MOVIES: "For Greater Glory"

[Terry_Washingto]

I don’t pay much attention to film star Andy Garcia- never had much reason to- but when I read in this week’s “Universe” that “For Greater Glory” in which he plays the role of a Mexican Revolutionary War hero who comes out of retirement to lead a rag-tag assortment of “Cristeros”, Catholics fighting the anti-clerical policies of Plutarco Calles(aka “The Mexican Nero”) during the 1920s- the film is based on a true story apparently- I began to take notice. The film has broken box office records in Mexico apparently- coming just behind “Avengers Assemble”- and is due for general release on June 1.
Garcia, who of course of Cuban descent(like Gloria Estefan and Cameron Diaz) , believes that there are parallels between Calles’ Mexico and Castro’s Cuba( he is reportedly a devout Catholic and family man who shuns the fleshpots and celebrity cult of Hollywood)- not least therir desire to control or ideally eradicate Christian and specifically Roman Catholic faith withih their respective societies. In his “Universe” interview he notes the plight of the “Damas de Blanco” (Ladies in White) whose non-violent struggle against Castro’s Communist regime is almost totally ignored by the outside world.
My advice to you is to go and see “For Greater Glory”( "Desperate Housewives " star Eva Longoria acts as Garcia’s character’s wife inicdentally)- you won’t be disappointed- he starts out as not being very devout but as the struggle between Calles’ forces and the Cristeros heats up her grows ever more Catholic!

Terry

 

[johnnyc176]

Looking forward to seeing that film. And now I know about the Ladies in White so thank you for that.

 

[mab23]

**For Greater Glory **

http://txcatholic.org/images/stories/fgg.jpg

releases June 1st 2012 - based on a true story about the Cristero War

What would you pay for the price of freedom? In the exhilarating action epic For Greater Glory an impassioned group of men and women each make the decision to risk it all for family, faith and the very future of their country, as the fims adventure unfolds against the long-hidden, true story of the 1920s Cristero War the daring peoples revolt that rocked 20th Century North America. – (C) Arc

http://www.forgreaterglory.com/assets/img/site/about-1-alt.jpg

Trailer
youtube.com/watch?v=NKeOHZ9NWao

IMDB
imdb.com/title/tt1566501/?licb=0.32734375330619514

Official Site
forgreaterglory.com/

 

[Hmgbrd]

I was privileged to be able to view a pre-screening of this film. It truly is wonderful. Based on true history (and it happend in the 20th century). Something that I never knew. Peter O’Toole is wonderful. If you have a chance, look it up and see it. I wholeheartedly recommend this one!

 

[Stylites]

Thanks for the links.

 

[mab23]

I was privileged to be able to view a pre-screening of this film. It truly is wonderful. Based on true history (and it happend in the 20th century). Something that I never knew. Peter O’Toole is wonderful. If you have a chance, look it up and see it. I wholeheartedly recommend this one!

I heard about it on Immaculate heart radio and im totally supporting a movie that supports my faith in the right way

Thanks for the links.

absolutely - I like movies based on true stories and the fact that my faith is involved - I cant wait to see it!

 

[Rolltide]

As some of you know, I work as a professional Latin American historian. Specifically, my specialty is in Mexico and Cuba. It may be a few weeks before I get a chance to see this movie, but I’ll be happy to post my thoughts and comments on it when I get a chance. I’m very excited about it, if for no other reason than there are very few good historical movies about Latin America in general.

 

[zab]

I’m looking forward to go seeing this movie.

 

[SurlyMermaid]

As some of you know, I work as a professional Latin American historian. Specifically, my specialty is in Mexico and Cuba. It may be a few weeks before I get a chance to see this movie, but I’ll be happy to post my thoughts and comments on it when I get a chance. I’m very excited about it, if for no other reason than there are very few good historical movies about Latin America in general.

I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts!

By the way, I’m from southeast Tennessee but I’m still cool with hearing your Alabama thoughts.

 

[Muzhik]

As some of you know, I work as a professional Latin American historian. Specifically, my specialty is in Mexico and Cuba. It may be a few weeks before I get a chance to see this movie, but I’ll be happy to post my thoughts and comments on it when I get a chance. I’m very excited about it, if for no other reason than there are very few good historical movies about Latin America in general.

Please, though, remember that movies (unless they are documentaries) CAN’T be entirely accurate. I’d be happy if this film simply captured the essence of the bravery of these people. On the official web site, there is one inaccuracy, where they say that the story hasn’t been told in film before. It hasn’t been told IN ENGLISH, TO AN AMERICAN AUDIENCE before. There have been at least two films made in Mexico about the Rebellion.

I have to admit, every time I see an ad for this, I can’t help but compare what Calles did to what certain forces in the American government are attempting to do, with much greater subtlety.

 

[loko]

As some of you know, I work as a professional Latin American historian. Specifically, my specialty is in Mexico and Cuba. It may be a few weeks before I get a chance to see this movie, but I’ll be happy to post my thoughts and comments on it when I get a chance. I’m very excited about it, if for no other reason than there are very few good historical movies about Latin America in general.

Ah… then you are the person to ask. I posted a thread on Cristeros and someone posted that Masons were heavily involved in this civil war and during this period of Mexican history. Is that historically accurate?

 

[anp1215]

I just heard about this and can’t wait to see it!

 

[Rolltide]

Please, though, remember that movies (unless they are documentaries) CAN’T be entirely accurate. I’d be happy if this film simply captured the essence of the bravery of these people. On the official web site, there is one inaccuracy, where they say that the story hasn’t been told in film before. It hasn’t been told IN ENGLISH, TO AN AMERICAN AUDIENCE before. There have been at least two films made in Mexico about the Rebellion.

I’m well aware of this. At my college, I run a historical association, and one of our monthly events is to screen a film and dissect it afterward, looking at what was accurate, what was exaggerated, and what was simply made up. Some historical films are much better than others, but you can usually get something genuinely useful out of most of them. The Cristero Revolt is a great story to tell. I’m mostly hoping that there’s some depth to the film, and that the Mexican forces aren’t simply portrayed as one-dimensional bad guys either. Many of them were very torn about fighting against their own people, but fearful of disobeying the government. (I agree with your point about the bravery of the Cristeros as well.)

 

[Travers22]

Would appreciate your comments on the movie. Maybe you could comment also on the catholic travel guide forum.

 

[JRRTFAN]

When I was a kid, and I am a pre-VCII Catholic educated “kid”. We always heard blurbs from the sisters about Fr. Miguel Pro and how he was a martyr. I never got the photo until I heard Patrick Madrid’s show where he discussed a release he had done on the Cristero war.

The long and short is here we see, in my living mother’s life time, a freemason governmental war on the Church. This stuff was going on 27 years before I was born, on this continent, with what cooperation from Washington? Wait…Washington would never be anti-Church, would it? I’ll have to send an email to Mr. Obama!!! so he can keep me safe.

 

[Rolltide]

The long and short is here we see, in my living mother’s life time, a freemason governmental war on the Church. This stuff was going on 27 years before I was born, on this continent, with what cooperation from Washington?

I don’t know that I’d call it a freemason governmental war… definitely a socialist/communistic governmental war though. People don’t realize that the Mexican Revolution was the first socialist revolution on earth, even predating the Russian Revolution. Leon Trotsky, for example, was actively interested in what was going on there (and was eventually assassinated there.) Mexico’s Constitution of 1917 was heavily socialist, although it’s a really weird and fascinating document from an historical viewpoint. The American Constitution is praised for it’s simplicity. For more than two centuries, it has functioned with only a handful of amendments, and is so brief it only takes up a few pages. The Mexican Constitution of 1917 is one of the longest documents in the world providing law to a nation. (It looks like an unabridged dictionary!) It is utter complexity at its finest, and is written in such a way that it is SO contradictory and confusing that it allows any politician or political party to read it about any way they want, so it offers surprising flexibility, and they just kinda go with it. Wanna justify nationalizing everything? You can do that? Wait… you need to privatize everything? You can justify that too… Mexico rarely passes a new national law because they can simply reinterpret what they already have! That said, it was originally written to be highly socialistic, but it doesn’t have to be read that way. It’s a tremendously interesting topic actually for historians.

 

[Muzhik]

The Cristero Revolt is a great story to tell. I’m mostly hoping that there’s some depth to the film, and that the Mexican forces aren’t simply portrayed as one-dimensional bad guys either. Many of them were very torn about fighting against their own people, but fearful of disobeying the government. (I agree with your point about the bravery of the Cristeros as well.)

I’ll tell you, over on the discussion boards on IMDB there are some pretty hateful comments by people who have already labeled the film “propaganda” due to the way it’s treating its subject matter; people who are asking “Why didn’t Calle finish the job he started?”; and one person who is asking if the film will be showing the atrocities committed by the Cristeros. (After all, you can’t draw moral equivalencies about two sides if only one side is committing atrocities; and if there are none recorded then all that means is the victors wrote the history.)

The other thing I want to point out to people is that this happened only 10 years before the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, and you hear some of the same arguments from the Republicans as you hear from Calles. It’s hard not to feel that one influenced the other.

 

[Elizium23]

FYI, the Knights of Columbus helped fund this film, and there is a current tour in the USA of the relics of four priest-martyrs who were Knights of Columbus during this time.

For more information about the film, please visit ForGreaterGlory.com and the official Facebook page.

 

[Travers22]

The internet has provided all those haters with a way to vent that they have never had before. Hopefully they are just a minority. In most cases they are ignorant of the true teachings and history of the Catholic Church. As a convert I can look back at my own ignorance before I became Catholic.

There were abuses on both sides in this war, no doubt. But unfortunately that is war. However, the underlying theme of assault on liberty is what makes this movie so relevant in these days.

 

[loko]

Why are people getting upset for?

It’s just a movie, a version of a set of events that occurred in history.

Some liberties have been taken, that is normal, that is what Hollywood does. The important characters and events are credible.

Just like the Passion of the Christ is not an EXACT and TRUE characterisation of the events that happened, it is a credible version of what may have happened.

Don’t be over analytical…relax and enjoy the movie.