A
Angels_Unaware
Guest
I watched this on DVD yesterday, and thought it was outstanding, (with the exception of the liturgy, which was not done correctly. THAT was irritating. A *sermon *at the beginning of Mass? Crossing oneself after the sermon? I thought they had a liturgical advisor, so maybe I’m the one missing something, though.)
The issue of whether or not the Sister A. would have suspected sexual abuse without the context of the abuse scandals is not such a difficult problem. First, Sister A. prides herself on digging deep to determine the true motives in the psyche and on being an excellent judge of character. Second, she has experienced sexual abuse in a parish before, and third, she is much more sophisticated about sexual behavior than the the average nun, because she’s been married before. I did not think her strong intuition about the priest lacked believability.
What’s so fantastic about this film is that it plays out for us the experience of having trustworthy inner knowledge that you must act on, but juxtaposes that intution with an uncertainty that can never be overcome. It is also frames the problem from a distinctly female perspective, with the inherent limitations of hierarchy and sex, which is fascinating. Sister A is limited in her power by her sex, but is willing to work within those boundaries to bring about justice, (like the cat, that serves as an analogy for how she uses her power).
The movie leads us to believe it is more probable than not there was an improper relationship, or at least the temptation of an improper relationship, but like Sister A., when the problem is removed, there is still deep uncertainty and doubt. A Catholic school is the perfect setting for a story like this, because our faith can be like this at times. We can feel truly certain and have trust in our perceptions of reality, but never have absolute confirmation.
I also thought the performance by Donald’s mother was amazing. It’s easy to not understand her, but if you keep your mind open to her life experience, she has so much to teach us. She is a woman who must survive. She loves her child as he is, and wants him to survive. In order to do that, she’s willing to see things in shades of gray, instead of black and white. Is her attitude rationalization, denial, or is she choosing to see the problem in a way that only a person like her, with severe restrictions of personal power because of her race, class, sex, and marital status could possibly see the problem? Or is it all three? If you are in a metaphorical social prison, and you believe your son is predisposed to homosexuality anyway, does a relationship like this still represent pure evil, or are you willing to accept its benefits? It’s a troubling, challenging, fascinating character depiction.
If you see this on DVD, watch it twice, because there are things that are important but easy to miss. In the very beginning of the movie the priest grabs a boy’s hand and he pulls away. Sister A. sees it from a window two stories above. We hear the dialouge, and know that he pulled his hand away because Father accused him of having dirty hands. Sister A. doesn’t hear the dialouge, but she reacts inutitively to the boy’s emotional reaction to the priest. At the end of the movie, Sister A. tells the priest her suspicion of him began with that incident. We know what happened, and what was said, but even so, does it really exonerate the priest? It might, but not necessarily, especially when you think about the symbolic meaning of “dirty hands”. Is it possible the boy sensed the priest had an improper interest in him and felt exposed or humiliated not by his literal dirty hands, but by his awareness on a semi-conscious level of the priest’s interest?
In the middle of the movie, there is also the tea scene. If you watch this on DVD, pay attention to the tea scene. The whole conversation about tea in that scene is double entendre. It was very impressive. I love Sister A.'s response to whether she wants tea, “no, I’ve already had mine”. We find out later in the movie she was married before, which is why it’s easy to miss the subtelty of that scene the first time you see this movie.
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