Black Robe (1991)

Beautiful, moving film.

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

For a film about Christian missionaries, this one verges on Horror. Not for the weak of heart--or stomach. One glaring mistake was a veneration of St. Joan of Arc. This film was set in the early 17th century. St. Joan wasn't canonized (through the efforts of Therese of Lisieux later sainted herself, among others) until 1920. There are some theological problems, but they have nothing to do with the film itself and everything to do with the way Roman Catholics chose to present the good news of eternal life and how they chose to describe the afterlife--or their lack of description based on ignorance. Too, when you are baptizing someone who is dying, wouldn't you want to speak their own language, especially if you are fluent in it, instead of Latin--which isn't even your native language? And why are you whipping your back with a rough pine branch until it bleeds after lusting for that Algonquin girl when a simple 'I'm sorry, Jesus. Please give me the strength to fight temptation and to remember that I am celibate by choice so I won't be weighed down by earthly matters' would be far more effective? All in all, this film stands the test of time, and I only give it a 7 rating because of the Joan of Arc mistake and because of the unnecessary rambunctious copulation scenes.

It's 1634 Quebec. LaForgue (Lothaire Bluteau) is a Jesuit which the natives call Black Robe. He and young Daniel (Aden Young) are sent on a dangerous journey by Champlain to the distant mission with the Hurons. They are guided by a group of Algonquin Indians led by Chomina (August Schellenberg). Daniel falls for Chomina's daughter Annuka (Sandrine Holt). Simple things like a clock and writing seems to be magic for the natives and they suspect Black Robe is a demon.There is great realism in this movie. The characters are human and complex. There is confusion and lots of misunderstandings. It's a no nonsense take on the grim early interactions. Both sides are doing what they perceive to be right but the clash of cultures is too much. The acting is superb especially from August Schellenberg. The locations are grand and they have a brooding danger about them. The wilderness takes the movie and never lets it go.

I saw this film the year it came out. At the time, I was representing the administration of New York Governor Mario Cuomo in conducting relations with the Haudenosaunee, particularly the Mohawks of Akwesasne. Having grown to respect and admire the resilience and determination of these remarkable people, "Black Robe" made a big impression on me.I spent a little over two years (1990-1992)engaged with the Mohawks settling the issue of providing for their public safety needs and negotiating a state/tribal casino gaming compact. Both of these initiatives ultimately ended successfully. The process of developing an indigenous public safety force involved multilateral discussions involving the Mohawks, New York, Quebec and Ontario. It was interesting to me how many of my colleagues had seen "Black Robe" and agreed that it was a beautiful and fairly accurate depiction of history and cultural frictions that persist to this day. To those of us sitting around the table, "Black Robe" gave us a sense that we were playing a meaningful part in a long and fascinating history of the meeting of cultures and hard work that goes into creating a relationship of mutual understanding and respect.Terry O'Neill, Esq. Albany, NY

The following quote might scare the kids; yet read it, because I deconstruct it after-wards.'No film better captures the strangeness and complexity of the Native-European collision in North America. The courage, fear, religious fervor, confusion, nobility, and savagery of the natives and Jesuits are conveyed with an almost anthropological dispassion, with the beautiful, brutal Canadian wilderness portrayed as the ultimate, sovereign force.'—wrote somewhere a _blogger; well, pals, he couldn't be farer from the truth. I don't like to bash a fellow _blogger—but this one is wholly wrong. Why? Why, fair reader? Because:--(1)—BLACK ROBE is a enormously enjoyable movie—a very fun movie; literate and original, yes, but in a mainstream and discreet ,unassuming way; Beresford is no Godard or other experimental directors; consequently, BLACK ROBE is straight fun, a dramatic thriller; --(2)—there are no scientific whims, no savant antics—it's a suspenseful drama, a thrilling and hugely palatable movie;--(3)—and where did he came with that sovereign nature from? Beresford's flick is entirely about people.On the funny side, there's sex, there's violence and brutality; on the priestly side, the movie's thorough and keen. It's nothing above Beresford's head, as it were—but an original, likable and straight movie.I remember that Lothaire Bluteau, a Canadian, was the lead.