Customer Reviews

Brides of Christ [VHS]

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Brides of Christ is one of the most exceptional dramas about "real life" in a convent that I have seen yet. It portrays "sisters" as real people who struggle with real issues from the teachings of the Catholic Church to power struggles and bouts with their own humaness through love and sadness. It focuses on two sisters who have a great love for one another through friendship and circumstance yet who are seperated soon after their entering so as not to inhibit their formation. They are eventually reunited on their journey...

Sr. Catherine cannot come to grips with the teaching magesterium of the Church and speaks out against it despite much opposition from within. She has a true love for others and wants what is best for them but cannot reconcile herself to a Church and religion she loves and yet cannot come to terms with.

Sr. Paul loves the Church and God with all of her heart and seems to fit right in to convent life with a sense of humor that seems able to overcome anything. She is accepting and loving yet finds herself at odds with the community after falling in love with a "rebel" priest.

This movie is set during the Vatican II era where there is much change and tension within the Catholic Church. It is done within the settings and confines of the convent and within a Catholic Boarding School. The Catholic students within the movie play a very substantial part in the lives of the sisters and help to bring an understanding of those tumultuous teenage years.

Brides of Christ took great strides in trying to bring reality to the lives of those which remain hidden to most of the world. The only exception is that it was misleading in promoting a correct view of how the teachings of the Church come about and how and why they should be accepted. One can pick this up if they are a well instructed Catholic but if one is not they can easily be led astray. All in all the movie was just a great movie with real situations and real characters.

I purchased this set for no more reason that it is Russell Crowe's first acting job. Mr. Crowe doesn't appear until the 4th of 6 episodes, and then only in that one. I meant to play through it with the sound off until he appeared on screen. But within 10 minutes of the first episode's beginning, I found it impossible not to start listening, and watched the entire series in wrapt fascination.

I'm neither Catholic nor Christian, but this program transcends its subject and looks directly into the hearts of its characters with a rare simplicity that avoids sentimentality while being infinitely touching. Brenda Fricker is lovely and moving, and holds centerstage without taking away one iota from the large supporting cast of mostly female players, young and old.

This unusual series comes highly recommended as a look into a world I'd never even considered, yet one that is varied, fascinating, and wholely worthwhile.

Oh! And Russell Crowe is BRILLIANT! Young, charismatic, charming, and just the right amount of awkward. From the start he had a nose for good material, and this show proves it.

Aside from being a walk down memory lane, since I was in HS at a roman Cath. prep school during the same time as the film, and "our" sisters were very much like the sisters portrayed in the film! I found it fascinating to realize that Australians were dealing with the same issues of social changes and the Vietnam draft that we were! Wonderful writing, great insight, super performances! DO NOT pass this by! Finally, I found the character of Sr. Agnes to be one of the most interesting - when you first "meet" her, esp for those of us who may have had a teacher like her, you understand Catherine wishing she were dead! As the film goes on, you begin to understand her point of view, her capacity for compassion and the breadth of her mind - she is a superb theologian! The other characters are equally fleshed out and real.

Although the story line took place in Australia, at the other end of the world, I could relate to every sister, student, family members, and their friends in this great movie, "Brides of Christ." I was educated by the sisters for twelve years during the 1940's and 1950's. With my Irish Catholic upbringing from my parents, and from the sisters, this movie was so powerful that I felt strong respect for Sister Agnes. Brenda Fricker lived the part of that dedicated sister who had the great love for Christ, and at the same time, she was trying to instill the proper Catholic values in the students before they faced the outside world. Mother Ambrose was an absolutely brilliant lady, and also very human, and had much compassion and love for the sisters and students at Santo Spirito. I felt very sad when Sister Paul made a, what might have seemed, decision in haste to leave to marry the "rebel" priest. However, I was then overjoyed over the way she resolved her situation/problem.

I remember vividly all the changes during the 1960's after Vatican II with the mass exodus of the priests and sisters from their religious orders. Oh yes, I felt that Jack, the rebel priest along with many other ex-priests that I so well recall, were proponents of rapid changes, which for most of the conservative Catholics like myself, could and were accepted much more gradually. Therefore, this film had a such a profound effect of me that in between each video session, I felt as though I were involved with each and every character in the story; some of whom I loved, Sr. Agnes, Mother Ambrose, Sr. Catharine, Sr. Paul, Sr. Patrick, and the occasional ones whom I disliked, for instance, the rebel priest. Why did Jack have to get so angry at the church? He remained within it long enough to become accepted and ordained a priest. There were a couple of prissy little missies at the boarding school who reminded me of some of the "popular" girls, and I, as an underdog in my later high school years, had experienced ,and until this day I could never forget their obnoxious antics.

