Customer Reviews

Sacred Silence

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

SACRED SILENCE, an Italian film set in Naples, dares to share the thoughts and words behind the silences that have sequestered the subject of the role of the Catholic Church in cities under the strangle hold of gang viloence. The mood is set as soon as the film opens, showing the credits and title of the film superimposed on a fence/wall that is suggestive of a prison wall overlooking the city. Claustrophobia sets in and is rarely diminished throughout the story. Father Lorenzo is a young, handsome priest in a neighborhood that is beseiged by brutal gang violence at the hands of the Camorra. Almost incidental to the film is the priest's nurturing young men by giving sanctuary to drug addicts and to Nunzio who finds his only safe bond (in the presence of broken homes, miserable living conditions, fear) to be with Father Lorenzo. Yes, he is underaged and yes, it is suggested that the priest and the boy have an intamacy forbidden by the church and the macho community/mob. But the beauty of this relationship overshadows the horrors outside the church doors until the mob attempts to manipulate the priest by the threat of exposing his private life. The manner in which this is told includes momentary face-front-to-camera vignettes of each of the characters tellings us who they are, where they live, and a bit of their position in the story. This "police lineup" method of storytelling is effective and creates a tension that is only relieved by the music and moments between Father Lorenzo and Nunzio.

While this film may not be for everyone, for those who seek more insight into the current Church scandals this story and the sensitivity of its telling will surely flesh out perspective.

You'd think a film dealing with the Church, the Mafia and a Gay priest (bedding an underage altar boy, no less) would make for a crackerjack spellbinder. Well, not here. Forget it. Nothing but nothing happens. It takes almost a half-hour for what little gears there are to get in motion. People are being gunned down as if spliced from another movie, and no one explains why the local goverment and the bad guys suspect the priest and the boy of anything improper other than just pure malice. (No one has seen them do anything - ourselves included).Instead, time is wasted by having minor characters stop in mid non-action, turn to the camera and babble a short bio of themselves as if this were vital information for an inminent trial sequence to come, but no, it's all useless filler of no value to anyone, least of all the viewer. Again, for no reason, other characters - the priest included -sing pop tunes (yes napolitanos are musical) throughout. Characters constantly gaze out of windows - for the longest time! Then, when you think fireworks are going to finally go off, and you force your half-closed eyelids to open, on come the end titles! The filmaker was obviously more interested in showing us how hopeless and dreary life in this region is, why he chose these particular ingredients to do so is beyond me. The dvd box states that the guy playing the priest got the big one in Venice - for best sleepwalking, no doubt! Thank God I got 'Lola & Bill The Kid' that same day, otherwise, I might committed a sacrilege - on this dvd!

This move presents the viewer with a classic moral conundrum. The plot of the movie is the story of the local Mafia exploiting a Priest's sexual affair with a vulnerable 13 year old boy to derail his grassroots crusade against the Mafia's influence in the neighborhood.

This movie is a relatively low budget movie, but brilliantly cast, acted and filmed. Its almost worth watching the movie for the glimpse it gives at the culture and street life of the city of Naples. But some might find movie's rather nuanced treatment of a pederastic relationship offensive.

I wonder about the motives of the movie because of the way it depicts the relationship between the adolescent boy and the Priest. We are confused because, unlike in so many abusive stories of pederasty we hear, the young man is not physically coerced or emotionally abused into the relationship but seduced in a caring, affectionate way not so different then that of a normal intimacy. The lonely boy from a dysfunctional family seems grateful for the nurturing attention of the Priest, who seems the responsible mentor in every other way, and he willingly submits to the Priest's seduction. Meanwhile, the Priest begins to preach against the influence of the mafia from his pulpit. But Priest goes too far when he begins to give interviews to the media and organizing public protests. The mafia boss bribes a social service worker to begin an investigation of the relationship between the boy and the Priest. The social service workers relentlessly pursue the investigation, and eventually the boy breaks down and confesses to the police that he had sexual relations with the priest.

We are not certain how to feel as the Mafia triumphs over the young Priest. Was the Priests pederasty more harmful then the violence and corruption of the mafia? Are we supposed to gloat in the Priest's downfall at the hands of the Mafia conspiracy against him? Or regret the end of his activism against the mafia?

I believe this moral conundrum is the tool the movie uses to compel the viewer to reconsider one's views of pederasty. On the other hand, the movie---unintentionally I believe---illustrates the central criticism of adult-teenager intimacy: the unequal power relationships between adults and adolescents. It is this unequal power relationship that makes sexual intimacy between adults and adolescents inherently manipulative, and ultimately harmful for the teenager.

This movie is worth watching, if nothing else but for the high "soap opera" style drama that it contains, as well as the glimpse into the street life of Naples. But be forewarned about it's rather unconventional treatment of the subject of pederasty.

I haven't seen garbage like this since I lived in Italy. The cinematography is not too bad, and that's the best thing I can say about this film. I think it might have been made as late night filler for television rather than as a serious attempt. If it is a serious attempt, the filmmaker should stop trying to imitate EVERY successful Italian director and develop his own style. The subject is supposed to be shocking, but even that doesn't succeed. Dreadful.

