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By the Grace of God (film)

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By the Grace of God
Film poster
Directed byFrançois Ozon
Written byFrançois Ozon
Produced byÉric Altmayer
Nicolas Altmayer
StarringMelvil Poupaud
Denis Ménochet
Swann Arlaud
CinematographyManuel Dacosse
Edited byLaure Gardette
Music byEvgueni Galperine
Sacha Galperine
Production
companies
Mandarin Films
Scope Pictures
Distributed byMars Distribution
Release dates
  • February 2019 (2019-02) (Berlin)
  • 20 February 2019 (2019-02-20) (France)
  • 27 February 2019 (2019-02-27) (Belgium)
Running time
137 minutes
CountriesFrance
Belgium
LanguageFrench
Budget$6.8 million[1]
Box office$7.8 million[2][3]

By the Grace of God (Template:Lang-fr) is a 2019 French-Belgian drama film directed by François Ozon.[4] The film stars Melvil Poupaud, Denis Ménochet and Swann Arlaud as three victims of a Catholic priest's abuse who, as adults, set out to expose the sexual abuse hidden by the Catholic Church.

It premiered at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival and won the Jury Grand Prix.[5][6] The film was released in France on 20 February 2019 and in Belgium a week later, and has received critical acclaim.

Plot

Alexandre, François and Emmanuel were victimized as children by the venerable and predatory Father Bernard Preynat. As adults, when they discover that their former tormentor has been reassigned and has apparently been shielded all along by the Catholic Church, the men, still scarred and facing near-insurmountable challenges to their faith, begin a movement to bring the guilty to account.

Cast

Production

Principal photography on the film began on February 12, 2018 and lasted till April 13, 2018 in Paris, France and Belgium.[7]

Reception

By the Grace of God received largely positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 96% approval rating based on 96 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Patient in its approach yet stirring in its conviction, By the Grace of God draws soberly gripping cinema from real-life horror."[8] It has a 75 out of 100 score on Metacritic based on 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[9]

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote "Ozon has made a decent and valuable film, though it often seems like the drama part of a docudrama: some of the scenes feel like respectful re-enactments that could have gone into a documentary".[10]

Film critic Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph gave the film 5 stars out of 5, writing "If there were ever any doubt that Ozon, that impish provocateur, was the man to handle it, the career-topping urgency of his filmmaking sweeps it away inch by inch, sequence by methodical sequence".[11] The film received an identical praise from Linda Marric of The Jewish Chronicle who also gave it full 5 stars and called it "A robustly acted, compassionate and honest film with moments of disarming tenderness throughout".[12]

The Jesuit publication, America also praised the director, calling his approach to the film as "masterful",[13] while Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times called the film as "patient, lucid, [and] generously human".[14]

San Francisco Chronicle's Mick LaSalle was a different view. He wrote "By the Grace of God begins to spin its wheels, with unnecessary scenes that give color to the events, when we're more interested in the grand movements".[15]

Lawsuit

The priest portrayed in the film, Bernard Preynat, attempted without success to block its release in France.[16] On 4 July 2019, an ecclesiastical tribunal of the Archdiocese of Lyon announced it had determined that Preynat was "guilty of criminal acts of a sexual character on minors younger than 16" and applied its maximum penalty by defrocking him.[17] Preynat had one month to appeal the decision to the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.[18]

References

  1. ^ "GRÂCE À DIEU". Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  2. ^ "By the Grace of God (2019)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  3. ^ "By the Grace of God (2019)". The Numbers. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Alexandre". Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  5. ^ Meza, Ed (16 February 2019). "Berlin Film Festival 2019: Nadav Lapid's 'Synonyms' Wins Golden Bear". Variety.
  6. ^ Richford, Rhonda (18 February 2019). "French Court Rejects Bid to Block Release of Catholic Abuse Film 'By the Grace of God'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  7. ^ "François Ozon tourne Alexandre". Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  8. ^ "By the Grace of God (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  9. ^ "By the Grace of God Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  10. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (24 October 2019). "By the Grace of God review – Ozon's incendiary Catholic Church child-abuse drama". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  11. ^ Robey, Tim (24 October 2019). "By the Grace of God, review: the great cover-up of Catholic child abuse, laid bare in scalding detail". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  12. ^ Marric, Linda (25 October 2019). "Review: By the Grace of God". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  13. ^ Anderson, John (17 October 2019). "'By the Grace of God': A real-life tale of sex abuse in the French church". America.
  14. ^ Chang, Justin (24 October 2019). "Review: The Catholic Church abuse scandal hits France in 'By the Grace of God', and the powerful drama will make you furious". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  15. ^ LaSalle, Mick (29 October 2019). "Review: Francois Ozon's 'By the Grace of God' focuses on abuse in Catholic Church". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  16. ^ "French clerical abuse film gets go-ahead after legal challenge". BBC News. 18 February 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  17. ^ Charlton, Angela (5 July 2019). "French priest stripped of clergy status for abusing Scouts". Crux. Associated Press. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  18. ^ Viet, Cyprien (4 July 2019). "Fr Preynat found guilty of sex abuse and defrocked". Vatican News. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
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