Holy Khan
It's a bit cheesy and overacted, yes, but Patrick Bergin does a fantastic job playing his eponymous leading man, Michael York plays Germanus well, and Malcolm McDowell is always fun in a dour mood. Follow the main character, and you've followed the point of the movie to a worthy conclusion.
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The story is a good one. When he foolishly wanders away from home and is captured by slavers, Patrick learns the hard way, over years of hard labour, where his dignity and worth really come from: they come merely from being loved by God, in spite of all other circumstances. Coming to know this Love again, Patrick perfumes his master's village with the generous dignity of love, even in spite of his master's cruelty. After escaping, he joyfully returns home, only to be called back by "visions" - the same sort by which he was led home.
These visions lead him to learn to become a priest at Auxerre, a school just for such in France. Patrick cultivates discipline and his love for the Irish yet more, until the head of the seminary, Germanus, sends him off to Ireland after a failed mission.
The trials between Patrick and the druids are a tad cheesy in the effects. I do not know if they follow St. Patrick's confessions, but they are certainly played up. (Though I find the "adoremus in aeternum" they sing at the Easter fire is a nice nod.) But after the High King loses his chief druid, conversion begins, only for some bandit of a British nobleman to start up the kinda cheesy violence again...
Despite all the cheese, corn, and schmaltz in what's supposed to be the "drama" between the human characters, the first real drama, between young Patrick and the Irish slavers, and the development of Patrick's character over time, in the face of adversity and enmity - of the Irish royalty, of better educated bishops, and even of his own countrymen, fellow Romans - is what draws me back to this movie every St. Patrick's Day.
Patrick ends the film a changed man, and changed for the better. You know this because he changes the world around him for the better, by listening to God, following, and daring to love his enemies. Loving his enemies. That's a move that will always need to be retold.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
01/31/23
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Audience Member
Not as good as the Robe, but a visually captivating magnificence. The choreography in the early stages of this chef-d'uvre was outstanding.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
01/24/23
Full Review
Audience Member
I liked the historical part but it was pretty boring and the acting and special effects weren't that great. I prefer the VeggieTales version of Maewyn Succat.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/01/23
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Audience Member
Excellent movie about Saint Patrick
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/08/23
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Audience Member
In general, this is an exciting, smooth blend of fact and legend about one of my favorite saints, Patrick, who is mainly responsible for the almost completely peaceful conversion of the Irish Celts to Christianity in a relatively short period of time.
Having said that, I do have a couple of technical criticisms of this film, however:
1. Historically, Patrick's father was a deacon of the Catholic/Christian Church, and his grandfather was a priest. (Clerical celibacy was not a required Church discipline in the Latin Rite, at this point.) This film portrays Patrick's father as being against his son's vocation to Holy Orders. So, this does not make sense, given the family's strong tradition with this particular sacrament.
2. There is a depiction of what might be viewed as the violation of the seal of the confessional, which has NEVER occurred in the 2,000 years of Catholic Christianity. (Priests may not reveal anything they hear in the exercise of the sacrament of Reconciliation--Confession or Penance--even when threatened with death. Such a violation would result in automatic and immediate excommunication from the Church. Many priests have gone to prison or to their deaths rather than violate this seal.) According to Patrick's own CONFESSION, a friend did betray him somehow, but Patrick never says exactly how the friend did so. We can safely assume, I think, that it had nothing to do with the sacrament of Confession/Reconciliation/Penance.
In spite of these two points, this is a great film to watch annually on or around St. Patrick's Day! Then, read THE CONFESSION OF ST. PATRICK to fill in the gaps.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/13/23
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