Well, I just barely made it to see this one in the nick of time. I meant to see it over the holidays, but I guess time and travel and other events just got bumped up in priority. For those of you that may not know, Doubt was the Pulitzer Prize winner for drama in 2004. I read it for the first time at BYU in my Dramatic Literature class, and was instantly intrigued by it. I became so interested that I made it my obsession my last year by choosing it for my senior directing project. And by the way, obsession IS the correct word one must use when describing something they are directing! But all of that aside, the text itself is remarkable, and the response it elicits is equally, if not more significant. I was often asked the question, “Well, what is your play about?” I would always respond initially by saying, “It’s not really about the plot, but rather our own personal examination of faith and how we deal with times of doubt.” This often proved unsatisfactory, because most of the time we are more interested in what happens in a story, than why it happens.
So, here I submit a brief assessment of the film. I was, of course, perhaps a more biased viewer than the next person. My mind couldn’t help but run through the lines as they were said on screen. It’s funny to think that over 2 years later, I still knew all the words, as they had truly been ingrained in me. I was also grateful that John Patrick Shanley (playwright, screenwriter, director), left in all my favorites, including that amazing line about how Frosty the Snowman espouses a pagan belief in magic. How could ANYONE do without that?? ;)
The acting was noteworthy, particularly that of Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman. I realized perhaps more than before how the characters are more archetypical than actual people with experiences and history. They are more representations of how different people arrive at believing in something rather than why. Sister James, played by April Adams, perhaps left a little to be desired for me. She is such a pivotal character, and I felt her personal journey a bit underdeveloped.
I found it indeed interesting that Abram and I disagreed as to how we felt the film was biased one way or the other concerning the supposed “guilt” of Father Flynn. Though this certainly is not the key question to be considered, it was interesting that we had opposite views. The heart of the play/film lies quite simply in its title, Doubt. What exactly is it? Why do we think of it as such a negative or shameful experience? Is it in fact wrong to doubt? I believe that people of all faiths can truly benefit from finding their own answers to these questions, so I in turn invite you to see the film or read the play. Rarely does something like this come to movie theaters, and it saddened me that its stay was so short. We had to see it downtown in Salt Lake, because it was only in our local theaters for about two weeks or so. But I was glad for the experience and hope to have more like it in the time to come.
So, here I submit a brief assessment of the film. I was, of course, perhaps a more biased viewer than the next person. My mind couldn’t help but run through the lines as they were said on screen. It’s funny to think that over 2 years later, I still knew all the words, as they had truly been ingrained in me. I was also grateful that John Patrick Shanley (playwright, screenwriter, director), left in all my favorites, including that amazing line about how Frosty the Snowman espouses a pagan belief in magic. How could ANYONE do without that?? ;)
The acting was noteworthy, particularly that of Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman. I realized perhaps more than before how the characters are more archetypical than actual people with experiences and history. They are more representations of how different people arrive at believing in something rather than why. Sister James, played by April Adams, perhaps left a little to be desired for me. She is such a pivotal character, and I felt her personal journey a bit underdeveloped.
I found it indeed interesting that Abram and I disagreed as to how we felt the film was biased one way or the other concerning the supposed “guilt” of Father Flynn. Though this certainly is not the key question to be considered, it was interesting that we had opposite views. The heart of the play/film lies quite simply in its title, Doubt. What exactly is it? Why do we think of it as such a negative or shameful experience? Is it in fact wrong to doubt? I believe that people of all faiths can truly benefit from finding their own answers to these questions, so I in turn invite you to see the film or read the play. Rarely does something like this come to movie theaters, and it saddened me that its stay was so short. We had to see it downtown in Salt Lake, because it was only in our local theaters for about two weeks or so. But I was glad for the experience and hope to have more like it in the time to come.
