being used for dramatic effect. In the end I don't take "Calvary" seriously enough to do even that.
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sdb_1970

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Re: Calvery...wow
« Reply #5 on: September 06, 2016, 08:27:43 AM »
My #7 of 2014, as well
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dheaton

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Re: Calvery...wow
« Reply #6 on: October 11, 2016, 03:15:11 PM »
Fascinating film. It sort of drifted in my memory a bit, but I remember being just stunned by the experience (particularly the end). I also really liked The Guard too, but this one hit home even more.
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don s.

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Re: Calvery...wow
« Reply #7 on: December 19, 2016, 02:01:26 AM »
Didn't make my top 10, but it did make this list:


5. Citizenfour
4. Dom Hemingway
3. Chef
2. Calvary
1. The Judge
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