Glaubensfrage (2008)

Glaubensfrage: Directed by John Patrick Shanley. With Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Viola Davis. A Catholic school principal questions a priest’s ambiguous relationship with a troubled young student.

“Iu0026#39;m not going to give a long or exhaustive review. A bazillion others have and the movie was released over a year ago–so my giving any sort of in-depth analysis is just needless repetition.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe movieu0026#39;s biggest strength is the acting. All three leading actors did a fine job and this was necessary to carry a film that has no special effects, explosions or love scenes. The vagueness of the film is also a strength. After all, the film gets you thinking and yet there is definitely no clear-cut answer as to what really occurred in the film. There is lots of room to foster discussions and debate. And, while I am a strongly opinionated person, I wouldnu0026#39;t have changed much of the film at all–except the very, very end when Meryl Streepu0026#39;s character, for the first and only time, shows some doubt and emotion. This just didnu0026#39;t seem true to her character. Still, this is a minor concern–and who am I to say, since I didnu0026#39;t win the Pulitzer Prize (last time I checked)! Some may hate the vagueness and want a very clear explanation as to what, exactly, the Father did–if anything. Some may hate that the film actually isnu0026#39;t vague enough (I slightly tend towards that). But what I love about all this is that so many different people see so many different things–mostly based on their own prior experiences and expectations. I could easily see someone seeing gay issues, pedophilia (and itu0026#39;s talked ABOUT but never even explicitly said) or a thousand other possibilities–or it could simply be a metaphor for McCarthyism. Who knows? And that makes the film so interesting.”