A Review of Cabrini: The Very Good, the Really Good, & the Not so Good

Double-click for trailer.

In case you missed it, there's a new movie released this month.  It's worth your time. Cabrini tells the true story of Saint Frances Cabrini who worked tirelessly for those poor and forgotten souls the city had forgotten.  Cabrini, an immigrant from Italy, arrived in New York on March 3, 1889 along with six of her fellow nuns.  Their intent was to simply start an orphanage with the blessing of Pope Leo XIII, but she ended up accomplishing so much more--from orphanages to modern hospitals.

Some have argued that this movie is dark or that it glorifies feminism.  I can understand the dark critique, but its subject matter is one of the darkness of the inner city, of inhumanity to man.  I avoid movies that are dark in tone without a larger purpose, but movies that contain dark imagery to underscore hard-fought battles won or for other legitimate purposes can serve a positive purpose in bringing us knowledge and understanding of those who have done good (or ill) for others under extraordinarily difficult circumstances--such as Cabrini.  Yes, if it's a Batman movie where you can hardly make out the characters due to the scenes being continually so dark simply for a glorification of violence, count me out, but this is something quite different.

Sculpture by my father-in-law of Cabrini.

 Another criticism of the movie is that it promotes feminism.  I think this is patently untrue.  Catholic tradition--and Italian culture in particular-- are full of strong women of faith.  Just because women can't be priests, of course, doesn't mean that they can't have other powerful and meaningful roles within the Church and their families.  Catholic teaching, after all, does contain a certain woman we think pretty highly of: Mary.  Mary wasn't afraid of saying yes to God and risk stoning for being with child before her marriage to Joseph.  She and Joseph further risked life and limb in their travels to Egypt.  Even being present at the foot of the holy cross may have placed her at risk--in addition to the agony of anguish.  God often calls incredibly strong and brave women, and this doesn't mean that we are arguing for feminism in some way.

I'm not always a fan of Angel Studios, however.  It's true that I think that Director Alejandro Gomez Monteverde hit this one out of the park, but I do think Angel Studios could improve their practices in a few ways.  First, the previews before the movie are repeated pleadings for advanced ticket sales for their upcoming motion pictures.  The movies featured immediately convey everything that is wrong with Christian film: stereotyped characters, overly sentimental scenes, preachy and political undertones, over the top plots, etc.  By showing the trashy stuff before a long film like Cabrini (almost 2 and a half hours), it lowers audience expectations and disrespects the audience as well.  As it was, for instance, one of our party had to leave just before the ending out of concern for an old pet in her home; it was l-o-n-g.  Add to this, Angel Studios is selling all manner of knock-offs from the movie on their site.  From tacky jewelry to other assorted nicknacks; it's tacky.  I love this movie, but it's like the production company needs to grow up a bit and stop behaving like a spoiled brat.

Double-click to go to a Cabrini photo site,