First Reformed Review/ List of 10 great films about priests

                                               

 


                                                       3,7

  

First Reformed (2017)
Paul Schrader

Cast: Ethan Hawke, Amanda Seyfried, Cedric the Entertainer, Philip Ettinger
Length: 113 min
Country: United States

Paul Schrader's career is just astounding. Screen-writer for many of Scorsese's masterpieces as Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), and The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), he is also a film critic, writer, and of course director of films like American Gigolo (1980) and Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985). His filmography is exceptionally varied and somewhat erratic. Giorgio Moroder and David Bowie's modern soundtrack didn't save his horror remake Cat People (1982) for me, and his Canyons (2013) starring Lindsay Lohan and porn actor James Deen was just unbearable.

When I heard that First Reformed was Schrader's return to form, I couldn't help being both curious and sceptical.

I am pleased to say that even if flawed, First Reformed probably Schrader's best and most personal work (since he almost became a priest himself) in at least 20 years. A movie filled with an insidious sense of despair, spiritual ordeal and hopelessness for the future that is comparable with behemoths of cinema as Bergam and Bresson.

Schrader seems to borrow elements especially from Bergman's Winter's Light (1963), where a Swedish pastor is suffering from a severe crisis of faith once confronted with God's everlasting silence. Similarly, First Reformed is an intimate portrayal of a man of faith faced with devouring darkness, so intimate that it feels like we are peeping inside a confessional booth.

Set in present-day upstate New York, it follows the secretive life of Reverend Ernst Toller, custodian of the First Reformed Church, played superbly by Ethan Hawke who is on top of his game. He decides to start writing a personal diary as an experiment, where he shares with an invisible audience his struggle in adjusting to the increasing overlapping between church and capitalism. At the end of one year of writing, he will shred and burn the diary.

First Reformed Church became more of a gift shop than a place of spirituality, attracting more tourists than congregants. Only a handful of people are sitting on the white pews, listening to his sermons. Among those people, there is a young pregnant woman named Mary (Amanda Seyfried) whose sacred name can only add more layers to this film.

She approaches the Reverend after the service, asking him if he could talk to her depressed husband, Micheal. He is a radical environmental activist whose in-depth knowledge of the irreversible consequences of climate change destroyed his faith in the future. He doesn't want to bring another child into this world. By the age of 33 (Jesus' age at the time of his crucifixion), his daughter will be doomed to live in a world devastated by the greedy nature of our individualistic society. Rather than bringing some peace to Micheal, that conversation opens a dark spiralling hole inside Toller's spirit, rekindling his grief for the death of his son who was killed during the Iraq war. "Will God forgive us for what we have done to his creation?".

These words echo in the Reverend's mind with relentless persistence. God is in every flower, every bee, every forest and coral reef. The planet is dying, and nobody seems to care. The "Abundant Life" corporate church not only appears to be completely clueless, but it is even sponsored by the mayor, governor, and a well-known industrialist, Edward Balq.

The Reverend is feeling alone and betrayed by his congregation.

As if that wasn't enough, an aggressive cancer is spreading inside Toller's body, similar to the looming devastation on planet Earth. He tries to post-pone a doctor's appointment (a nod to humanity's procrastination in facing the consequences of global warming). He is angry and in denial after the preliminary diagnosis (a nod to climate change deniers). His only cure for his physical and spiritual turmoil is alcohol. In one scene, we see him pouring candy pink Pepto Bismol in his whiskey. The image of this pink invasive mass, spreading inside this transparent liquid visually resembles the idea of a tumor, as well as the entropy effect that can only lead to a slow decline into chaos.

What do you do when there is no hope? Do you keep fighting or do you acknowledge the inexorable destiny? Should we keep trying to protect our planet, or maybe accept its premature deterioration?

