When I heard that Martin Scorsese was doing a series about lives of saints, I was not excited to see the result. His work on Silence was enough to put me off, especially because of the involvement of a certain Jesuit.
I caved in. I got a Fox Nation membership to watch it. I’m disappointed.
The first offering was about a saint quite dear to me, St. Joan of Arc.
The show does not trash her, thanks be to God. However, while there were some decent technical values, it was like watching a pretty good community college theater production.
Occasionally Scorsese dropped in to comment. As far as his delivery is concerned, he’s better behind the camera than in front of it.
At the end, they quickly cut to a chat session on a couch with several people and Scorsese, including the aforementioned Jesuit. That’s when I turned it off. That was a step too far.
I was left with that feeling you have when you realize you’ve stepped in something nasty.
I am displeased to the point that I will probably cancelled my membership and forego the dubious experience of the next episodes.
What a shame.
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New Oxford Review (NOR) also had a link to a review of the film “Conclave.” The link at NOR is below and was originally by the The Atlantic, “Even Worse Than The Da Vinci Code”
Enough said.
https://archive.is/IqMIQ#selection-919.57-919.115
Thank you Fr Z for the review. Too bad. If the right people tackled this subject , ie. Mel Gibson, the benefits would be enormous.
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Father Z after seeing Fr. James Martin at the end of the film:
https://youtu.be/cEd_efoEeiA
Thank you Fr. Z for confirming what I suspected already. I will not be wasting my time.
This is really no surprise when dramatizing spiritual matters in a largely secular medium. The surprise is that it is done at all. All of the film versions, from the silent era to the present, that depict Joan of Arc, have the artistic flavor of the producer. If they generate some interest among some who would not normally be drawn to such, at least some good will have been achieved.
I agree with you, Father, it was disappointing. There was something hollow and flat about it. I would have stuck out watching the remainder of the serious; however, I too was very put off by that certain Jesuit who seems to have his fingerprints on everything these days. It was a huge turnoff!
Thank you Father for taking one for the team by watching this and sparing us the expense and indignity of signing up for fox nation.
At the risk of sounding allegorical: “Capite nobis vulpes parvulas quae demoliuntur vineas” – but how?
Until recently, I had not really noted the fact that Andrew Lang (probably most famous for his collections retelling ‘fairy stories’) had written a children’s book, The Story of Joan of Arc, The Maid of Orleans (1906), which I found scanned in the Internet Archive and enjoyed. (Checking the title, just now, I see he followed it up with “a critical biography”, The Maid of France, being the story of the life and death of Jeanne d’Arc (1908) ! – which I have not yet tried…)
I take it St. Peter Damien is not one of the saints profiled in the series.
Thanks for taking the chance and saving me a few bucks. I was beginning to fall for the endless prompts on Fox but I just knew that my expectation of Scorsese would be verified. As I write I hear in the background yet another promotion for his fraudulence.
Thank you, Father Z!