„What do you do when you are not sure? “ Uncertainty or doubt may have followed each of us at some point in their life, but the kind of doubt that we are dealing with here, is no to be compared with our petty everyday-problems.
Sister Aloysius is certain that Father Flynn has an improper relationship with one of the students at their catholic school, even though she doesn’t have any proof. Sister James, a dewy-eyed and naïve novice, wants to believe that the charismatic and liberal priest only has noble intentions. If there is no proof, how far can you go to pursue your beliefs? This is a highly topical question since the accusations of pederasty in catholic schools have accumulated drastically within the last year. The problem is, that such accusations, even if not true, can destroy a person’s reputation and life completely, which is why one has to be careful before uttering them.
John Patrick Shanley, Author of the play from 2005 and director of the film “Doubt” from 2008 has taken into account every possible point of view. He offers a world inside the catholic school or outside, in the Bronx, where twisted camera angles disrupt the natural order and create an uncertainty in the viewer that can only be compared to a roller-coaster-ride. At the beginning one notices the little hints that something might not be normal about the relationship between Donald and Father Flynn, even though his open-mindedness and warm-heartedness, as opposed to Sister Aloysius’s strict, cold and heartless handling of educational matters, make him the sympathetic figure. At other times, you see a glimpse of concern and love in the behaviour of Sister Aloysius, who is usually bigoted and iron-gloved, that repeatedly show that there is no such thing as black and white and that make all characters ambiguous.
The breathtaking performances of the actors Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman are the reason why this film got five Oscar-nominations. Streep plays the shrewd and draconic headmistress so perfectly realistic that one might think she actually occupied a similar position at some point. Her facial expression is so frozen and cold that she could freeze over the Kalahari Desert and her fierce demeanour makes Attila the Hun blush and giggle like a schoolgirl. Hoffman manages to move the viewer when he hugs Donald so far as to make them hope, wish, beg that he is innocent, that this is really just platonic affection. The combination of the two headstrong characters who are constantly battling for position and engaging in vivid and excoriating discussions makes for jaw-dropping scenes that still leave the viewer at see as to who is right and who is wrong.
In my opinion, it is a gross nuisance that this film did not receive a single academy award despite the brilliant script and cast. Possible, the topic was still too much of a taboo for the Academy. A sad fact, especially since the difficulty in “Doubt” arises especially from the tabooing child-molestation in the first place. However, the film was set in the 1960s and one should think that society has moved on since then. If you want to see for yourself what the Academy has missed, how doubts can tear a person and a whole community apart, and how outstanding actors can heighten an already extraordinary play to perfection you must go and see this film.
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen