Review of Calvary (2014) by Harry W — 13 Jul 2014

With a talented cast of Irish actors lined up and a complicated concept to helm, Calvary sounded like an innovative film.

Calvary ended up being a great film. It's one of those films where the characters are more important than the plot and there is not too much that happens, but when it does it lays down a massive impact. It is a slowly paced film which is focused on generating a connection between viewers and the protagonist, and it does so by going into a deep exploration of a figure in the priesthood. I'm not a religious person, but in all honesty Calvary had me sympathising for the Catholic religion more than ever before.

So many films examine the negative nature of Priesthood and how the neglectful nature of the religion allows many corrupt figures to molest young male children, but Calvary does not focus on this. It introduces this in as an element, but the story is actually about a good priest instead of a bad one for once. The script of the film uses realistic language to establish the nature of protagonist Father James Lavelle as being a likable character and it does that easily, but it mainly focuses on how he has to pay for the sins of other priests in a society which is changing and is no longer becoming a place of acceptance. Father James Lavelle has to suffer for the sins of other corrupt Catholic officials and that means that people are not comfortable with him for certain reasons. It makes viewers think deeply about the church and creates an easily sympathetic figure, and the way that he has to pay for the sins of other mirrors what Jesus had to suffer through and therefore uses a humane figure as a religious allegory and therefore ties biblical stories into the real world very well. Calvary is written exceptionally well because it is able to play off subtle religious allegories in the story well and even has a touch of humour which makes the entire experience more entertaining and less melodramatic. Calvary is good for a laugh at the right times, but more importantly it is consistently strong in the way that it depicts its drama which really leaves audiences thinking.

Calvary is a good film because it takes a non-bias look at the nature of the the Catholic church. It shows a society where Priests are becoming less popular due to the way that society has responded to the actions of a small percentage of them affecting the general opinion of the religion as a whole. In doing that, it reveals a protagonist whose dedication to the priesthood has been his downfall in many areas. It has resorted in an alienated relationship with his troubled daughter, and it results in someone threatening to kill him as an act against the church. But the whole time, he is a good priest. He does not abuse his power and he spends the majority of his time dedicated to what the religion means at heart which is all about forgiveness and helping people. But he still faces hostility in life, and the emotional journey he takes is subtle but very deep when you look into it. Calvary takes advantage of its concept and crafts a very deep and thought provoking film out of it, and it runs at a nice gentle pace over the course of its 101 minute running time which allows everything to develop well.

Father James Lavelle is a product of a society which labels him largely on the basis of what he is rather than what he does, and many viewers can sympathise with that. So there are many ways to sympathize for Father James Lavelle, and so you can tell that you truly appreciate Calvary if you find a true connection to him. I know I did, and I even found myself on the verge of tears towards the end of the film because of the dramatic atmosphere and the way that it benefited lightly from the touch of a gentle musical score. The music was nice and it enhanced the mood without neglecting the natural mood that the scenes had developed into.

Many of the technical aspects of Calvary are nice. The scenery of the film is great because it all looks nice and establishes the setting with great colour, and the general feel of the town in the film is small and gives off a sense of close-minded thinking from the characters as well as isolation that the protagonist feels as he is judged on the basis of the actions of others. It is all captured with a lot of really nice cinematography techniques which constantly give a sense of detachment from the characters while also capturing the nice scenery of the film. It is also edited in a nice way, so all in all Calvary is able to establish itself as being a stylish project.

But most of the success in Calvary rests on the shoulders of lead actor Brendan Gleeson.

Brendan Gleeson gives the best performance of his career in Calvary. In a performance which reaches the heights of being potentially Academy Award calibre, Brendan Gleeson creates a performance which is one of the year's most memorable. The role of Father James Lavelle is perfect for him because he manages to capture the stoic and detatched nature of a priest and yet also put his emotions into the role on a rather subtle level. At times he breaks free of that and expresses emotions that the priesthood has made him keep within him for so long. The simple fact is that he embodies the role so easily by expressing his emotions easily through his facial gestures, but also the way that he articulates his lines. Brendan Gleeson perfectly establishes a sympathetic figure in the role which sucks the audience in and plays with their emotions throughout the development of an unpredictable story, and it is really hard not to feel for him in Calvary. Brendan Gleeson is top notch, and his performance is definetely one of the year's best.

Although none of the other cast members in Calvary hold a candle to the perforamnce of Brendan Gleeson, Chris O'Dowd is able to give a shocking powerful dramatic performance which has a certain level of sympathy to it evn as it charters into dark territory. He combiens unstable physical actions with easy line delivery which shows him getting more powerful as the film progresses until we see the endeavour of his acting ability in the climax of the film. Chris O'Dowd is excellent in Calvary.

Kelly Reilly also makes a good supporting role, and the presence of M. Emmet Walsh was a nice touch.

So Calvary is imperfect, but riding the deep writing and directing talents from John Michael McDonagh and an amazing performance from Brendan Gleeson, it becomes an excellently compelling drama film which is really deep and thought provoking.