There Be Dragons According to the Critics: Here Come the Adjectives!

Fr. John Wauck

Ah, where would we be without film critics? Now that the reviews are in, we know that There Be Dragons is epic, enthralling, entertaining, calamitous, compelling, strange, moving, powerful, refreshing and… buffed! And Charlie Cox, as St. Josemaría, is surprising and amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever read as many movie reviews as I’ve read in the last week. Just to save you the trouble, here are some of the more entertaining highlights. Actually, some of these comments are pretty astute.

“Powerful in the way Steven Spielberg’s epics are powerful.” – Aubrey Malone, The Irish Catholic

“This enthralling movie… includes several powerful gut-punches.” Mike Saulters, Slackerwood blog

“Demonstrat[es] an increasingly rare sense of scope and pageantry best served by the bigscreen.” – Peter Debruge, Variety

“The Battle of Madrid, rumbling across the screen, evokes a visceral response, and scenes of the Republican guerrillas being mowed down by low-swooping fascist air power give you that roller-coaster kick.” – Stephen Holden, New York Times

“Captures the beauty amid the brutality of war without forgetting that it is the individual stories of those on the ground that matter.” – Betsy Sharkey, LATimes

“There Be Dragons […] had a pretty decent budget at around $36 million, but feels more like a $100 million movie. The sets are large and well thought out and the film is actually a great period piece of a 1930s civil war torn Spain.” – Tom Clocker, Baltimore Movie Examiner

“It sounds like an old-fashioned movie and it is, the kind they don’t make anymore, with the sweep and character development of a novel, and a richly textured production design that belies its low budget…. as hagiographies go, There Be Dragons is enthralling.” – Ann Lewinson, Hardford Advocate

“As Escriva, the English actor Charlie Cox acquits himself surprisingly well. You think it’s hard being a saint? Try playing one.” – Mark Feeney, Boston Globe

“Charlie Cox… does an amazing job as Josemaria” – Kevin, Reviews St. Louis

“Like The Mission, it’s about a priest and a soldier, and if their relationship seems forced, when a movie is this entertaining it really doesn’t matter….” – Ann Lewinson, Hardford Advocate

“Dragons is a quite strange movie.” – Mark Feeney, Boston Globe

“Extremely refreshing to see the Catholic faith represented as something that inspires generosity, courage, manliness, and heroism” – Simcha Fisher, Catholic blogger

“There Be Dragons has class written all over it… the epic, hand-oiled sheen of a Major Motion Picture…. There Be Dragons is like fine wine…. It’s got it all, wrapped in a handsome package by two-time Oscar-nominated British writer-director Roland Joffe (The Killing Fields and The Mission) and buffed to a fare-thee-well.” – Michael O’Sullivan, Washington Post

“Calamitous” – Stephen Holden, New York Times

“Set against the backdrop of the 1930s Spanish Civil War, There Be Dragons is a sweeping tale of saints and sinners and the thin line separating them. Written and directed by Oscar nominee Roland Joffe (The Killing Fields), it’s also a philosophical meditation disguised as a dramatic film.” – Rick Warner, Bloomberg

“It is good to see a director as talented as Roland Joffé return.” – Joe Hodes

“Luminous and thought-provoking…. a very unique movie – one that they don’t make much anymore.” Jarett Wieselman, NY Post

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen what I would call a traditional epic, and this film takes many cues from other classical epics, including the look, the stories, and the types of characters that feel quite familiar.  There are many things going on here–action, romance, betrayal, and an exploration on the theme of forgiveness, which I found the film drove home quite effectively.” Win Kang, Orange County Movie Examiner

“The film’s inherent complexity blooms into a compelling cinematic vision. As with his previous films The Killing Fields and The Mission, Joffé is using the techniques of the historical epic to explore matters of the heart and soul.” – Glenn McDonald, NewsObserver

“There Be Dragons is a moving parable about forgiveness.” – Juan Manuel de Prada, Capital

“Builds to a satisfying emotional payoff between sinner and saint.” Peter Debruge, Variety

How Do You Solve A Problem Like St. Josemaria?

Cathleen Falsani

The Huffington Post

For most filmgoers, the words "Opus Dei" typically conjure up images of self-flagellating, hair-shirt clad fanatics slinking through the darkened streets of Paris on a mission to keep the supposed burial place of Mary Magdalene a secret.

And for that you can thank Dan Brown and "The Da Vinci Code."

Brown's blockbuster novel and film cast Opus Dei as villainous, clandestine, powerful and nefarious. Its followers are portrayed as mindless disciples, the keepers of secrets and corrupt manipulators of history.

So when Oscar-nominated director Roland Joffe ("The Mission") set out to make a film about Opus Dei founder St. Josemaria Escriva, his first task was to craft a historically accurate yet accessible film that wouldn't repel audiences.

His film, "There Be Dragons," is an epic period piece set during the Spanish Civil War that tells part of Escriva's back story. But instead of focusing on the would-be saint, the film casts him in a supporting role.

