Italian writer and director, Liana Marabini, brings us The Unseen World, which she says is the story of chastity and spirituality, highlighting the role of Newman as a model priest. It's also a story that attracted actor F. Murray Abraham, who won an Oscar for his role in the 1984 film Amadeus. It's also a story that focuses on the trials of the priesthood. The title, "The Unseen World" is meant to represent the metaphysical state of contact between man and God, something that Newman often referred to in his writings. Marabini suggests that film is an ideal medium for evangelizing the contemporary world. "We need God in our lives in order to live better ... to be happier," she says. The Unseen World is being filmed in Rome and England, and is scheduled for release in June 2011. The musical score makes generous use of Albinoni and Vivaldi, and if there is any actor who can make the routine habits and bookish life of Cardinal Newman come alive on screen, it is surely Murray Abraham.Video Trailer (13 minutes)
[Hat tip to C.B.]
The people spying on Newman in this movie, who appear to be morons to whom good Catholics can give lectures on the difference between spiritual love and sexual attraction, seem somewhat odd caricatures. It would be more interesting if the Roman suspicions of Newman were dramatized, though there are some allusions it seems. Newman's intelligence seems scarcely filmable. The love story subplot seems a rather vacuous attempt to fill in the empty spaces on the canvas. The scene of tearful prayer (Stay with me Lord, etc.) is quite beautiful and edifying; and perhaps the film will spread the influence of Newman to many people -- he has been too much the preserve of an educated enclave up to now.
ReplyDelete