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Movies
5.4.2001 00:05
Tim Disney takes Question of Faith too lightly
BY ANTHONY BREZNICAN
Associated Press
Movie credits and rating
Tim Disney deserves credit for trying to make a warm, thoughtful film about God and issues of faith. But the first-time director (whose great-uncle was Walt) undercuts his own efforts by diffusing the weighty themes with a discordantly light comedic touch.
Adapted by Disney from the story Blessed Art Thou by Rachel Ingalls, A Question of Faith focuses on a young monk, Brother Anselm, who announces he has encountered a vision of the angel Gabriel.
Monastic leaders grow dismayed when Anselm continues to insist his vision was real and they confine him to his room.
When Anselm emerges from his two-month detention, he has transformed into a woman.
And . . . he's pregnant!
Disney handles this plot twist with a sort of humor that prevents us from ever taking Anselm's condition too seriously. The other monks are baffled at this apparent miracle, but Disney never gets at the certain terror behind their wide eyes and gaping mouths.
Doubtful monks propose weak explanations for the condition affecting Anselm (played by Martha Hackett), alternately trying to brush it off as an evolutionary anomaly, latent hermaphrodism or a psychosomatic disorder.
But the evidence is there: Anselm is a woman. Anselm is pregnant. And they have to deal with it.
This is where the movie would benefit from a darker tone. Brother Francis (Paul Guilfoyle) is trying to see this change as a miracle. Brother Duncan, the monastery's doctor (Joe Spano), wants to analyze the matter as a medical breakthrough.
Meanwhile, the bellicose Brother Adrian (Daniel von Bargen) thinks Anselm has been touched by Satan. The monastery's leader (Bernard Hill) simply refuses to believe it's true.
This movie succeeds when it uses these four men to explore the deep strains of doubt that plague even the most faithful of people. It also poses subtle questions about the role of women in church hierarchy and the vow of chastity.
A Question of Faith fails, however, when Disney relies too much on humor to lighten the heavy themes.
**
A Question of Faith
Starring : Bernard Hill, Martha Hackett, Daniel von Bargen, Joe Spano.
Producers: A First Look Pictures release written and directed by Tim Disney from the book Blessed Art Thou by Rachel Ingalls.
Playing : Providence Place, Showcase Seekonk Route 6 cinemas.
Rated : PG-13, contains adult themes, brief nudity, mild profanity.
Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.
Tim Disney takes Question of Faith too lightly
BY ANTHONY BREZNICAN
Associated Press
Movie credits and rating
Tim Disney deserves credit for trying to make a warm, thoughtful film about God and issues of faith. But the first-time director (whose great-uncle was Walt) undercuts his own efforts by diffusing the weighty themes with a discordantly light comedic touch.
Adapted by Disney from the story Blessed Art Thou by Rachel Ingalls, A Question of Faith focuses on a young monk, Brother Anselm, who announces he has encountered a vision of the angel Gabriel.
Monastic leaders grow dismayed when Anselm continues to insist his vision was real and they confine him to his room.
When Anselm emerges from his two-month detention, he has transformed into a woman.
And . . . he's pregnant!
Disney handles this plot twist with a sort of humor that prevents us from ever taking Anselm's condition too seriously. The other monks are baffled at this apparent miracle, but Disney never gets at the certain terror behind their wide eyes and gaping mouths.
Doubtful monks propose weak explanations for the condition affecting Anselm (played by Martha Hackett), alternately trying to brush it off as an evolutionary anomaly, latent hermaphrodism or a psychosomatic disorder.
But the evidence is there: Anselm is a woman. Anselm is pregnant. And they have to deal with it.
This is where the movie would benefit from a darker tone. Brother Francis (Paul Guilfoyle) is trying to see this change as a miracle. Brother Duncan, the monastery's doctor (Joe Spano), wants to analyze the matter as a medical breakthrough.
Meanwhile, the bellicose Brother Adrian (Daniel von Bargen) thinks Anselm has been touched by Satan. The monastery's leader (Bernard Hill) simply refuses to believe it's true.
This movie succeeds when it uses these four men to explore the deep strains of doubt that plague even the most faithful of people. It also poses subtle questions about the role of women in church hierarchy and the vow of chastity.
A Question of Faith fails, however, when Disney relies too much on humor to lighten the heavy themes.
**
A Question of Faith
Starring : Bernard Hill, Martha Hackett, Daniel von Bargen, Joe Spano.
Producers: A First Look Pictures release written and directed by Tim Disney from the book Blessed Art Thou by Rachel Ingalls.
Playing : Providence Place, Showcase Seekonk Route 6 cinemas.
Rated : PG-13, contains adult themes, brief nudity, mild profanity.
Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.
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