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Priest

  • 1994
  • 15
  • 1h 45m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
11K
YOUR RATING
Priest (1994)
Home Video Trailer from Miramax
Play trailer1:57
1 Video
30 Photos
DramaRomance

A homosexual Catholic priest finds out during confessional that a young girl is being sexually abused by her father, and has to decide how to deal with both that secret and his own.A homosexual Catholic priest finds out during confessional that a young girl is being sexually abused by her father, and has to decide how to deal with both that secret and his own.A homosexual Catholic priest finds out during confessional that a young girl is being sexually abused by her father, and has to decide how to deal with both that secret and his own.

  • Director
    • Antonia Bird
  • Writer
    • Jimmy McGovern
  • Stars
    • Linus Roache
    • Tom Wilkinson
    • Robert Carlyle
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.1/10
    11K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Antonia Bird
    • Writer
      • Jimmy McGovern
    • Stars
      • Linus Roache
      • Tom Wilkinson
      • Robert Carlyle
    • 85User reviews
    • 32Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
      • 5 wins & 3 nominations total

    Videos1

    Priest
    Trailer 1:57
    Priest

    Photos30

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    Top cast41

    Edit
    Linus Roache
    Linus Roache
    • Father Greg Pilkington
    Tom Wilkinson
    Tom Wilkinson
    • Father Matthew Thomas
    Robert Carlyle
    Robert Carlyle
    • Graham
    Cathy Tyson
    Cathy Tyson
    • Maria Kerrigan
    Lesley Sharp
    Lesley Sharp
    • Mrs. Unsworth
    Robert Pugh
    Robert Pugh
    • Mr. Unsworth
    James Ellis
    • Father Ellerton
    Christine Tremarco
    Christine Tremarco
    • Lisa Unsworth
    Paul Barber
    Paul Barber
    • Charlie
    Rio Fanning
    Rio Fanning
    • Bishop
    Jim R. Coleman
    • Funeral director
    Bill Dean
    Bill Dean
    • Altar boy
    Gilly Coman
    • Ellie Molloy
    Fred Pearson
    Fred Pearson
    • Patrick
    Jimmy Gallagher
    • Mick Molloy
    Anthony Booth
    Anthony Booth
    • Tommy
    Giuseppe Murphy
    • Man in lift
    Kim Johnson
    • Mrs. Gobshite
    • Director
      • Antonia Bird
    • Writer
      • Jimmy McGovern
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews85

    7.111.4K
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    Featured reviews

    RachelLone

    Definitely one of the most controversial films in cinema history

    Father Greg Pilkinton (Linus Roache) is a young, dedicated, idealistic and yet conservative (comparing to his colleague, Father Matthew Thomas, played by Tom Wilkinson) priest who has recently arrived in his new parish. He works hard with total faith and devotion. Soon after moving in to Father Matthew's house, he discovers that Father Matthew has been having a relationship with his maid. Later on, a school girl, Lisa (Christine Tremarco) confesses to him that her father has been sexually abusing her, Father Greg faces his inner struggle on whether to reveal the truth to the authority, or remain silent in order not to break his vow.

    Confused and frustrated, Father Greg goes to a pub and meets Graham (Robert Carlyle) and later they have sex. They are to stay in an on-and-off relationship. Now Father Greg must confront his human desire and his sexuality. Eventually, he also has to deal with his being arrested while making love in a parked car and the devastating consequences.

    This film challenges the entire system. Must a priest (or a nun) remain celibate? Should we leave out non-heterosexuals for being Catholics or whatever? Must a priest remain silent when hearing a serious problem or even an about-to-be-committed crime (which happens all the time in Northern Ireland) and do nothing? Can all priests honestly give themselves away completely to God and refrain from letting their human emotion, human desire flow? Don't some priests become child molesters because they've been trying to repress their human desire for too long (this seems outside the subject. On the other hand, not all priests commit such a crime)? Should we refuse to show compassion towards certain people simply because they are different from us and that their life styles are 'not accepted' by society or the usual moral standard? Still, who is the hypocrite here? Father Matthew's relationship with his housekeeper has never been revealed. If otherwise, he would be rejected, too. He leads a double life. Being a 'liberal' priest and breaking his vow of celibacy at the same time. But WHO are the hypocrites? Aren't we all?

    'Priest' is not about a story of one priest. It's about any one priest. And the movie is compelling and well-made. One thing for sure, the Roman Catholic Church would not be pleased with this film.
    8bilahn

    Intensely moving and moral film

    I just re-watched Priest after 12 years, and I think it is even more powerful and relevant now it was then, given the scandals in the Catholic Church and the rise of religious militancy and fundamentalism in the world.

    While occasionally teetering on the brink of preachiness and soap opera, Priest is saved by tight direction and very fine acting. It effectively shows the humaness of people in the Church, as opposed to how some would have you believe.

    As a person not all attached to organized religion, I obviously find much to approve of here. But the strength of Priest is that someone who loves the Catholic Church for what is really is, the teachings of Jesus, and not what cruel, irrational and ignorant human beings have made of it will find much to be enriched by here. Priest is not anti-Catholic at all, not in the true sense of the word. Rather, it is anti human folly.

    Of course that segment that is fundamentalist and inflexible, who cannot imagine - horrors! - that a Priest could be gay have and will continue to express their moral outrage and call this "hate speech."

    As a final note, I also happened to read Roger Ebert's inexplicible review of Priest. If I hadn't seen his name on it, I would think it was written by Michael Medved. Since Ebert is generally religion neutral and very gay positive, I simply don't understand his outrage at all - very puzzling indeed. And he gives Mel's hideous Passion of the Christ, one of the most immoral and disgusting movies ever made (again most especially if you ARE religious) a perfect 10.
    Kirpianuscus

    about vulnerability

    a challenge to viewer. because it is one of the films who seems present all in a too honest manner. because it seems have too many themes. because it seems not convince in real sense. in fact, it is a very simple story about vulnerability, faith and courage. about instinct, pray and sufferance. about Christ and wold. nothing new. but enough to be provocative. and this is the basic virtue of it. then, the performance of Linus Roache who gives to the father Greg beautiful nuances who saves the character out of clichés. story about people in delicate situations, about painful secrets and about the impact of truth, it is difficult to see "The Priest" if you are out of the theme. to define it as a film about homosexuality and incest is too easy and far to be enough. or correct. because it is a film about vocation and responsibility, weakness and the choices changing everything. and not the young priest or the young woman are the heroes but the others. and not exactly the others but theirs reactions. a film about vulnerability. one of the most impressive. and useful. maybe, for define yourself.
    dbdumonteil

    Judge not lest ye be judged..

    Priests are not often the heroes of movies:some famous predecessors were Robert Bresson's "journal d'un curé de campagne" (1945),Luis Bunuel's "Nazarin" (1958) and Jean-Pierre Melville 's "Leon Morin prêtre" (1961).But none of these directors went as far as Antonia Bird .Their movies were perhaps esthetically better,but nothing shocking for people who were brought up religiously ,nothing like the pictures of this priest lying on a bed with his lover.One will add that Bunuel's movie was looked upon as "very Christian" by the Spanish censorship when it was exactly the contrary.But it's difficult to consider Bird's work a fable:it's a realistic story,where sex occupies the center of the plot:sex between the other priest and the housekeeper,sex between the father and his daughter,sex between Rochman and Carlyle .Bird's style,though depicting the poor sides of Liverpool is very different from Kenneth Loach's .Her pictures are polished up ,like the one in confessional where the incest father is speaking through the grille ,or the two lovers on the beach.

    Bird's movie is very interesting because it broaches the problem of celibacy in the catholic religion (protestant priests are allowed to marry aren't they),and,as the hero remarks "Jesus did not ask for chastity did he?"A hero who is not always very smart:"be discreet" he tells to his colleague who sleeps with the housekeeper,but he kisses his lover in a car in broad daylight.