I felt compassion for Sr. Philomena who had the most difficulty in accepting the changes. However, I could not quite comprehend the actions of the girls when she appeared with the "purple" hair. When I was in high school during the 1950's, we would never get away with being so rude as to openly laugh like that any of the sisters.

The church music and the mystique of that particular time, made me nostalgic of my Roman Catholicism. This film made me come away from it with prayerful thanksgiving at having been privileged to experience knowing similar people in my lifetime. I only rented it, but my plans are to buy it, and I will watch "Brides of Christ" every could of months forever.

These videos are excellent, in terms of story line and content. Ther series cover the lives of the nuns,and pupils of the convent of Santo Sprito in Austrialia. The main ecclesiastical characters, Ambrose(the broadmind Mother Superior) Agnes ( the fundementalist, Mistress of novices')Catherine ( the rebellious one) and Paul( the accepting one) are so believable.The series takes place against the back drop of the swinging sixties and vactican Two, whose reform died with Jonn XXIII. It shows how the nuns react to the changes. Sister Catherine was so credible as the young educated woman trying to conform to the strict tenets of the Catholic faith, and eventually realising she could not.The pupils, Bridget, Frances and Rosemary were all fantastic.This video also highlighted the problems Catholic women had with contraception.Bridget's mother was forced to do a home abortion, because taking the pill was and still is a mortal sin, even if used within marriage.It also showed how divorce was viewed by Catholic society, Frances' mother was ostracised by the other parents, yet the two young sisters Catherine and Paul were given leave by Mother Ambrose to attend the civil wedding. An excellent video, beautifully done.

The Second Vatican Council, a.k.a. Vatican II, began in 1962 when the newly elected Pope John XXII called Catholic bishops around the world to meet and reflect on the place of the Roman Catholic Church in the contemporary world. The idea was to open the windows of the Church and let in some fresh air. This meant the decentralization of authority, the introduction of the local language into the church liturgy, and in general a new spirit of ecumenism. Religious orders were encouraged to make decisions about their daily lives and to examine their rituals and customs for elements that had become irrelevant in the modern world. However, the traditionally conservative hierarchy of the Catholic Church in Australia did not move quickly to embrace such reforms and it was the nuns who emerged as the leaders in the spiritual and educational revolution Down Under.

"Brides of Christ" is a six-part 1991 mini-series set in the convent of Santo Spirito in Sydney during the turbulent 1960s. The convent is also a boarding school for young girls. Each chapter is named for one of the characters and while I though that this would be the story of six different nuns, some of the episodes focus more on the young girls at the school. In retrospect "Brides of Christ" focus on three generational pairs. Mother Ambrose (Sandy Gore) heads the convent with her stern right hand, Sister Agnes (Brenda Fricker). Joining the convent and becoming the best of friends are Diane (Josephine Byrnes) and Veronica (Lisa Hensley), who become Sister Catherine and Sister Paul respectively. Amongst the girls the two who stand out are Frances Heffernan (Naomi Watts) and Rosemary Fitzgerald (Kym Wilson), although Mary Maloney (Pat Bishop) becomes a pivotal character at the end as well.

Episode 1, "Diane," introduces the key character in the series. Diane is about to get married and has even slept with her fiancé when she decides to call off the wedding and enter the convent instead. As Sister Catherine goal is to control her ego, but this is going to prove to be a major problem. Although such special friendships are frowned upon by the domineering Sister Agnes, Sister Catherine becomes close to Sister Paul, another new postulate. But the bigger problem is that Sister Catherine wants to argue with not only Sister Agnes about Catholic theology, but to challenge the teachings of Anselm and Aquinas as well. However, the reforms of Vatican II make her radical thoughts more acceptable than ever in the Church's history.

Episode 2, "Frances," finds Sisters Catherine and Paul are now both teaching at the convent and focuses on the friendship that has formed between young Frances and Rosemary. Frances's father and mother are separated, and when her mother wants to get remarried, Frances worries that her mother will go to Hell for getting a divorce.

