Deliver Us. (15.)
Directed by Federica Di Giacomo.
Featuring Father Cataldo. In Italian with subtitles. 94 mins.
Exorcism is one of those activities – like fulfilling an ancient prophesy, following your dreams, wreaking a trail of bloody vengeance, running down a series of blocks in New York to be with your true love – that only make sense in the movies. This crucifix-on-the-wall documentary follows the busy life of a Sicilian priest trying to force Satan out of the locals.
It is a purely observational piece: no narration, no title cards. It leaves the viewer free to form their interpretations of events on the screen, which is reasonable, but on many occasions you yearn for a little bit more information, some background or context to what is being shown. The film is full of alarming footage of some very disturbed behaviour, and the access the filmmakers are given is remarkable. It all makes for a heavy 90 minutes, though the figure of Father Cataldo, a grumpy Exorcist, enormously resentful that this should be how he earns his daily bread, and of all the work he has to get through, offers a few moments of levity. At one point he snaps at a parishioner to stop praying so close to him because it is distracting.
Directed by Federica Di Giacomo.
Featuring Father Cataldo. In Italian with subtitles. 94 mins.
Exorcism is one of those activities – like fulfilling an ancient prophesy, following your dreams, wreaking a trail of bloody vengeance, running down a series of blocks in New York to be with your true love – that only make sense in the movies. This crucifix-on-the-wall documentary follows the busy life of a Sicilian priest trying to force Satan out of the locals.
It is a purely observational piece: no narration, no title cards. It leaves the viewer free to form their interpretations of events on the screen, which is reasonable, but on many occasions you yearn for a little bit more information, some background or context to what is being shown. The film is full of alarming footage of some very disturbed behaviour, and the access the filmmakers are given is remarkable. It all makes for a heavy 90 minutes, though the figure of Father Cataldo, a grumpy Exorcist, enormously resentful that this should be how he earns his daily bread, and of all the work he has to get through, offers a few moments of levity. At one point he snaps at a parishioner to stop praying so close to him because it is distracting.
