Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Movie Festival for Year of the Priest

So Rufus from Korrektiv and I have been tweeting all day about the idea of watching a movie a week that includes or is about a priest for the year of the priest. We came up with a pretty good list to begin. Here are the ones I came up with, you can add more as you think of them or remember ones you have seen.

BTW: I know that Francis of Assisi wasn't a priest, but there are priests in his story, and his story is worth seeing so that is why I have included two versions of his story in my list.


1. Going My Way 1944
2. The Bells of St Mary's 1945
3. Keeping the Faith 2000
4. Sleepers 1996
5. Hoodlum Priest 1961
6. The Keys of the Kingdom 1944
7. The Mission 1986
8. The Scarlet and the Black 1983
9. The Assisi Underground 1985
10. The Massacre in Rome 1973
11. Becket 1964
12 . The Third Miracle 1999
13. The Novice (aka Crossroads) 2006
14. The Exorcist 1973
15. The Shoes of the Fisherman 1968
16. Molokai: The Story of Fr. Damian 1999
17. The Left Hand of God 1955
18. Diary of a Country Priest 1951
19. The Fugitive 1947
20. The Confessor (The Good Shepherd) 2004
21. Black Robe 1991
22. Mass Appeal 1984
23. Angels with Dirty Faces 1938
24. Fighting Father Dunne 1948
25. Boys Town 1938
26. On the Waterfront 1954
27. The Fr. Clements Story 1987
28. The Cardinal 1963
29. I Confess 1953
30. Doubt 2008
31. Miracle of the Bells 1948
32. Gran Torino 2008
33. Seven Cities of Gold 1955
34. Saint Ralph 2004
35. Don Bosco 1988
36. The Devil at 4 O'clock 1961
37. The Fighting 69th 1940
38. San Francisco 1938
39. Francesco 1989
40. Francis of Assisi 1961
41. Zycie za Zycie (Life for Life) 1991 Polish Maximillian Kolbe film
42. Pope John Paul II 2005
43. Karol: The Man Who Became Pope 2005
44. The Miracle of Marcelino 1955
45. Hounds of Notre Dame 1980
46. Jesus of Montreal 1989
47. Monsieur Vincent 1947
48. Nazarin 1959
49. Au Revoir les Enfant 1987
50. Papa Giovanni John XXIII 2002
51. The Reluctant Saint 1962
52. The Exorcism of Emily Rose 2005


Other Options

Stigmata 1999
St. Patrick: The Irish Legend 2000
The Order 2003
Brother Sun Sister Moon 1972
True Confessions 1981
Father Brown 1954
The Prisoner 1955

Television Series
Father Ted 1995
Father Dowling Mysteries
Bless Me Father
Nothing Sacred

If you have any favorites that I missed please add them in the comment box. I purposely didn't include The Thornbirds or the Exorcist sequels, which I probably should have, but I just didn't like them.

Pax

8 comments:

Rufus McCain said...

I've got Korrektiv's version of the list up to the magic number of 52. Let's fine-tune it over the next day or two and then start promoting it to high heaven!

Rufus McCain said...

OK, you've got 52 now, too, I see. Let's see if we can merge our lists in the next day or two and come up with the official Year of the Priest Blogospheric Film Festival list.

What do you think about following a chronological progression? That way we get a feel for the evolution of film making as well as the evolution (over the past 70 years) of perceptions about the priesthood.

Rufus McCain said...

I have a hold on a library copy of Angels with Dirty Faces -- by way of a tentative beginning.

Unknown said...

Here are a couple of really good Documentaries if you want to look at those:

Twist of Faith
Into Great Silence

Rufus McCain said...

Hi Angelmeg,

Here is my attempt at merging our lists, as well as incorporating one or two from comments at Korrektiv. Lemme know what you think.

1. San Francisco (1936)
2. Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
3. Boys Town (1938)
4. The Fighting 69th (1940)
5. The Devil at 4 O’Clock (1941)
6. The Keys of the Kingdom (1944)
7. Going My Way (1944)
8. The Bells of St Mary's (1945)
9. The Fugitive (1947)
10. Monsieur Vincent (1947)
11. Fighting Father Dunne (1948)
12. The Miracle of the Bells (1948)
13. Diary of a Country Priest (1951)
14. I Confess (1953)
15. Father Brown (1954)
16. On the Waterfront (1954)
17. The Left Hand of God (1955)
18. The Miracle of Marcelino (1955)
19. The Prisoner (1955)
20. Seven Cities of Gold (1955)
21. Nazarin (1959)
22. Hoodlum Priest (1961)
23. The Cardinal (1963)
24. Becket (1964)
25. The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968)
26. The Exorcist (1973)
27. The Massacre in Rome (1973)
28. Hounds of Notre Dame (1980)
29. True Confessions (1981)
30. The Scarlet and the Black (1983)
31. Mass Appeal (1984)
32. The Assisi Underground (1985)
33. The Mission (1986)
34. Au Revoir les Enfant (1987)
35. The Fr. Clements Story (1987)
36. Sous le soleil de Satan (Under Satan’s Sun) (1987)
37. Don Bosco (1988)
38. Francesco (1989)
39. Black Robe (1991)
40. Zycie za Zycie (Life for Life) (1991)
41. Sleepers (1996)
42. Molokai: The Story of Fr. Damian (1999)
43. The Third Miracle (1999)
44. Keeping the Faith (2000)
45. The Confessor (The Good Shepherd) (2004)
46. The Ninth Day (2004)
47. Twist of Faith (2004)
48. The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
49. Pope John Paul II (2005)
50. The Novice (aka Crossroads) (2006)
51. Doubt (2008)
52. Gran Torino (2008)


Rejected:

53. Francis of Assisi (1961)
54. The Reluctant Saint (1962)
55. Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972)
56. Jesus of Montreal (1989)
57. Stigmata (1999)
58. Papa Giovanni John XXIII (2002)
59. Saint Ralph (2004)
60. Karol: The Man Who Became Pope (2005)
61. St. Patrick: The Irish Legend (2000)
62. The Order (2003)

Unknown said...

I'm not sure I like the term rejected. Why not just call them Alternate selections.

Saint Ralph is a wonderful movie about a young boy at a school run by Augustinian priests, Campbell Scott plays the priest who helps him realize his dream which is to make a miracle happen to save his mother. They are both transformed in the process. I don't like seeing it on the rejected pile.

Most of the other rejected movies are good as well.

why not just call them alternate selections just in case people can't find the others in their areas. That is a much more pastoral way of stating it.

Rufus McCain said...

How about calling our list of alternates anathema Or "the goats"? Just kidding.

Saint Ralph does sound like a great film. I took it out of the main list mainly because the synopsis I read made it sound like the priest wasn't really a main character; but I haven't seen it, so I'll take your word for it. How about we put Twist of Faith in the trash pile, er, I mean, the honorable mention list, and put Ralph back?

Rufus McCain said...

I posted the "final" list over at Korrektiv -- but we can still make late-breaking adjustments if need be. Are you ready to go on the talk-show circuit?