Heavens to Betsy, what a joke! The picture quality is horrible, the sub titles don't make sense half the time and after watching this flick, I honestly can't even tell you what I watched. A whole lot of violence and killing for no appearent reason. It's a semi-narrative film with each character giving their date of birth and I suppose who they are and what they are supposed to represent to the plot of the film. Not at all what I expected. It appears the Priest molested the boy and the boy reported him although the boy seemed to esteem the priest very highly. I don't know, it makes little if any sense. I would recommend staying far far away from this one. I wish I had.

After watching for few minutes I realized we were not going to get anywhere "Sacred Silence" Another example of a Priest making a Bad Judgment. I kept waiting for the next Character to introduce him or herself as they did through out the Film looking straight at the Camera...what was the Point for That? Maybe that's how they make Films in Naples. It was nice to see the Beautiful City and for that I gave it two Stars!

While this was a quirky, somewhat unusual movie, with the cast, at times, looking into the camera and speaking about themselves and their lives, which really doesn't add to the movie, I am thankful I purchased the movie. I enjoyed the street scenes of the city, albeit some were very violent. The story seems to show a genuine relationship between the priest and the teen boy. It seems so natural, never any force, violence, or minupation. It is obvious the priest is attracted to the boy, and the boy doesn't seem to be bother by it, rather, enjoys the attention and supposed intimacy. I never saw or heard the teen say no, or try to get away, instead, he sought out his adult male friend at times, and was always willing and available. It is maybe understandable how and why the priest was attracted to the teen, as he is a remarkabley handsome boy. Very good looking, and sort of playful. How and why the mafia found out about the relationship is not known or shown. I think it is a sad story to show how the mafia took control of the priests situation and made him out to be the criminal. Is it a crime to love a beautiful boy and act on it? Well, surely it is not legal, but in this situation, it seemed more of two lovers than a man (clergyman at that)abusing or taking advantage of a kid. Also, I must add, I am a protestant, not Catholic, and know full well it is not just priests to abuse children.
Watch the movie, enjoy it, but realize it is filmed in a unique way. Not bad, just different. While some situations or happenings are not explained, attraction of the priest for the boy, is honest and known.

I saw this film, "Nunzio Pianese, 14 anni a maggio" (marketed in English as titled "Sacred Silence") when it came out or close to that, at an international gay film festival (Images + Nations) which takes place yearly in Montréal. The memory of this film, so broodingly intimate and mysteriously full of tension between the homey and spacious interior of the presbytery (priest's residence) and the outside world of crime, sacred and secular singing, and the Italian music industry industry, is very striking.

There is constant suspence about what finally just begins to happen by the long-anticipated ending of the film, when disaster is about to befall the brave priest, compromisingly tainted by his ephebophile sexual proclivity, and the boy, Nunzio Pianese, whose whole situation will change as the film progresses as he attains pop music star status as a celebrity "boy singer", something which his very pleasing adolescent beauty facilitates as much as it had provoked the priest's illicit love for him.

The boy, who, essentially, is developping heterosexually despite his abnormal situation, accedes to the priest's sexual desires from respect and friendship for the adult man rather than from youthful passion or from any incipient homosexual or bisexual orientation on young Nunzio's own part. The city's corrupt criminal forces, and the local government authorities who are in collusion with their undertakings, ensnare the priest, having learned of his scandalous sexual activites, in order to end his reforming efforts against their joint municipal turpitude, and on the boy, who is manoeuvred into betraying the priest who loves him and who had taken such an interest in furthering his musical attainments.

The film ends as the forces against the priest are closing in on him unawares. While some have found the slow development of the motion picture's action tiresome, my perception is that this gradual working out of the plight of the priest and of Nunzio, and of the depiction of the violence and corruption that surrounds them, make the film's foreboding conclusion all the more effective.

The film is a very slow, very skitzophrenic look at the relationship between at gay priest and a 13 year old parishioner. There are several lines of action and plot running through the film that erupt from no where and adruptly end with the final credits.

1) The Camorra/Mafia vs. the Priest.
The priest, as any man of the cloth should, begins to refuse to give mass for murderers and other misc. people who've died in the line of crime. He's had enough with them tearing apart the neighborhood. Unfortunately, this leads to the expose in the following:

2) The pedophiliac relationship.
The priest seems to be struggling emotionally with his very physical relationship with the 13 year old boy, Nunzio. He attempts to formulate spiritual-Biblical reasons for allowing the illicit relationship to continue - perhaps even basing it upon a homoeroticism of Christ. Things just aren't very clear in the film.

3) Expose.
The camorra/mafia seek revenge on the priest by sicking the police on him for the affair with Nunzio. Why not just kill him? It seems like a very thin plot-device to use to complicate the relationship between Nunzio and Father Lorenzo. Furthermore, the priest is seen in a compassionate, friendly light - despite the very serious, very wrong issue of the pedophiliac relationship. The film almost excuses the relationship as 'holy' or 'beautiful'. It glosses over the fact that Nunzio was pressed by internal struggling and the need for comfort into a sexual relationship when it should have remained platonic or familiar.

All in all, the film leaves the viewer confused as to the point. Hopefully, others can see it and find some enjoyment. It is a subject that needs to be dealt with more seriously and with more depth. Sacred Silence is not a good portrayal or examination of the priest/altar boy sex scandals.