Are you joking??? Just from the trailer this looks like a low-budget nightmare with cliche' characters, anachronistic campy dialogue and melodromatic opery-house style acting (I was waiting for Snydley Whiplash to twirl his mustache and say, "Nyaa-haa-haaa! I'll get you my little portagee kiddies!")
Sometimes you just need to leave well-enough alone. Unless this movie is saying ANYTHING different than from what the other previous ones said on the same subject, it's definitely a misser.
It looks like Anonymouse is trying to attack the story by attacking everything but the story. I might agree that it does not look like the kinda movie a movie snob will like. To that I say "who cares!". Whats funny in this situation is that I suspect that Anonymouse is not even a movie snob. He is either the Snydly Whiplash character in disguise,… or worse.
I, where I was not before, am compelled to see it.
Jestersob you are SO wrong. It is precisely because the story of Fatima is so close to my heart that I cringe at what looks like a schlocky pile of sap which will not do the reality justice. Rather than fake indistinguishable accents, how hard would it be to get authentic portuguese actors? Rather than contrived dialogue that sounds like a 5th grade valley-girl ("what makes YOU so special?") why not make an effort to make it a little more authentic sounding? And the black and white to color thing has been done since…oh, a little movie called The Wizard of Oz back in the 30's (plus every music video from 1983 to 1985).
Maybe I'm too much of a purist, but I really do stand by the old "if it aint broke don't fix it". And this applies DOUBLY to stories like this that are close to my heart. The greatest story ever told is of course the most dear to me, and I absolutely ABHOR "Jesus Christ Superstar", the Book of Mormon, the Qur'an, The Last Temptation of Christ et al, because they are bastardizing and distorting something that they cannot aspire to in a million lifetimes.
There is certainly a need to retell the Fatima story. The world has almost forgotten it, despite the fact that the news almost always points out to the importance of listening to Our Lady's warnings.
There are wars and natural and man-made calamities in many places. There's the looming flu pandemic (two of the Fatima children died of the influenza pandemic that ravaged Europe in 1917.) I sure hope this movie will help remind the world of the message of Fatima.
The greatest difficulty in creating a religious film is how to show the spirituality and heroic courage of the protagonists. At least two films on St. Therese have been made but neither adequately portrayed her spiritual gifts.
A film on Fatima should show the extraordinary height of sanctity that the children attained as a result of their encounter with the Blessed Mother. It is important that this movie shows the breathtaking amount of sacrifices that little Jacinta Marto, for example, undertook for the conversion of sinners and for the protection of the Holy Father – considering that she was barely six years old.
The Fatima children were aged 6, 8, and 10 when the apparitions occured. The children in this trailer look much older.
Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto were the first young children beatified who are not martyrs. Yes, I think the fact that the child actors in this film are a lot older that the real characters will dampen my enthusiasm for this film.
I'm with anonymous #1– I too wish it had been made with top-notch film making standards. We can preach to each other all we want from the Catholic ghetto, but if we are going to be heard by Hollywood and the secular world, we need to speak to them at the highest levels of quality. Otherwise its just glorified EWTN.
I agree in principle but in reality who in these depraved days in Tinseltown is going to shell out for a top notch movie that is a sign of contradiction to their own values?
No WAY! Yeah, that's my parish, OLGC:). I'll be there with hubby and one of my friends and his dad in tow. Never thought I'd meet someone from the blog-o-sphere at my home church:).
I'll be the 6mo's pregnant lady with a red coat and black pants waddling in:).
Didn't care for the cinematography (too grainy and blurry and dark). I can understand the artistic method they used to convey the message- the times were dark and people weren't seeing clearly in their drive for anti-religious secularism. It's the execution of it that bothered me- the movie was so dark and fuzzy that it obscured the action and the plot. The camera angles were odd and did not give a full view of the scene either. It made for a distraction to the action rather than an addition to it. Also, the visions did not make clear what the other people were seeing and hearing as well, or even that the other people could see or hear something (which they could).
As for the content, I thought they did a good job condensing the drama of Fatima down to a 1 1/2 hour movie and did justice to Lucia's character and integrity in the movie. I missed how they didn't show much about Jacinta's sufferings during the influenza and Francesco's growth in perception of the visions. They took some liberty with the story of the children's imprisonment and their release, but I think it was done for the sake of brevity and making a point about the very real danger the children were in from the local authorities. I do wish they emphasized the message of the Virgin Mary more- it seemed the preoccupation was with Lucia's struggles more than what Mary had to say. Otherwise, a sound movie content-wise.
October 8, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Are you joking??? Just from the trailer this looks like a low-budget nightmare with cliche' characters, anachronistic campy dialogue and melodromatic opery-house style acting (I was waiting for Snydley Whiplash to twirl his mustache and say, "Nyaa-haa-haaa! I'll get you my little portagee kiddies!")
Sometimes you just need to leave well-enough alone. Unless this movie is saying ANYTHING different than from what the other previous ones said on the same subject, it's definitely a misser.
