Customer Reviews

Gospa

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

First, a disclaimer on whether the reported apparitions of Medjugorje are true or false, they have not been approved nor dissapproved by the Holy Mother Church, the Roman Catholic Church. This is a movie review and it easily could merit being a four star movie in my opinion as well but I'll give it three, when comparing it to other religious movies and other apparition-type movies like "Song of Bernadette" or "The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima." Additionally, there probably are "touchy" points here, like relations between the local Archbishop and Priests at Medjugorje, however, it seems that all sides have been treated respectfully though of course, we most likely see the circumstances in a beneficial light to the local Franciscan Fathers.

Roger Ebert wrote that if a story treats Medjugorje, then it should be about the purported apparitions of the Madonna and the messages, he said that is the story. Here, the story really is about Father Jozo Zovko played by Martin Sheen. Medjugorje, the place and the incidences form the backdrop...but to me, this movie is like a backdrop, start it up and do some work, but keep some attention to it but it doesn't have to be absolute. For the uninitiated, Father Zovko is a priest who helped out the young 5 or 6 visionaries when they first occurred in 1981.

As far as I'm concerned, Martin Sheen's heart is in this like nothing else I've seen him do except the "Court Martial of Private Eddie Slovic" and "Wallstreet" comes close as well. He might have made a good Franciscan Priest at that but I must admit, this really isn't a great movie but I understand it was made on a low budget. I read one review that was not happy about some of the extras in this movie, but I honestly believe they must have gotten townspeople from the area of Medjugorje in Bosnia-Hercogovina and maybe up from Croatia as well and actually dub in from Serbo-Croat to what they say in English. What is that line somewhere in the movie? "Get out of here troublemaker"; yes, I think these lines are dubbed. Obviously, it was filmed there, cerca 1995.

This is an interesting film and I haven't been to Medjugorje, a friend of mine who has 3 times I don't believe greatly appreciated this movie, because again, it just touches on the apparitions. Because I have read a lot of literature on the wars in the former Republic of Yugoslavia, it held some interest for me.

We took our family to see this movie at the theater many years ago. It has been a source of inspiration for our children who were in grammar school at the time. We now have a son who will be ordained a priest in 2011, and a daughter who credits her vocation to the contemplative religious life to Medjugorje. Our family has truly been blessed by Our Lady. I would highly recommend this film for family viewing. It may not win any Oscars but it could help save your soul. Blessed Mother is calling, ... "are you listening?"