Rather than a pious biopic of a somewhat obscure religious figure, Joffe's film is much more of a psycho-spiritual study of relationships between fathers and sons -- both human and divine.

If Joffe painted a picture of Escriva that focused too much on his piety, the authenticity of his humanity could be lost. Yet if Escriva were depicted as perhaps "too" human, it might have been dismissed as yet another Da Vinci-esque assault on Catholicism.

The film's title is derived from an old Latin expression, Hic sunt dragones or "Here be dragons" -- once commonly used by cartographers to indicate unexplored locations on maps.

Joffe, a self-described "wobbly agnostic," sailed into uncharted territory when he set about making a movie that's as much about sinners as it is about saints.

In Joffe's at times uneasy cinematic marriage of a historical epic and an intimate character study, the audience does come away with a message. But it's about human frailty and divine grace, not piety or religious zeal.

The film's protagonist is the antihero Manolo Torres, a fictitious childhood friend of Escriva, whose story is woven with Escriva's throughout their lives. The two start out more or less on even ground as children in pre-war Spain.

Escriva's father, a tender and pious man, owns a chocolate factory before losing his business and going bankrupt. The family clings to a simple faith through the death of several children and the bankruptcy of his business. The first mass Escriva celebrates as a priest is for his father's funeral.

Torres' father also owns a factory, albeit a far more successful one, and is a far less gracious soul than the elder Escriva. The elder Torres is judgmental, violent and given to fits of rage. While Escriva's father serves God and family, Torres' father worships mammon and considers his workers to be "scum."

"My dad had more money, more cars, more houses, but Josemaria had more dad," Manolo Torres says in a voiceover early on in the film. "A seed of envy began to grow in me. In a child's heart many seeds are planted. You never know quite what will grow."

Both young men end up in the Catholic seminary -- a short-lived career move for Torres, but a holy vocation for Escriva. That's where their paths diverge, only to be brought together time and again by the unfolding of history.

Neither Torres nor Escriva is depicted as fully saint or sinner. Escriva, in particular, is portrayed as a man whose heart belonged to God but whose feet were firmly planted on earth. He possesses an immovable faith and steady moral compass. He also has a temper, a great sense of humor, and ample joie de vivre.

Today Opus Dei (Latin for "work of God") has some 90,000 members worldwide -- most of them lay people -- who have embraced Escriva's notion that everyone has the potential to be used by God for good, and that everything can be a vessel for the holy.

"Jesus spent most of his life working in a shop in Nazareth," he says in the film. "God's world is so full of goodness. If we do them for love, each daily task can give him glory."

Joffe originally turned down the film, but changed his mind after watching a video where a young Jewish girl told Escriva that her desire to become a Catholic was causing problems with her parents.

Instead of encouraging her conversion, Escriva advised the girl to honor her parents and told her not to convert. Joffe says he found the incident so impressively "open-minded" that he agreed to direct the film.

The emotional energy that propels the film comes from Torres and his relationship with his son, Richard (sic), and his mother, Ildiko. In the film, Richard (sic) is working on a book about the late Escriva well before he was declared a saint by Pope John Paul II in 2002.

In "There Be Dragons" it is the tormented, complicated Torres, not Escriva, who is the keeper of monumental secrets. His sins as a young man -- and they are both legion and epic -- lead to a life of isolation and desperation.

How his story ends is a testament to the power of redemption.Because, as the film reminds the audience, "every saint has a past and every sinner has a future."

A version of this column originally appeared via Religion News Service.

Cathleen Falsani is author of the book The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers and the forthcoming Belieber!: Fame, Faith & the Heart of Justin Bieber.

Movie Inspires a Forgivness Movement

Joaquín Navarro-Valls Discusses "There Be Dragons"

By Jesús Colina

ROME, MAY 4, (Zenit.org).- Without intending to do so, the movie "There Be Dragons," set for release in the U.S. this Friday, has set off a "movement of many people who feel moved to forgive," says Joaquín Navarro-Valls. Navarro-Valls, known as the long-time Vatican spokesman from 1984-2006, told ZENIT that the producers of the movie, which is set during the Spanish Civil War, "are daily receiving messages of thanks (some are on the Internet) from people who see the movie and decide to return home after years of separation, from spouses who are reconciled, from parents and children who have come to accept one another again, from others who return to God after a long time of being distanced from him."

"There Be Dragons" is an historical drama, directed by Roland Joffé (“The Mission,” “The Killing Fields,” “City of Joy”), that evokes the youthful years of St. Josemaría Escrivá (1902-1975), Opus Dei's founder (played by Charlie Cox), and his attitude to the Spanish Civil War.

Robert (played by Dougray Scott) is a journalist who, on investigating the figure of the founder of "the Work" to write an extensive report, discovers that his father, Manolo (played by Wes Bentley), with whom he has had no relationship for the past eight years, was a friend of Escrivá during his childhood.

