Hollywood traditionally expressed irreverence towards many things, but not towards Catholic Church. Those two institutions had strong bond which had started in 1930s with infamous Hays Code, censorship system for major studios devised by Catholic priests and activists. Even when the Code was abandoned and Hollywood films allowed themselves to show Protestant and other clergymen as hypocrites and perverts, treatment of Catholic priests remained conspicuously positive, despite the Church’s conservativism being at odds with Hollywood’s increasingly liberal mores. Any film that tried to stray from that was met with hostility, and one of the best examples could be found in Monsignor, 1982 period drama directed by Frank Perry, known for being mercilessly savaged by critics and now almost forgotten.
The plot is based on the eponymous novel by French author Jack-Alain Léger and begins during Second World War. The protagonist, played by Christopher Reeve, is John Flaherty, young, handsome and charismatic Irish American who has just been ordained as Catholic priest. He volunteers to join US Army and serve as military chaplain. He ends in Italy where he, despite being a priest, actually takes part in combat and kills German soldiers. This incident, however, does little to do diminish his standing among Church superiors, who see great potential and send him to Vatican to serve among the most influential cardinals. Flaherty quickly gains favour of powerful Cardinal Santoni (played by Fernando Rey) and, as an accomplished accountant and financial expert, discovers that the Church’s finances were completely wrecked by the war. Solution to this problem comes in the form of Ludovico “Lodo” Varese (played by Joseph Cortese), Flaherty’s old mob-connected friend who used his participation in the war as an opportunity to establish partnership with Sicilian Mafia and its powerful leader Don Appolini (played by Jason Miller). Flaherty devises a scheme to sell cigarettes and other merchandise from Vatican commissary at the black market, which would bring huge profit to the Church and bring its finances back in order. While the scheme develops, Flaherty begins love affair with Clara (played by Genèvieve Bujold), young postulate nun he had accidentally met in Rome.
A lot of criticism directed at this film was well-deserved. Frank Perry’s direction is uninspired and underwhelming and, despite relatively large budget and use of Italian locations, Monsignor most of the time looks like glorified television production. Not even the solid musical score of always reliable John Williams (which was undeservedly “awarded” with Razzie) manages to elevate this film. Cast is relatively good, but poorly served by script. Christopher Reeve, who obviously tried to play his role in order to shake off Superman stereotypes, tries hard but never manages to explain the audience why his character became and remained the priest. Supporting players fare marginally better, like Jason Miller (of The Exorcist fame) in more complex role of Mafia don and Fernando Rey (in one of rare roles when he had his beard shaved off) as Flaherty’s enigmatic mentor. Genèvieve Bujold is, on the other hand, wasted in cliched romantic subplot and the only memorable thing about her performance is a scene in which she appears naked. The only refreshing thing about Monsignor seems to be rather cynical view of the Church as an institution mired in corruption, factional struggles and its leader more than willing to look the other way when confronted with various questionable activities. Nowadays, when we know that the Church leaders took similar approach with priests being involved with child abuse on massive scale, this doesn’t seem to be particularly revelatory, but for the audience and critics in early 1980s it was much harder to digest. Even the strange similarity between the plot of this film and certain contemporary events, like the scandals involving Vatican Bank and unexplained bizzare death of banker Robert Calvi (which would later serve as plot of Coppola’s unfortunate The Godfather Part III) didn’t help Monsignor at the premiere. It is unlikely that today’s audience would care for this film more.
RATING: 4/10 (++)
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