October 8, 2009 at 11:01 pm
It looks like Anonymouse is trying to attack the story by attacking everything but the story. I might agree that it does not look like the kinda movie a movie snob will like. To that I say "who cares!". Whats funny in this situation is that I suspect that Anonymouse is not even a movie snob. He is either the Snydly Whiplash character in disguise,… or worse.
I, where I was not before, am compelled to see it.
October 8, 2009 at 11:20 pm
I may be seeing this Tuesday Oct 13 at a premiere screening. Saw the trailer earlier today and am looking forward to it!
October 9, 2009 at 3:50 am
Jestersob you are SO wrong. It is precisely because the story of Fatima is so close to my heart that I cringe at what looks like a schlocky pile of sap which will not do the reality justice. Rather than fake indistinguishable accents, how hard would it be to get authentic portuguese actors? Rather than contrived dialogue that sounds like a 5th grade valley-girl ("what makes YOU so special?") why not make an effort to make it a little more authentic sounding? And the black and white to color thing has been done since…oh, a little movie called The Wizard of Oz back in the 30's (plus every music video from 1983 to 1985).
Maybe I'm too much of a purist, but I really do stand by the old "if it aint broke don't fix it". And this applies DOUBLY to stories like this that are close to my heart. The greatest story ever told is of course the most dear to me, and I absolutely ABHOR "Jesus Christ Superstar", the Book of Mormon, the Qur'an, The Last Temptation of Christ et al, because they are bastardizing and distorting something that they cannot aspire to in a million lifetimes.
Now get off my back. I'm entitled to my opinion.
October 9, 2009 at 7:13 am
There is certainly a need to retell the Fatima story. The world has almost forgotten it, despite the fact that the news almost always points out to the importance of listening to Our Lady's warnings.
There are wars and natural and man-made calamities in many places. There's the looming flu pandemic (two of the Fatima children died of the influenza pandemic that ravaged Europe in 1917.) I sure hope this movie will help remind the world of the message of Fatima.
The greatest difficulty in creating a religious film is how to show the spirituality and heroic courage of the protagonists. At least two films on St. Therese have been made but neither adequately portrayed her spiritual gifts.
A film on Fatima should show the extraordinary height of sanctity that the children attained as a result of their encounter with the Blessed Mother. It is important that this movie shows the breathtaking amount of sacrifices that little Jacinta Marto, for example, undertook for the conversion of sinners and for the protection of the Holy Father – considering that she was barely six years old.
The Fatima children were aged 6, 8, and 10 when the apparitions occured. The children in this trailer look much older.
Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto were the first young children beatified who are not martyrs. Yes, I think the fact that the child actors in this film are a lot older that the real characters will dampen my enthusiasm for this film.
But yes, I will see it.
October 9, 2009 at 1:42 pm
I'm with anonymous #1– I too wish it had been made with top-notch film making standards. We can preach to each other all we want from the Catholic ghetto, but if we are going to be heard by Hollywood and the secular world, we need to speak to them at the highest levels of quality. Otherwise its just glorified EWTN.
October 9, 2009 at 5:28 pm
how hard would it be to get authentic portuguese actors?
Actually, the three children are played by Portuguese actors. The rest of the cast is from the UK.
October 9, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Joe W.
I agree in principle but in reality who in these depraved days in Tinseltown is going to shell out for a top notch movie that is a sign of contradiction to their own values?
Dave
October 12, 2009 at 6:52 pm
For better or worse, I'm going to see the advanced screening in our parish tomorrow night. I'll let you know how it is when I get back!
Anyone read the Fatima book by the Allegri brothers' book about Fatima? Very worth the read!
October 13, 2009 at 1:33 am
Sarah – if you're talking about Our Lady of Good Counsel, then I'll very likely be there too.
I'll wave. 😉
October 13, 2009 at 2:22 pm
No WAY! Yeah, that's my parish, OLGC:). I'll be there with hubby and one of my friends and his dad in tow. Never thought I'd meet someone from the blog-o-sphere at my home church:).
I'll be the 6mo's pregnant lady with a red coat and black pants waddling in:).
October 14, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Saw the movie last night.
Didn't care for the cinematography (too grainy and blurry and dark). I can understand the artistic method they used to convey the message- the times were dark and people weren't seeing clearly in their drive for anti-religious secularism. It's the execution of it that bothered me- the movie was so dark and fuzzy that it obscured the action and the plot. The camera angles were odd and did not give a full view of the scene either. It made for a distraction to the action rather than an addition to it. Also, the visions did not make clear what the other people were seeing and hearing as well, or even that the other people could see or hear something (which they could).
As for the content, I thought they did a good job condensing the drama of Fatima down to a 1 1/2 hour movie and did justice to Lucia's character and integrity in the movie. I missed how they didn't show much about Jacinta's sufferings during the influenza and Francesco's growth in perception of the visions. They took some liberty with the story of the children's imprisonment and their release, but I think it was done for the sake of brevity and making a point about the very real danger the children were in from the local authorities. I do wish they emphasized the message of the Virgin Mary more- it seemed the preoccupation was with Lucia's struggles more than what Mary had to say. Otherwise, a sound movie content-wise.