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 4:34 pm
Robert DeNiro's role as the conflicted (and eventually redemptive) chancellor to Cyril Cusack's political LA archbishop in "True Confessions." That film also had a great Burgess Meredith as DeNiro's confessor and fellow monsignor.
I remember Spencer Tracy as a heroic priest in a film about the eruption of a volcano from my youth.
Sean Connery's Franciscan sleuth in "The Name of the Rose."
Perhaps the weirdest and funniest: Robbie Benson's post-adolescent confessor to Burt Reynolds in "The End."
February 2, 2010 at 5:21 pm
The priest and most of the nuns in Evelyn (2002), the Pierce Brosnan movie about the unemployed father who successfully challenged the Irish law that took children away from unemployed fathers (but not mothers). There's one nun who's a jerk, but the mentor to the titular character is a good figure.
The priest in Cinderella Man (2005) is also likeable, and asks Jimmy Braddock why he hasn't been going to Mass.
February 2, 2010 at 5:25 pm
No films come to mind, yet a couple ER episodes have recently came to my attention that do justice to the priesthood and the sacraments. In season 7 we have episodes "Sand and Water" that treats the dignity of the human person and baptim, "Rock, Paper, Scissors" that shows a bishop giving last rites, "Thy will be done" with the same Bishop showing dedication in his ministry, "A walk in the woods" showing ordination, and "The Crossing" showing confession. Actually pretty powerful stuff in my opinion.
February 2, 2010 at 6:19 pm
Incidentally, the man responsible for The Mission, Robert Bolt, was the playwright who gave us "A Man for All Seasons." A bit before the 1970 cutoff, but of course Thomas More is outstanding, if not actual clergy. Roughly aroung that time you also have Richard Burton as Bishop Thomas Becket. (Peter O'Toole completely steals that movie, anyway.)
The British were excellent at stuff like this in the sixties. Even in an early episode of Dr. Who – in the episode "The Romans," the person who helps the Doctor and his companions flee when Emperor Nero burns Rome is a secret Christian, shown holding a cross as he watches them leave the city.
February 2, 2010 at 6:33 pm
Not a movie, but I've been watching "Oz", HBO's prison series, on DirecTV's 101 Network. Character Sister Peter Marie doubts her commitment to the Church and rediscovers it, struggles with imparting the death penalty, and is generally positively portrayed.
February 2, 2010 at 6:47 pm
This one is two years prior to your 1970 date, but how about Anthony Quinn in Shoes of the Fisherman?
February 2, 2010 at 6:54 pm
EegahInc YES! That was it! Thank you. Not a great movie, but yeah, good portrayal.
And I LOVED Ed Harris' portrayal of the priest in the 3rd miracle. That was really a good movie (could have done without Anne Hesche tho). I was just about to bring it up, but I read your post and you beat me to the punch. Too bad others here can't be bothered to read through the posts before they comment. It would eliminate a lot of doubles.
February 2, 2010 at 6:57 pm
MIKE YES! I actually LIKED Les Miserables as a movie. The original story itself is very sappy and melodramatic, but I thought the movie was very well done, dispite coming from Hollywood. The bishops role, while very small, was instrumental in that his presence/effect shaped the main character's actions for the rest of the story. VERY powerful redemption story there.
February 2, 2010 at 8:19 pm
These are both pre-1970, but Pope Julius II in "The Agony and the Ecstasy" ('65) wasn't bad, and you can't beat the priest from "Angels with Dirty Faces".
February 2, 2010 at 9:37 pm
No-one has mentioned Fr. Damien in Molokai (1999) which is a brilliant film! Also (although I don't know when they date from) the Fr. Brown TV series based on the Chesterton books.
February 2, 2010 at 11:28 pm
Surprising that with the recent death of Ralph McInerny that nobody has mentioned the Father Dowling Mysteries. Unsurprising that most portrayal on TV has either been deeply stereotyped or just plain anti-Catholic like "Nothing Sacred"
February 2, 2010 at 11:40 pm
The showtime series, the tudors, if you can get past all the sex, does portray St. Cardinal Fisher very well.
The Simponsons had an episode about Catholicism in 2005 that had a good priest played by Liam Neeson.
The Bernie Mac show had a priest who was a bit over-the-top mean, but I liked him (chain smoking, liked gloomy organ music, and ranted about kids causing trouble at school.
Seinfeld epsides would feature Catholic priests from time to time and they were usually shown as pretty good actually, same goes for an episode or two of Fraser.
Lastly the Disney movie "Hunchback of Notre Dame" did have a possitive depiction of a clergyman (voiced by David Ogden Styers).
February 3, 2010 at 12:26 am
I thought the "Hunchback of Notre Dame" was anti-Catholic.
"Elf" had a couple of sweet nuns in habits.
Suzanne
February 3, 2010 at 1:11 am
Believe it or not, a few years ago I stumbled across a movie called "The Good Shepherd" or "The Confessor" from 2004. I think it was a straight to video release, with Christian Slater (believe it or not) and Von Flores. Flores plays a priest who is found over the body of a dying boy. He's arrested, but refuses to offer a defense because he found out about the boy in confession.
Slater plays a kind of smarmy "Chancery priest" who was Flores' classmate in seminary. Flores appeals to him for help and, in the course of trying to clear the imprison priest's name, rediscovers the reason he became a priest himself.
The Cardinal Archbishop and the Auxiliary Bishop aren't painted in a very good light, but that's necessary for the Slater character to really reconnect with his vocation.
No, it's not Academy Award material, but for a 21st century, post-abuse crisis film, I was impressed with the overall treatment of the two main priest protagonists.
February 3, 2010 at 1:16 am
For any who have not yet seen it "Father of Mercy" (2004) about Ven. Don Carlo Gnocchi is an outstanding film. Granted it is about a real person, and not some fictional goober. And be forewarned, the first half is as stirring as "Band of Brothers". All Italian, but well worth it.
I have also seen no one mention "Song of Bernadette"…oldie but a goodie!
February 3, 2010 at 7:00 am
"Doubt" (2008) has Meryl Streep as an intelligent and committed nun (confronting a presumably abusive priest).
My friends and I thought it was a great, thoughtful movie, but non-Catholics in my office couldn't see past their stereotypes.
And by the way, I really liked "The Apostle" (2009). It's a sympathetic portrait of a southern pentecostal preacher. Even more unusual than a sympathetic portrayal of a priest or nun.
Felix
February 3, 2010 at 10:01 am
While the humor of the movie was a bit risque, the priests and nuns in "Superstar" were actually pretty good.
February 3, 2010 at 12:04 pm
the normandy invasion beach scene in saving private ryan has a priest laying on top of a dying man hearing his confession while bullets and shrapnel are flying
February 3, 2010 at 4:53 pm
While not a great movie, "End of Days" depicted most of the priests and the Pope as good guys fightin' the debil, although there was the obligatory Secret Cardinal and His Henchmen [TM] who were trying to go against the Pope's wishes. At least they portrayed these bad guy priests as rogues, and not in line with the Church.
And "Zombieland" gave Zombie Kill of the Week to a nice nun.
February 3, 2010 at 4:54 pm
Edges of the Lord
Willem Dafoe as a Polish priest during the Nazi occupation.