From that moment, the plot leads the journalist and with him the public, to discover unimaginable surprises that would change his life forever.

On the eve of the U.S. premiere, ZENIT spoke with Navarro-Valls, who is investor in the movie, on his personal relationship with St. Josemaría Escrivá and why he became involved with "There Be Dragons."

ZENIT: You lived for more than 20 years with the now Blessed John Paul II as his spokesperson and a close collaborator. You also lived for five years with St. Josemaría Escrivá, who is one of the characters in this movie. What common elements do you see between these two holy persons?

Navarro-Valls: From the human and psychological point of view, I would say that they shared a great sense of humor, which both maintained up to the moment of their deaths. Another characteristic was their capacity to take the initiative. They were able to foresee the needs of others and the needs of their time and did not simply react to the problems or challenges that arose in each moment. On the spiritual plane, they both had a strong awareness of being in the hands of God and of fulfilling his will. St. Josemaría referred to himself as a "madman" for the love of God. Blessed John Paul II would lose track of time when he was praying before a tabernacle.

At the same time, however, Josemaría Escrivá and Karol Wojtyla were men of flesh and bones and very much men of their time. When we have known a saint, when our own life has crossed paths with theirs, I think that we have to modify the idea of holiness that appears in baroque art, which centers above all on the extraordinary moments. Such an idea lacks realism, consistency and proportion. These two saints show us that holiness is joined to the material world and to everything that is human. I saw how they would make their own the joys and sufferings of the people around them, laughing and empathizing with them. It seems to me that a saint is always a realist, with the realism that allows one to see things with the eyes of God. Josemaría Escrivá and Karol Wojtyla make us see that in our concrete and human world there is "a divine something" that is there waiting for anyone who knows how to find it, that every activity and every moment has its divine transcendence.

I would also say that in these men we can find some shared theological views, such as an interest for what is known as the "theology of the laity."

From the time he founded Opus Dei in 1928, Josemaría Escriva’s contribution to this has been immense. And I think that John Paul II, by going ahead with St. Josemaría’s canonization, also wanted to proclaim, in a most solemn way, this ideal of sanctity in ordinary life.

ZENIT: Why did you decide to become personally involved in "There be Dragons?"

Navarro-Valls: As you yourself mentioned, in my life I have lived with two saints. In a certain way, I feel in my conscience that I have a responsibility to transmit this unique experience, and I thought that the theater might be a suitable means. In 2005, I collaborated with an Italian-American co-production about Karol Wojtyla, which the producer Lux Vide led from Italy. A little later, when Roland Joffé and the producers of "There be Dragons" spoke to me about the project, I found it attractive, and I decided to invest in this movie. I found Joffé's approach interesting. He constructs a story with parallel lives (as in "The Mission" and "The Killing Fields") in which Josemaría Escrivá is one of the central characters. The film does not present a saint’s life, but the complicated lives of several people deeply touched by a holy priest. The plot turns on the meaning of forgiveness, which has eternal significance in human history.

ZENIT: And what do you think of the results?

Navarro-Valls: I think what we have here is a film full of humanity and dramatic strength that draws in the viewer. You can see this in the box-office results in Spain, where it has been in the theaters for seven weeks now. Roland Joffé has returned to his best moments and has made a movie that is both moving and entertaining.

I think that it is a great story of passion that finds its resolution in the theme of forgiveness. The nucleus of the movie is the narration of an ambiguous character, Manolo Torres (Wes Bentley), who, at the end of his life, resolves the problems he has with his son. It is a very emotional moment in the film but, above all, it is the film’s moment of truth.

Without planning to do so, Roland Joffé has started a movement of many people who feel moved to forgive. The producers are daily receiving messages of thanks (some are on the Internet) from people who see the movie and decide to return home after years of separation, from spouses who are reconciled, from parents and children who have come to accept one another again, from others who return to God after a long time of being distanced from him. As an investor, these reactions have been wonderfully gratifying and represent an incalculable value, far superior to any financial return on the investment.

ZENIT: Some have seen "There Be Dragons" as a response to “The Da Vinci Code."

Navarro-Valls: The film’s director and producers have said on numerous occasions that they do not see the film as a response to anyone, among other reasons, because they consider their movie to be at a higher level, both artistically as well as from the point of view of pure entertainment. The movie contains a great deal of visual and musical beauty, and there are many passions and emotions that will leave hardly anyone indifferent.

Nevertheless, while they do not consider themselves to be answering anyone, I think that "There Be Dragons" is in fact a powerful answer to "The Da Vinci Code," because it expresses in a film the truth about questions related to the Christian message and the Church that were falsified in Dan Brown's story. I would be delighted if many of the fans of "The Da Vinci Code" saw and enjoyed "There Be Dragons." They would discover a more complete and more real picture of the supernatural themes of God's grace and holiness, which are the things to which every human being aspires. I am convinced that Mr. Brown himself would appreciate this story, if he were to see it.