Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast

Novelist and critic Trevor Cribben Merrill joins the podcast to discuss one of his favorite recent films, the Coen brothers' Hail, Caesar! This is one of the Coens' most warm-hearted films, and certainly their most Catholic one. It deals with the problem of vocation and the spiritual value of art, although intriguingly, from the point of view of a non-artist: movie producer Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), who must often serve as a "fixer" getting his stars out of personal scrapes and scandals. Hail, Caesar! is set in a production studio during the Golden Age of Hollywood, giving the Coens a chance to reproduce many classic genres of the period, from the western to the water ballet. The film's detailed portrayal of the old Hollywood studio system in the time of the Catholic Legion of Decency and the Hayes Production Code also provides an opportunity to discuss the pros and cons of the scandal-averse culture of Hollywood in the 30s-50s. How much of it was real concern for morality vs. fear for the studios' bottom line? Links T. C. Merrill's novel Minor Indignities https://tcmerrill.com/minor-indignities Catholic Culture Podcast interview with T. C. Merrill https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/122-minor-indignities-tc-merrill/ T. C. Merrill is presenting in a Collegium Institute seminar on Bernanos's Diary of a Country Priest on June 20. More info here: https://www.collegiuminstitute.org/calendar/all-is-grace-global-catholic-literature-2022 Music is The Duskwhales, "Take It Back", used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/ This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

The Vatican film list includes a few different World War II-related films, and Kon Ichikawa's 1956 classic The Burmese Harp may be one of the most unusual, as the story is told from the perspective of a Japanese troop in Burma in the days after the end of the war. Mizushima, the protagonist, serves in a company whose musically trained captain teaches them to sing together to keep their spirits up. Mizushima himself plays the harp, not only to accompany the choir but to send signals as the company's lookout. Traumatic encounters with death immediately after the company's surrender set him apart first physically, then psychologically and spiritually, from his troop, and he ends up wandering the countryside disguised as a Buddhist monk. This is an anti-war film, and a film about piety toward the dead, but it's also about vocation and how it relates to membership in a community. Mizushima experiences a special calling which sets him apart from his fellows, yet in order to serve them. Music, and specifically communal singing, is often important in films about either of the world wars, but this film takes that concept to a whole new level, with music (both the protagonist's harp and his company's choral singing) serving a crucial function of communication throughout the entire film, especially at moments when words seem impossible. Watch The Burmese Harp on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8lTqY9H-sA CatholicCulture.org is in the middle of its Easter 2022 fundraising campaign. Generous donors have offered us a $60,000 matching challenge grant. If you donate between now and Pentecost Sunday, your donation will be doubled! Please help us keep our apostolate going. If you use this link your donation will be earmarked for podcast production: http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio Music is The Duskwhales, "Take It Back", used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com

James and Thomas continue their discussion of the Vatican film list with Charlie Chaplin's masterpiece Modern Times, included on the list in the category of Art. Released in 1936, Modern Times is both Chaplin's last silent film and his first talkie - his character, the Little Tramp, is silent and the only time we hear people talking is when their voices are mediated through technology, such as on the radio or through an intercom system. This depersonalized and one-way approach to the human voice on film reflects not only a commentary on modern communications but also Chaplin's personal aversion to the sound era. The film is not just filled with hilarious gags, but contains intelligent social commentary as the Tramp tries and fails to fit into the world of industrialized labor, and really any other part of the modern social order. Chaplin not only wrote, directed and starred in this film, he composed the musical score and made the sound effects. CatholicCulture.org is in the middle of its Easter 2022 fundraising campaign. Generous donors have offered us a $60,000 matching challenge grant. If you donate between now and Pentecost Sunday, your donation will be doubled! Please help us keep our apostolate going. If you use this link your donation will be earmarked for podcast production: http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio Music is The Duskwhales, "Take It Back", used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

The new film Father Stu is based on the true story of Stuart Long, a rough-around-the-edges boxer-turned-priest who died in 2014. Mark Wahlberg plays Fr. Stu in an Oscar-worthy performance, and Mel Gibson makes another entry in long list of broken father roles he has played in recent years. James and Thomas review the film, discussing the pros and cons of the film's gritty humor, and the depiction of Stu's growth in spiritual maturity through suffering. Father Stu is in theaters starting April 13. Read about the real Fr. Stuart Long, a truly saintly man, at The Pillar: https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/meet-fr-stu-the-real-priest-and-true?s=w

Poet, translator and cultural commentator Anthony Esolen joins James and Thomas to discuss one of his favorite filmmakers in the genre of "screwball comedy", Preston Sturges. Sturges wrote and directed eight films between 1940 and 1945, seven of which are regarded as classics. This episode focuses on two of those films: Sullivan's Travels (1941) and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944). Sullivan's Travels is about a director of cheap comedies who decides to go on the road as a hobo so he can make a film of true social significance, making a fool of himself in the process. It displays Sturges's ability to write and direct dialogue that is fast, sharp and snappy, but never flippant or glib. Sturges is virtuosic in navigating dark material with a light touch, and able to switch seamlessly between pathos and humor, ending up in a place of warmth and graciousness without sappy sentimentality. This is also true of The Miracle of Morgan's Creek. In an age in which even married pregnancy could not be depicted on film, Morgan's Creek pushed boundaries by depicting unwed pregnancy. It ends up being a very pro-life film as well as something of a time capsule, showing how a social stigma against unwed motherhood was not incompatible with compassion and support for such mothers and their babies. Like Sullivan's Travels, it has an outrageous, hilarious and utterly unpredictable ending. These films prompt a reflection from Esolen on how "The moral law makes mirth possible," and how the sexual revolution killed romance - two reasons great screwball comedies cannot not be made today. Other movies reccomended by Anthony Esolen: Penny Serenade, People Will Talk, and also The Lady Eve, Arsenic and Old Lace, Bringing Up Baby, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, You Can't Take It With You, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (TV series), "Walking Distance" (Twilight Zone episode) Other movies mentioned by Thomas Mirus: Hail the Conquering Hero, Unfaithfully Yours, The Awful Truth, It Happened One Night Links Joel McCrea discusses his faith https://www.guideposts.org/better-living/entertainment/movies-and-tv/guideposts-classics-joel-mccrea-on-gods-guidance Podcast about Betty Hutton's conversion to Catholicism https://americancatholichistory.org/betty-hutton/ Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts https://magdalen.edu/ Music is The Duskwhales, "Take It Back", used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

