Rent The Priest's Children (2013)

A Priest's Tale but No Nuns - The Priest's Children review by Strovey

Not my usual fair, a Croatian film, so the culture and sensibilities on display will clearly not be something I am used to at all. The story involves the Roman Catholic Church, their attitude, in the form of a young priest, to birth control, sin and confession and the hypocrisy of those that practice it and how it affects everyone. When you take on a topic that can be as heavy as this, in a culture that has suffered a catastrophic war you are always doing something risky. Humour and satire are always a way to approach it.

Vinko Bresan is a veteran of Croatian cinema and apparently the situation we find ourselves in is something with which he is familiar. He likes to set stories on islands, probably confining the action and actors to a restrictive setting almost a play setting in some ways.

The island setting itself looks slow and idyllic and sets the atmosphere and feel for the story very well. The acting, for my part, seemed fairly natural and there was not too much ham or gurning, even in the more farcical situations, I have since read the accents are not island-style but I am never going to know if that is a failing or not if I am honest.

It is easy to see The Priest’s Children as a polemic on the Catholic Church but Bresan oversees how the priest behaves fairly and at no time is he the deliberate butt of every joke and stupid situation. Indeed, the islanders can be seen to be more hypocritical at all times whilst Don Fabijan is held to the highest standards. It is an interesting point raised with a smile.

Where the problems start to arise is this basic tenant is established early on and that is all we get throughout the film, just characters weaving in and out of the same problem. Until the film ends on huge tone shift where there is no laughing to be had. This is a huge gear change and no clutch is used. It was problematic for me.

It has to be said it is some sort of strange skill to get a mainly farcical comedy film that is just over ninety minutes long to seem longer.

The acting for all involved is subtle and good enough not to ruin the story and the fun poked at the corruption of the church by the people inside it, the bishop rolling up in a yacht that one character thinks is either a government or Mafioso yacht is laugh out loud funny, but what you get from this film will definitely come from where you start, being Croatian or from that area and growing up amongst a strong Catholic Church presence means you will certainly view this differently than me, an atheist 61-year old man from Hampshire in the UK who has had a lucky and charmed life.

Overall, The Priest’s Children is certainly worth viewing, if only to see some Croatian cinema, and get a feel for it. If you watch enough satires on religion and how people interact with it there is nothing new and if you do not like repetitive, twee and on-the-nose music throughout the runtime you will not like this.

I have watched The Priest’s Children, it kept my attention but I doubt I will ever watch it again.