It’s a cliche to say that priests and nuns aren’t portrayed well in movies nowadays.
Just mention a priest in any crime drama and you’ve got a suspect on your hands.
We could have loads of fun remembering how ridiculously priests and nuns have been portrayed in movies lately. But instead of focusing on the negative, we here at CMR have decided to focus on the positive portrayals of priests in movies.
But we’re having some trouble. Well…lots of trouble.
Uhm…there’s not a whole lot of positive portrayals of priests and nuns. Hmmmm…priests or nuns portrayed well in movies? Uhmmm…hold on…I’m thinking….
Well we’ve always got Karl Malden in On the Waterfront, Bing Crosby in the Bells of Saint Mary, or the nuns in The Sound of Music. After that things get a little…sparse.
So let’s limit ourselves to the modern era of film making starting in 1970. What movies can you think of since then where priests or nuns were portrayed in a positive light?
The few that jump to mind are the priests who have to fight the devil. Hey, anyone looks goods next to the devil, I guess. You’ve got the exorcists in “The Exorcist” as well as Tom Wilkinson’s portrayal of a priest in the “Exorcism of Emily Rose.”
The young priest in Clint Eastwood’s “Gran Torino” was portrayed as persistent and good if a little naive.
Ben Cross in “The Assisi Underground,” Amy Adams in “Doubt,” and Jeremy Irons in “The Mission” was pretty good.
I’m done after that. Can you think of anymore because this list seems woefully short?
February 2, 2010 at 1:21 pm
How about the nuns in The Trouble with Angels? That was a good movie.
February 2, 2010 at 1:28 pm
I don't know if it was post 1970's, but an EXCELLENT portrayal of Sisters and a Religious Vocation (the journey towards one) is "The Trouble With Angels" starring Haley Mills.
And the Priest in "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" (MikeinCT, you'll have to help me with his name:) is EXCELLENT!
So I just realized after I googled these that none of them are from the 1970's:( Sorry, but they're all excellent!!
And this is definitely not 1970's but "Lillies of the Field" was beautiful (an old Sidney Poitier film, don't mind my spelling).
More recently, I LOVED the film about the life of St. Therese, I know its not "mainstream", but "Therese"…
February 2, 2010 at 1:39 pm
"Hitchcock's "I Confess" Montgomery Cliff is suspected of the murder but remains faithful to the seal of confession."
This is 1953. And I'd heard notably poor things about Keys to the Kingdom, viz. that the priest character isn't exactly what you would call orthodox.
February 2, 2010 at 1:51 pm
I can't help you with post-1970 movies, because I prefer the classics (and I was born in 1979). A few more classics you missed include:
Bing Crosby in "Going My Way"
Karl Madden as Fr. Barry in "On the Waterfront"- His courage developed over the course of the movie.
February 2, 2010 at 1:51 pm
Two great old movies (sorry, not new) are "The Quiet Man" and "Trouble Along the Way". Both star John Wayne. The priests in both of these movies wear cassocks and are good, strong priests.
Suzanne
February 2, 2010 at 2:04 pm
Mr. Eko – inspired selection! I would never have remembered the name. The priest in the Sopranos I thought was good…although at a point there was a little subtext of his milking attention (albeit chastely) from the ladies, his counsel to Carmela — not to leave her husband, but to live only on what he makes from legitimate businesses — was spot-on. It made for real drama for a few episodes, as we watched her try.
February 2, 2010 at 2:22 pm
Early Riser, you're probably thinking of Possessed starring Timothy Dalton as the priest.
And I don't think anyone has mentioned Ed Harris in The Third Miracle which I can't recommend strongly enough.
February 2, 2010 at 2:30 pm
What about the priest from the movie Sleepers? The movie itself is a bit brutal, but the priest did all he could for his flock. Not sure about the moral implications of him lying on the stand to save the boys though…
February 2, 2010 at 2:33 pm
I actually would say that the Bing movies marked a transition (either in real life or on screen) towards viewing the priesthood as a career. Particularly the condescending way "Going My Way" treats Fr Fitzgibbon.
February 2, 2010 at 2:34 pm
John C Reilly as the Young Monk who converts Sean Penn in We're No Angels. A terrible DeNiro movie but some good messages in there.
February 2, 2010 at 2:45 pm
M. Swain–technically Mr. Eko was not a priest. His brother, Yemi, was. Mr. Eko was a guerilla warlord and drug smuggler who forced his own brother to sign documents claiming Eko as his men were priests so they could smuggle drugs. Yemi said to Eko that his clothes and papers didn't make him a priest. Yemi turned his brother in to the police and was killed trying to save Eko from being shot. Yemi=good priest. Eko=bad guy. Once on the island though he did try to redeem himself. Sorry, just had to clarify. (I'm a Lostie–can't wait until tonight) To stay on topic. Yemi in Lost. I really liked the priest in Gran Torino. And I am really impressed with the priest on V. I thought for sure they'd make him a lady chaser or something….
February 2, 2010 at 2:50 pm
Note that while "On the Waterfront" is an example of a film with a positive treatment of a priest the real "Waterfront Priest" portrayed so well was Fr. John M. Corridan, S.J., who got better at the hands of Elia Kazan and Budd Schulberg than he did at the hands of his own order and Church.
February 2, 2010 at 3:01 pm
Not a movie– but the priest and the ex-nun in Joan of Arcadia were treated pretty sympathetically.
Re: Keys to the Kingdom — the movie starts out with the priest under investigation for heterodoxy– BUT after the diocesan representative reads the priest's journals from his time in China, he realizes that the 'heterodox' statements (things like 'the holiest man I ever met was an atheist') are actually objectively true. TOTALLY worth seeing. Plus, Vincent Price is in it too!
I think part of the problem is that when a movie plays a priest WELL, we have a hard time remembering the priest was even IN the movie. I mean, look at the priest in Disney's 'Hunchback'– he was actually a good man. But we forget him because his brother the judge takes precedance. (I assume Disney altered the book b/c they knew hugo's original anti-clericism would be a problem at the box office?)
February 2, 2010 at 3:22 pm
Try "Lillies of the fields" it's really good.
February 2, 2010 at 3:45 pm
I know it was before 1970, but my favorite was Montgomery Clift in Hitchcock's "I Confess."
February 2, 2010 at 3:54 pm
The bishop in Les Miserables in every version makes me cheer!
February 2, 2010 at 4:06 pm
I am so glad someone else mentioned the priests in "St. Ralph" and "Sleepers"…questionable contexts, perhaps, but pretty positive portrayals.
February 2, 2010 at 4:11 pm
Friar Tuck in Disney's Robin Hood
The nuns in an early episode of House, "Damned if You Do"
February 2, 2010 at 4:20 pm
I like the Flying Nun TV series.
February 2, 2010 at 4:26 pm
I don't know how he was portrayed in the M*A*S*H movie, but I also thought of Father Mulcahy from the M*A*S*H TV series as a mostly positive portrayal of a priest — and as a regular character on a very popular TV show at that.