James and Thomas interview Yelena Popovic, writer and director of the new film Man of God, about the Greek Orthodox saint Nektarios of Aegina. Man of God will be in select theaters in the U.S. on March 21 and 28. At 17, Yelena left Belgrade, Yugoslavia to escape civil war. She went to Italy and then the US, working as a model in New York City, and then to L.A., where she gained experience and training as an actress, writer and director. Parallel to this artistic journey was a spiritual one stemming from her lifelong sense of connection with God despite lack of religious education, which ultimately led her to make a film about St. Nektarios. In this interview Yelena tells her personal story, the story of St. Nektarios, and the extraordinary story of how this film was made - with an outstanding cast and composer secured for her with the help of the monks of Mt. Athos! Links Find a showing of Man of God near you http://www.fathomevents.com Interview with Mickey Rourke about his faith and working on Man of God https://orthochristian.com/133984.html Our previous review of Man of God https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/review-man-god/ Music is The Duskwhales, "Take It Back", used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

A poor, half-witted girl is sold by her mother to be the assistant of a brutal traveling circus strongman in La Strada ("the road"). Federico Fellini's 1954 masterpiece, included on the Vatican film list in the category of Values, attests to the seeds that can be planted by selfless love, even in the face of abuse and rejection. Condemned by Marxist critics in 1950s Italy for its spiritual view of suffering, the film found a better initial reception in the United States, where viewers saw Giulietta Masina's unforgettable protagonist as a "cross between St. Rita and Mickey Mouse". From the beginning, Catholic viewers have found found much to appreciate - Pope Francis, who was 17 when the film was released, calls it one of his favorites. Links Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of St. Thomas in Houston https://www.stthom.edu/Academics/School-of-Arts-and-Sciences/Division-of-Liberal-Studies/Graduate/Master-of-Fine-Arts-in-Creative-Writing/Index.aqf?Aquifer_Source_URL=%2FMFA&PNF_Check=1 James Matthew Wilson https://www.jamesmatthewwilson.com/ Nathan Douglas https://nwdouglas.com/about Music is The Duskwhales, "Take It Back", used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

James and Thomas review a new film about the popular Greek Orthodox saint Nektarios, Man of God. Nektarios was slandered and mistreated by his fellow clergy and his patriarch, but bore it all with great meekness. (Mickey Rourke plays a paralytic healed by the saint.) Man of God will be shown in US theaters on March 21 and March 28. Find showings here: https://www.fathomevents.com/events/Man-of-God Music is The Duskwhales, "Take It Back", used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

One of the boldest inclusions on the 1995 Vatican film list comes from an atheist director well known for his anti-clerical films, Luis Buñuel. His 1959 film Nazarin does not seek to discredit the Church by portraying an obviously hypocritical, venal or sensual priest. Rather, protagonist Fr. Nazario is a Quixote figure, unable to make any difference in this miserable world no matter how strictly he follows his religious code. Film scholar Maria Elena de las Carreras returns to the podcast to talk about Buñuel as an artist unable to escape his post-Tridentine Spanish Catholic upbringing. His vision replaces the supernatural with humanism, yet he does not believe even this can save us. For Buñuel, whatever moments of human kindness we may encounter along the way cannot change the fact that life is hell. It is interesting to compare Nazarin with many other priest films, including Monsieur Vincent; Diary of a Country Priest; Silence; The Fugitive; and Leon Morin, Priest. Links Watch Nazarin with English subtitles here – far better quality than the version on Amazon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdr04mntPG4 Music is The Duskwhales, "Take It Back", used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/ This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

A married couple divorces over mutual suspicion of infidelity - but the two can't seem to leave each other alone, hilariously interfering with one another's attempts to find someone else. This is the plot of The Awful Truth, a classic "comedy of remarriage" by Catholic director Leo McCarey (The Bells of St. Mary's, Duck Soup), featuring brilliant improvisational performances by Cary Grant and Irene Dunne (also Catholic). Thematically, the film shows (in a lighthearted way) the maturation of a marriage. It is also notable for its joyously frank yet appropriately veiled treatment of marital eros - an artistic triumph spurred by the salutary censorship of Hollywood's Production Code. The Awful Truth is an outstanding example of screwball comedy, a highly entertaining genre that flourished in Hollywood from the mid-1930s to the early 40s, usually featuring super-fast and witty dialogue, absurd scenarios, and a battle of the sexes. Guest host Nathan Douglas joins to discuss the film. Links Irene Dunne on her faith https://www.guideposts.org/better-living/entertainment/movies-and-tv/guideposts-classics-irene-dunne-on-her-faith-journey Essay about Leo McCarey https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2002/great-directors/mccarey/ Nathan Douglas https://nwdouglas.com/about Music is The Duskwhales, "Take It Back", used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/ This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio