The Director Of Calvary By John Michael Mcdonagh
898 Words4 Pages
I. Introduction The director of Calvary, John Michael McDonagh describes the film as an exploration of human themes, such as despair and death, for which the contemporary Irish social context and the reality of the churches in Ireland provide its stage. As a black comedy, this film seems to caricature the context in an exaggerated manner, yet it certainly features a secularized town of Ireland. However, at the same time, the director says that he wanted to make a movie about “a good priest.” It seems to me that what Father James pleads with his colleague Father Leary tells the viewer what being a good priest means: “integrity.” In my configuration of the plot, over the two weeks of time, Father James learns to be a good priest, who can genuinely empathize with the life stories of his parishioners, and, in so doing, leads them to authentic forgiveness (or reconciliation with the self and others). The movie certainly features the themes of empathy, forgiveness, and reconciliation. According to a film critic Cara Buckley, “Calvary is rived with dark humor, though its deeper themes of forgiveness and morality have prompted viewers to present Mr. McDonagh with philosophical struggles of their own.” In the film, we see forgiveness in action as father and daughter are reconciled with each other and reaffirm their love. Father James’ interactions with Fitzgerald are not rough. Yet finally, Fitzgerald sincerely confesses his sense of emptiness, and Father