    The final battle in the church is particularly interesting,because it's a battle of words,repeating quotations from the Bible,and there are so many ways of interpreting its meanings .It seems that the priest uses the New testament ( judge not lest...,Mary Magdelene, forgive not seven times but seventy)whereas his enemy draws from the old one (a man sleeping with a man is an abomination).

    The seal of the confessional subject is not that much new however:even in 1953,Hitchcock made "I confess" in which Montgomery Clift was confronted to the same problem.

    Best line;the older priest ,telling a shocked congregation that God is probably too busy to care about what men do with their d.....
    9gpadillo

    Journey of Growth and the Heart of Forgiveness

    11 years after its release, I finally got around to watching one of 1994's most controversial films. I don't know what took me so long.

    This is the story of Father Greg Pilkington, an idealistic young priest appalled by the liberal-thinking, older priest he shares a congregation with. Clashes and airs of superiority from Father Greg set up, almost calculatedly, his crushing and inevitable fall from grace. Try as he might, Father Greg, pious and as intolerant as ever, cannot suppress his sexuality and takes to the gay bar scene. A casual pick up turns into an affair which in turn becomes a personal and professional disaster as an equally intolerant society pushes him towards wrongful arrest and a verdict of "guilty." Father Greg becomes the object of derision and hatred by the bigoted, close minded community, itself a reflection of all the young priest exhibited in but a show of intolerance and sanctimoniousness.

    The real heart of this picture occurs in the confessional when a desperate young girl tells of ongoing sexual abuse at the hands of her father. Eventually, this information becomes a test of faith for Father Greg as he questions his spirituality, the laws of the church and God himself.

    During all of this the older priest, Father Matthew, preaches of "the trappings of power" that the Church has saddled itself with - and how the trappings have gotten in the way of the message of God, of love, of tolerance, of patience and compassion. As might be expected, the Church's higher ups have little patience for this sort of talk - and the congregation itself shuns Father Greg turning mass into an explosive show of blind eyed fanaticism.

    As Father Greg, Linus Roche gives a searing, searching performance as the young tormented priest. His fall and redemption, the center of the story, comes across with an earnestness that steers clear of sensationalism, despite the loaded message of the movie. Tom Wilkinson, as ever, gives a performance that is as natural and believable - and likable - as anything he's done before or since. (Side note: having waited so long to watch this it's interesting to see these two actors with important roles in this year's new and glorious Batman Begins.) A truly remarkable and emotional film.

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      The Catholic Church in Ireland were very vocal about their views in having the film banned from theatrical distribution. The film censor disagreed and the film was released with an 18 certificate. This marked a major turning point in the relationship between the church and the Irish Film Censor board.
    • Goofs
      Father Greg holds up a communion wafer which is smooth. The scene cuts to Graham and then back to Father Greg, and the wafer has a diagonal line across it.
    • Quotes

      Father Greg Pilkington: [addressing Father Redstone in Latin] Abi et futue te ipsum, sordide senex.

      [Translation: Go fuck yourself, you dirty old man]

    • Alternate versions
      The US version has been cut by seven minutes.
    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: Rob Roy/Tommy Boy/Jefferson in Paris/Bulletproof Heart/Priest (1995)
    • Soundtracks
      Green Green Grass of Home
      Composed by Curly Putman

      Performed by Tom Wilkinson

      Copyright Tree International

      by kind permission of Burlington Music Co. Ltd./Warner Chappell Music Ltd.

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    FAQ19

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 17, 1995 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Official site
      • Official site
    • Languages
      • Latin
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Actos privados
    • Filming locations
      • Blundellsands, Merseyside, England, UK(beach scene with boy and coffee)
    • Production companies
      • BBC Film
      • Miramax
      • Polygram Filmed Entertainment
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $4,165,845
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $113,430
      • Mar 26, 1995
    • Gross worldwide
      • $4,165,845
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 45 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.66 : 1

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