Episode 3, "Ambrose," is about changes at Santo Spirito presided over by the Reverend Mother. The two most important ones are a new lay teacher, Ian McGregor (Philip Quast), who teaches economics, and the adoption of a new habit by the sisters. Not only Sister Agnes, but also Sister Philomena (Caroline Gilmer) do not want to accept change and McGregor proves to be too radical for the parents of the girls.

Episode 4, "Rosemary," finds Sister Agnes's lessons on self respect lost on young Rosemary. After one of the girls is expelled from the boarding school for having sex, Rosemary becomes promiscuous. She also has a crush on Mary Maloney's sister, Dominic (Russell Crowe), whose number comes up for Vietnam.

Episode 5, "Paul," finds Sister Paul developing feelings for her old friend, Jack (Simon Burke), a radical priest who leaves the church because it is not changing quickly enough. Sister Paul decides to leave the convent, but maintains her vow of chastity while she tries to figure out what she really wants to do with her life.

Episode 6, "Catherine," brings us back full circle, as it is now Sister Catherine who questions staying in the convent after the Pope's new encyclical on birth control is released. Mother Ambrose is in Rome and Sister Agnes is running Santo Spirito, which does not make things any easier. Young Frances has strong feelings about the subjects of birth control and abortion as well, which brings her into conflict with her friend Mary, who announces her desire to become one of the penguins.

I am reminded somewhat of "The Trouble With Angels" by "Brides of Christ," not so much in terms of the convent/boarding school setting but more because of the careful balance between respect for the sisters and the intimate portrait of their lives. The key thing here is that the characters are all fully realized, and even the minor characters have specific functions to fulfill in life at the convent. I was inclined not to like the resolution of the conflict because of the point it is making, but if Sister Agnes is okay with it then I have little room to complain. Overall, I liked the story lines focusing on the Sister Catherine and Sister Paul (the fact that Byrnes and Hensley are good friends off screen helps) and even on the Old Guard nuns more than I did those about the youngsters, but I understand how things have to be marketed on television, even on the other half of the world.

Obviously Catholics and those raised in the Church who remember those times will find these stories resonating more than those of different faiths. But these stories really are more about the characters than the issues. Although "Brides of Christ" is set in the 1960s most of the issues remain relevant and represent inherent tensions between the Church and those living in more liberal democratic nations, The mini-series is quite captivating. The sparse extras on the two-DVD set are all screen shots, but they do note that Watts and Crowe have gone on to somewhat successful screen careers.

I was in religious life and this series honestly reflects the joys and sorrows of religious life and the struggles many of the sisters endured during the 60's. I loved all the actresses. They seemed so real. It was so finely tuned and non-judgmental. I bought this film to loan it out to friends so they can understand me better. If that is possible?

I really enjoyed this series. It was well written and well acted, but I especially appreciated the story lines for the different episodes. Each episode dealt with a very specific, very Catholic, very debatable topic, such as the Catholic stances on birth control and divorce and investigating the world of the convent and parochial school. The series faced each issue squarely and honestly, neither condemning nor simply excusing each practice. An excellent program.

The brilliance of this series, where conflicts within the Roman Catholic religious life are treated through incidents in the lives of Sisters and students, may not be captured by all at first glance. The obvious (and superbly handled) theme is adjusting to drastic changes in monastic and Church life. Yet there is a greater depth still in less glaring themes, which mirrored what many Sisters faced.

The community of Spirito Santo is depicted as quite exceptional, with a high intellectual standard and, even in the days before the 'old ways' are abandoned, a degree of warmth and interaction between most Sisters which is beyond what some communities would have experienced. Various Sisters illustrate shortcomings (which one can see only in hindsight) which had drastic implications for the Church at large, not only the religious life (which too often was in its dying days.) For example, the wise, truly caring Mother Ambrose, who at first seems to wish to involve the viewpoints of all Sisters in community decisions, illustrates a very common response of the time - valuing 'unity' (such as that shown in forcing all Sisters into the modified habit) at all costs. It may not be obvious to those who did not have close associations with religious Orders, but, during the period, far more drastic, sometimes devastating, 'options' than a modified garb became permissible, then an unwritten rule, in the name of the 'ways of the community.'

