Always to the frontier

Saturday, June 2, 2012

For Greater Glory

I had intended to post on the effects of the American Civil War on Canada today, but I had forgotten that yesterday marked the release of a very, very interesting film.  In the 1920's, the Mexican government embarked on a, well, war against the Roman Catholic Church.  By the end of the decade, things had gotten ugly enough to the point where priests were being publicly executed for being caught saying Mass, and entire states had found themselves fighting off uprisings among their populations who wanted to remain Catholic.  For Greater Glory is a film about these troubling times, and not some low-budget venture either.  Among the cast are the immortal Peter O'Toole and Andy Garcia, and many theaters in the United States and Canada seem to be offering it.



Thus far, the film has received negative reviews, but to be quite honest, these were written by people who tend to miss the point of these sorts of historical costume dramas.  The New York Times, notable for usually tearing apart bad films, has actually given this one a pretty good review.  I have not yet seen the film for myself, but I have a feeling it will be pretty decent.  If you want to see an often neglected and yet very important part of North American history on the big screen, by all means, go and see it.  For one thing, it might be the last time we get to see Peter O'Toole in a major role.

No comments:

Post a Comment