| Agnes of God | | Cast : | Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft | | Director : | Norman Jewison | | Studio : | Columbia Tri-Star | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | September 13, 1985 | | DVD Released Date : | November 02, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Thai (Subtitled), Chinese (Subtitled), Korean (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | June 14, 2005 | | Summary | An interesting debate about faith and the miraculous | Content
 | This is an interesting film that raises the questions as to whether miracles still exist in the modern world. The movie and play were criticized by some as being an attack on Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. Catholics have a good reason to be wary of broadsides from popular culture but sometimes these condemnations take the form of a knee jerk reaction. I for one found the movie a good debate about religion and spirituality and I found the movie to be highly moving and faith affirming.
The story concerns a young novitiate in a secluded convent in Canada who becomes pregnant and whose baby is killed.
The government is put in a difficult position since even though Canada has a large Catholic population a crime has been committed which must be investigated.
Jane Fonda, in one of her best roles, plays the neurotic psychiatrist Martha Livingstone who is sent to investigate the incident. The psychiatrist is not completely objective as she is what some might call "a fallen Catholic", someone who has unfortunately been harmed by religion. And she has an ax to grind.
Her nemesis (although "nemesis might be too strong of a word) is the mother superior of the convent played by Anne Bancroft. Her performance is also magnificent. Although the mother superior obstructs the investigation some of the most interesting dialogue about faith is between the psychiatrist and the mother superior. Both women almost more interested in Agnes to justify their own vocations and points of view as they are about getting to the truth.
Dr. Livingstone believe Agnes should be allowed to leave the convent and become an independent woman with as much religious zelotry as the mother superior demonstrates in wanting Agnes to remain at the convent.
By far the most interesting character is the nun who bore the child. She is played by Meg Tilly to perfection. She portrays a nun whose innocence is like that of a child.
We come to learn the mother superior has her reasons for covering up some of the facts of the case, the main one being that the innocent novitiate is the niece of the mother superior.
To the shock of Dr. Livingstone Agnes sometimes demonstrates stigmata (for those of you who do not believe in stigmata it is a fairly well documented phenomena -whether it is a miracle and proof of the existence of God is a matter of debate).
The high point of the film comes when Agnes is hypnotized. Beautiful cinematography and special effects gives a moving picture of what Agnes experienced.
At the end of the movie we are left to draw our own conclusions.
A very moving and thought provoking film.
Highly recommended.
Jim Connell "Hallstatt Prince" |
| Rating | | | Date | January 24, 2005 | | Summary | An air of greatness, but not quite complete | Content
| Meg Tilly plays a young nun, who gave birth to a baby, in a convent, and the baby is killed. Ann Bancroft is the stern, effective, incurious Mother Superior. Jane Fonda is a psychiatrist, who comes to the convent to aid in the investigation. Is this a case of murder, a miracle, insanity, or some combination thereof?
The premise of the story is compelling, the setting is portrayed excellently, and all of the acting is admirable. Tilly is tortured, naive, secretive, and driven. Bancroft is indomitable, aloof, stern, and a power to be reckoned with. Fonda is high strung, intelligent, inquisitive, and determined.
But, something in this film left me thinking, "Oh, okay, I guess that's all." It creates an air of imminent greatness, then delivers only a very good film. It's like a delicious meal that's missing a course, or the portions are a little small. It aims at greatness, but the arrow hits the target a bit off the bulls-eye. It is still worth watching, and memorable. |
| Rating | | | Date | November 10, 2004 | | Summary | Tank you, Hane! | Content
| Jane Fonda as psychiatrist is sent by authorities to investigate young nun accused of infanticide. This atmospheric film works on many levels: it is fine as a face-value
story, but just as compelling is the protagonist's emotional conflict with religious values.
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| Rating | | | Date | June 07, 2004 | | Summary | Strong Woman Stuff | Content
| This is a movie for women who want to see women in strong vibrant rolls. The performances of Jane Fonda, Ann Bangcroft and Meg Tilly are outstanding. The movie leaves several key issues up to the audience to decide what they think, faith or no faith doesn't really matter, the movie is a fantastic and stands by itself. |
| Rating | | | Date | January 30, 2004 | | Summary | Hard to Nail This Film Down | Content
| Explaining Jesus Christ is hard to nail down. Analogously, interpreting this film is hard to nail down. I would expect to see wide variance in interpretations, and that is all right. We Americans love to disagree, and we defend the God given rights to disagree without malice. Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft, and Meg Tilly all play outstanding roles in this film. The supporting cast (e.g., Guy Hoffmann, Winston Rekert) is brilliant as well. This film has elements of a great movie such as humor, a message(s), gripping drama, suspense, and haunting music. I have seen this movie more than 100 times. I believe that Sister Agnes experiences an Immaculate Conception in this film; furthermore, I believe Sister Agnes was "crucified." He (God) chose Agnes to give birth to His child. Why Sister Agnes? A number of reasons can be conjectured; however, speaking as a Mathematician and Computer Scientist, I can't attach a mathematical certainty to any of these reasons. For example, is God warning us? Afterall, very few people believe in God today. So God, for example, may have chosen Agnes to bear His child in order for Agnes to give birth, say, to a holy person whose purpose is to warn those outside of God's flock to adhere to the teachings of God. Unfortunately, Agnes fails God by paradoxically murdering His child because she felt unworthy of bearing God's child. So did God make a mistake? The true beauty of the movie from my perspective is that I'm always left after watching this film with feelings of serenity, tranquility, and a heightened belief in God. Britt W. Barrett
Senior Computer Scientist & Mathematician Postscript: It would be interesting to know what Reverend John Trigilio Jr., PhD, ThD, one of the co-authors of "Catholicism for Dummies" has to say about this film. Salutation to the Virgin Mary: Ave Mar?a, gr?tia plena, D?minus tecum, bened?cta tu in muli?ribus, et bened?ctus fructus ventris tui Jesus. Sancta Mar?a, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis pecc?t?ribus nunc et in hora mortis nostr?. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen. |
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