Diane/Sister Catherine is an interesting, if exasperating, character, because, initially, it is to the congregation's credit that one who questioned constantly, often in a superior, smug, and self absorbed fashion, was not dismissed for a lack of 'obedience.' One would wonder why someone of her sort entered religious life in the first place, though there is a strong hint that she overestimates her own intellectual gifts and thinks herself to be quite a prize. Catherine's overall story points out traps into which many Sisters fell.

For example, much of the conflict surrounding Humanae Vitae (the topic of one episode), which was stirred by celibates, arose from anger that the pope's statement was against the recommendations of his committee - the Religious protested more because of collegiality or a sense of 'democracy', where the married (who did not depart in droves, even if they did not obey the directives) largely were not concerned with such consultations. Catherine's ire is not only directed at Rome, but at married people who don't 'take her side up on' the prohibition on birth control. She is too blinded by her own agenda to see the implicit condescension, nor, for all her academic intelligence, does she have the minimal wordly wisdom which would have prevented her from commenting on, let alone interfering in, anything as private as a couple's marital practise.

Another solid image is how many Sisters, looking to show acceptance and dispel a supposed image of their being inapproachable and rigid (though most Spirito Santo Sisters, from the first frame of the film, are anything but), ignored prudence. It is perfectly understandable when student Frances is sent to attend her mother's registry office wedding - yet neither Sisters Catherine nor Paul can see that their attending, then dancing the twist in long habits at the reception, could make them seem vaguely pathetic (look at the queens of cool...), as well as be taken for a protest against teachings of the Church which they represent. The mothers at the school, who avoid Frances' mother, indeed seem hard and uncharitable, but the dimension that is not presented (and which Sisters well might forget, because their desire to seem tolerant could cause tunnel vision) is that parents may not wish their children to see a fuss over one who, to their minds, departed from the commitment of sacramental marriage.

Sister Paul's story was especially insightful. Non-Catholics, or Catholics who were not that aware of matters theological at the time, can miss that this is not merely a tale of a young woman who suddenly is questioning whether her decision to enter a convent should be permanent. In the aftermath of Gaudium et Spes, a document which presented a far from new idea about the 'universal call to holiness,' too many religious minimised the value of their own lives, seeing the 'only call as baptism.' Sister Paul is a delightful young teacher, who seems perfectly happy in convent life, but who is not only dealing with her first strong attraction to a man (whom she cannot see does not return her love, but is using her to 'get back at' the Church as he departs the priesthood in bitterness) but with the sudden new idea that there is no real value in religious life, sees only that she'd serve God just as well as a wife and mother. Ambrose's comment captures a great deal of a situation which many Sisters of sanguine disposition faced: Paul entered at 19 more because it was 'what everyone expected,' and 'never really made a decision in her life.' Her ultimate decision is to remain a religious, but she did not see that she had not developed maturity until confronted with the conflict.

The single deficiency in the presentation was that Sisters who are of more conservative bent are shown as being so because of defects of character rather than conviction. This was a very common idea in religious life at that time - and indeed a manipulative tactic to push conformity. (For example, Sisters who preferred to retain religious garb were convinced that they must want to keep people at a distance - those who wished common prayer schedules were written off as immature.) Though Sister Agnes is an intelligent, learned woman, she is of a very trying, domineering personality, and it seems implicit that her desire for the 'old ways' is based on her difficulty in dealing with others. I was sorry that there was no episode from her point of view. The other 'conservative' Sister who is any major emphasis is pathetic - an emotional wreck who breaks down before the community, sobbing that she wants to be told what to do and does not want to make her own decisions, and then makes a suicide attempt. One could come away from a series which otherwise is notably frank and realistic with the impression that more conservative Sisters were either dreadful personalities or mentally ill.

Of course, there is an element of pathos in the final product as well. The efforts of the Sisters at the time are understandable - seeking to adapt and have a fresh spirit, and to become more available to those whom they served. As time has shown, the very climate of 'options', supposed democracy and dialogue which cut out voices which did not fit the party line and thought such voices inferior, and the conformity, no less than that of the old ways even if it was called being 'community minded' rather than 'obedience,' sounded the death knoll for the positive religious life one sees in this film.

I thoroughly enjoyed this video set. It actually shows the humaness of the sisters. Since having attended parochial grade, high, and college under the auspices of nuns I could relate to many instances that occured. Everyone in the cast actually was an excellent actress or actor. I would recommend this to everyone to gain some insight of what happened in this reform of the Catholic church.