In the Name of... (2013)

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

This is a disjointed, uninteresting moving. Scenes that should only last a minute go on for what seem like hours. Oh, it is so avant garde to have Adam walking along a country road for hours (!) carrying a monstrance with rock and roll sound track over. Really? Could have been so much more effective if done with less footage. Episodes occur that just don't seem to connect, and yet we know where everything is going, but there is so much superfluous crap along the way, that any intelligent viewer's attention is quickly lost. And every now and then a Polish cow lows in the distance or background off camera. What? Who are some of the earlier characters that appear in Adam's excursion to .... to .... to .... what? And how the hell does this movie end? He what? Who is that lurking in the near off-frame? Oh, yeah. But WHY? There is no connection to what went before really. The ending has no reason for why it is as it is. I found this one of the worst movies I have ever watched. Is this Polish gay cinema now? Snore!

*** This review may contain spoilers ***I am gay and have known a couple gay priests so can evaluate this movie fairly well. Adam a closeted priest (is there any other option?) has trouble with his libido around young men---he is decent and does good work so the church just moves him around when anything questionable happens. The movie implies he is not completely innocent but after all human. He meets his true love whom he convinces to become a priest? (In final scene).I found some of the things distracting there are far too many group scenes in the first hour or so with scene after scene with a dozen boys talking at the same time....I really dislike this method of plot story development as it is frankly irritating. It is supposed to show the hectic atmosphere of this half way house from reform school. One or two such scenes would have been plenty--besides being annoying to take in; it makes the story line harder to follow.The movie is very pro-church perhaps only in Poland would such a movie be made... The couple priests I knew had no trouble being sexually active and frequenting gay bars playing pool with donation quarters etc...The "happy" ending is kind of corny...Indicating I suppose the Adam is a first and eventually gay priests will be married including to each other. Symbolism was literally spelled out in this movie with the T-shirt logos...and the Niagra supermarket being burned down by Adams lover---can't stop the force of so much water/love etc I suppose...The scenery has a touch of the digital to it but not in a bad way it actually enhances things the most perfect Polish countryside you'll never see....the light touch is key here. When ever trees have all their leaves moving is a give away.I like to see incidental gay characters not tragic problematic gay dramas no matter how real they are they....we are finally starting to see more of this thank God.Over all if you are pro religion this is a good thoughtful movie...it is too pro organized religion they are made out a bit too perfect also Adam is too perfect. I prefer thinking of them putting donation quarters in pool tables. That is the reality I witnessed.Recommend

I must say I am impressed with this deep showcase of thought provoking Polish cinema, more so that considering the topic of the story, it was co-written and directed by a women filmmaker Malgorzata Szumowska. This meditative drama won Teddy Award for Best Feature Film at the 63rd Berlin Film Festival in 2013 which is quite impressive in itself. The story evolves around a Jesuit priest Adam (Andrzej Chyra) who runs a place in a village in rural Poland for teenagers with behavioral problems that need a strong Catholic guidance. He himself seems like a good honest man, yet we can sense that under the mask of control he hides deep seated loneliness and longing for human contact. As the film progresses it is getting clearer that father Adam hides from the world that in fact he is gay and the reason why he became a priest at age 21 in is to hide this fact from himself and others. To extend predictably he gets emotionally involved with one of the boys which eventually has it's consequences. Homosexuality or pedophilia in Catholic Church is very sensitive subject therefor it is an interesting fact that it took a female director to look at the story with enough distance and taste to not make it scandalous or obscene. In fact the way the story is told resembles every other heterosexual romantic story and that is exactly were the dramatic straight of this film is. Watching "In the name..." (Polish title W imie...) another movie with a similar subject comes to mind called "Priest" (1994) though this British drama was much more graphic and less tasteful. There is a huge character depth here and the fact is that for audience who are more use to action based movies it might be too slow and deep. However if you enjoy powerful subtly acted character driven dramas this might be a movie that you will enjoy. Me having a brother who is a high ranking Catholic priest back in Poland I always admired the sacrifice the 'man of God' go through in their celibacy. Inability to feel human touch and intimacy always made me admire them for the straight of their character to give up on our most natural impulses. On the other hand the repression of does impulses creates a longing that often ends in perpetual loneliness and heavy depression. In a nutshell this is what "In the name of..." is about, choosing the homoerotic angle as a form of narration and to some extent pointing to priesthood as an escape of homosexual man who can not face their own desires and choose a path of a moral dogmas Catholic faith provides. It is a slow film but beautifully shot by also co-writer of the script Michal Englert and superbly, subtly acted by by Polish actors Andrzej Chyra, Mateusz Kosciukiewicz, Lukasz Simlat and Polish actress Maja Ostaszewska among others. The music composition by great instrumental score from composers Pawel Mykietyn and Adam Walicki is also a big part of the experience concentrating purposefully on many violin solos to enhance the emotional narration that pushes the film forward. All in all despite of it's sensitive and controversial topic this film got to offer a lot of intellectual feedback that might stay with you long after it's ending.For more of my reviews please go to: www.facebook.com/JanuszMadejTechnique

Polish screenwriter, producer and director Malgorzata Szumowska's fifth feature film which she co-wrote with Polish screenwriter and cinematographer Michal Englert and co-produced, is inspired by an article she read in a newspaper. It premiered In competition at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival in 2013, was shot on location in Poland and is a Polish production which was produced by producer Agnieszka Kurzydlo. It tells the story about a Polish Catholic priest named Adam whom has been moved from his position in Warsaw and transferred to a rural village where he in addition to practicing and performing his duties as a priest manages a center for disadvantaged young boys with his friend named Michal. Adam starts becoming friendly with a woman named Ewa whilst he is staying there, but as Adam's colleague, the young boys he is working with and the people who lives there, she is unaware that Adam is hiding something.Distinctly and subtly directed by European filmmaker Malgorzata Szumowska, this finely paced fictional tale which is narrated from multiple viewpoints though mostly from the main character's point of view, draws a mindful portrayal of a man of faith who does not have priest written all over him, who is in an ongoing ordeal with chastising himself and his relationship with a younger man named Lukasz. While notable for its naturalistic and atmospheric milieu depictions, fine production design by production designer Marek Zawierucha, sterling cinematography by Polish cinematographer Michal Englert and use of colors and light, this narrative-driven story which quietly and efficiently conveys how in some cases intolerance and certain traditional views can undermine the dignity of, cause involuntary and unnecessary loneliness and in the worst case scenario make someone think that they have no place in a society and that they in staying true to themselves have betrayed others in an unredeemable way, depicts a heartrending and empathic study of character and contains a great instrumental score by composers Pawel Mykietyn and Adam Walicki.This modestly romantic, at times humorous, somewhat impassioned, conversational and far from overly theological, political or preaching drama which is set during a summer in Poland in the 21st century and which salutes the human spirit and its unwritten right to pursue its true nature is an exemplary and pivotal contribution to modern cinema from a filmmaker who in the name of… tells this love-story in the same way as a heterosexual love-story would be told and whose love for her characters and for cinema shines through, and is impelled and reinforced by its cogent narrative structure, subtle character development and continuity, various characters, timely and efficient use of music, unsettling though poignant analogy, commendable and humane examination of its central theme and the fine acting performances by Polish actors Andrzej Chyra, Mateusz Kosciukiewicz, Lukasz Simlat and Polish actress Maja Ostaszewska. A tangible, conscientious, eloquent and cinematographic narrative feature which gained the Teddy Award for Best Feature Film at the 63rd Berlin Film Festival in 2013.