Confined in a boxy aspect ratio (the same one used by Pawlikowski in Ida, 2013), Schrader's approach is realistic and austere, nostalgic of an era of cinema that relied on its simplicity and not on superfluous embellishments. However, there are few surreal elements in stark contrast with the bleakness of the rest of the film. Without going into many details, there is a scene in particular where Mary and the Reverend will experience a sort of metaphysical connection. The scene fails to reach the cinematic resonance Schrader was hoping for, due to its preposterous editing which lies between the ludicrous and the extraordinary.

The climatic, eventful and abrupt ending will probably divide the audience as well.

It could be that Schrader didn't know how to end it and couldn't be bothered to write a final chapter. Or possibly, that his ending is instead very well- thought out, multi-layered and open to multiple interpretations. I prefer the latter option.

Is what happening on screen real or is it a manifestation of God? Is it a Miracle or the imagination of a dying man? Or is it just Heaven itself? Why is there a distracting eye-shaped lamp in Mary's apartment?  It's left to the bewildered audience to decide, and our answer might tell us how much faith in humanity and the future we have left within ourselves.

Movies you might like if you like First Reformed:

Diary of a Country Priest (1951) by Robert Breton

Winter's Light (1963) by Ingmar Bergman

Breaking the Waves (1996) by Lars Von Trier

Ida (2013) by Paweł Pawlikowski 

Niche List of the week
10 great films about priests

Beyond his eclectic filmography, Paul Schrader is renowned for his phenomenal book on the transcendental power of cinema. Transcendental Style in Film - Ozu, Bresson and Dreyer analysis the different film style of three masters of cinema coming from three different cultures, and how these directors manage to express a spiritual state through their cinematic language.  The new edition updates Schrader’s theoretical framework and extends his theory to the works of Andrei Tarkovsky, Béla Tarr, Theo Angelopoulos, and Nuri Bilge Ceylan, among others. Many masters of cinema tried to convey on screen the internal turmoils, the despair, the crisis of faith of their characters. For this list, I selected ten gems revolving around priests, often living recluded solitary life, often confronted with unbearable silence, or devoured by doubts, or sexually repressed. From Bergam to Bresson, from Hitchcock to Russell, these films touch all the genres (black comedies, existential dramas, horrors) emphasising the universal spiritual power of cinema. Amen! 

• Diary of a Counrty Priest (1951) by Robert Breton

Schrader owns a considerable debt to Bresson's minimalistic and naturalistic masterpiece Diary of a Country Priest. Bresson was a profoundly spiritual filmmaker. A young priest (played by the non-professional actor) has been assigned his first parish in a small rural village in the North of France. The villagers see him as an unwanted intrusion.  Using the priest's diary as a narrative device, Bresson explores the crisis of faith, the isolation, the human frailty, with unparalleled purity and honestly.

• I Confess (1953) by Alfred Hitchcock 

Lacking the suspense of most Hitchcock films, I Confess, is considered a minor work of his career.  It remains a criminally underrated gem. It's an intelligent study on guilt and honour.  Montgomery Clift plays Father Michael Logan, a Catholic Priest whose faith is put to the test once he becomes a prime suspect for a murder. Due to the Seal of Confession, he cannot tell the police who the real murderer is. 

• Leon Morin, Priest (1961) by Jean-Pierre Melville

A different take from Melville usual films noir. A movie about the crisis of faith, sexual repression and human connections. Melville explores the relationship between an atheist communist widow played by Emanuelle Riva (Amour, Hiroshima Mon Amour) and a decent young priest played by an unusual Jean-Paul Belmondo (Breathless, Pierrot Le Fue) during the Nazi occupation in France. They soon develop feelings towards each other

• Winter's Light (1963) by Ingmar Bergman

The second film of Bergman's "God's Silence" Trilogy (Following Through A Glass Darkly and followed by The Silence), Winter's Light is a cold and austere portrayal of a Pastor pervaded by doubts. Similar to First Reformed, after a service Pastor Tomas Ericsson tries to console a suicidal fisherman (played by young Max Von Sydow) and his pregnant wife. The man is in despair after hearing that China was building an atomic bomb.  The encounter will challenge Pastor Tomas Ericsson's faith.  The world seemingly abandoned by God. No one else can capture so intimately the terrifying demons inside a characters' psyche as Bergam does. Bergam is without a doubt one of the greatest (if not the greatest) filmmakers of all time. 

• The Devils (1971) by Ken Russel

I struggle to think of a masterpiece more horrifying and devastating than Ken Russel's The Devils. Easily one of the best films from the 70's, it's a batshit hysterical historical nightmare not for the faint of heart. In 17th-century France, Father Urbain Grandier, played by an extraordinary Oliver Reed, seeks to protect the city of Loudun from the corrupt establishment of Cardinal Richelieu. Hysteria occurs within the town when he is accused of witchcraft by a sexually repressed nun (A phenomenal Vanessa Redgrave). Derek Jarman's set design are evocative of fascist architecture, without clashing with the historical accuracy of the film. A great statement against oppression, repression and religious fundamentalism.

• The Exorcist (1973) by William Friedkin

There aren't that many horror movies revered as much as The Exorcist. Often considered "the scariest movie of all time", Friedkin's classic might not be so terrifying for the contemporary audience, but it remains an incredibly powerful and atmospheric masterpiece of dread. A great film on faith and the lack of it, constellated by excellent performances and an iconic soundtrack.

When a young girl (Linda Blair) starts acting inexplicably odd, her worried mother (Ellen Burstyn) and a local priest realise that the devil might seize her. The church sends an expert (Max Von Sydow again) to help them perform an exorcism.

• Adam's Apples (2005) by Andrers Thomas Jensen

This is Danish cinema at his best. By putting together two of the most excellent Danish actors (Mads Mikkelsen and Ulrich Thomsen), as well as, balancing dark, deadpan humour with a Scandinavian sensitivity to more severe issues, Jensen manages to create the perfect dark comedy about faith. Adam is a former Neo-Nazi (Ulrich Thomsen) is assigned to live in a rural church for community service, led by Ivan (Mads Mikkelsen), an extremely optimistic priest. Adam vows to break Ivan's faith. Meanwhile, he sets a goal: To bake an apple pie.

• Doubt (2008) by John Patrick Shanley 

Insidious doubts and paranoia will linger the in the audience mind in this fantastic theatrical tour de force, dominated by four phenomenal actors (All nominated to the Academy Awards). Even Viola Davis in her only 7 minutes of screen time manages to outshine Meryl Streep. Based on the director John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer Prize-winner "Doubt: A Parable",  the film takes place in a St. Nicholas school led by a severe and strict nun Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep at her best). Sister James (Amy Adams) tells Aloysius that Father Flynn (an excellent Philip Seymour Hoffman) might spend too much time with the school's only black student, thus leading to Aloysius to believe he might be a paedophile. 

• Calvary (2014) by John Michael McDonagh 

Brendan Gleeson gives the best performance of his career as a magnificent Father James, an Irish priest tormented by his community and by his internal demons. Someone we don't get to see, tells him in the confessional that one of his parishioners is going to kill him. Calvary is a smart, bleak, witty and poignant universal examination on faith and forgiveness in a world forgotten by God. The landscapes of the Irish Coast add up to the beautiful cinematography. Kelly Reilly is great as she plays the estranged pastor's daughter. 

• The Club (2016) by Pablo Larraín

Pablo Larraín proves himself to be one of the greatest talents from Chile. He directed great films as Tony Manero, No, Neruda and his excellent examination of grief in Jackie. The Club is one of his most harrowing and haunting films which reaches the sublime. Accompanied by Arvo Pärt's majestic music, The Club follows four men and a woman, all former priests, send to a quiet exile in La Boca after they all committed abuses (child abuse, baby-snatching for adoptions, whistleblower, etc.). Differently, from Spotlight (which came out in the same year),  Larraín focuses on the abusers and not on the victims. He doesn't look for forgiveness or absolution. His take is instead riveting, cynical and oblique.