Twist of Faith

Please read the comments by Roger Brunton in this forum to receive an eloquent view of this film. I quote from him:- "This subject matter shouldn't even exist for it to be brought to people to understand through film" How to describe the devastation of acts of evil committed to another Being? This documentary lets a victim demonstrate the results, the summation of his life-abused into 90 minutes.

Tony Comes starts this diary as a macho Fireman assured of himself. During the film he doubts what is most precious to him. His Sexuality, his marriage, his role as a father and ultimately his religion.

The viewer is a voyeur in what happens 20 years after acts of depravity. Tony cannot hold his marriage together, he is forced into explaining extreme and unfathomable situations to his young children, he is unable to communicate with his son in the way a father should because HE IS A VICTIM, his faith in God is questioned, he is scared of being labelled a "fag" or a "queer."

There are a enough problems in his life that would make him want to quit the course that he is now taking. He is acutely aware to challenge the Catholic Church is a process that will take years and much heartache but a sense of right drives him forward.

There are no happy endings in this film only disgust and resolutions to be vigilant with one's children.

To go back to the quote at the beginning of this review, this difficult piece should not be considered a film, or even a documentary.

It is news.

Our much vaulted media (print and vision) should bring stories like this to our attention so we as people can demonstrate our anger. When "they" talk about it they are more interested in the salacious details. There are more interested in the monster who committed the acts. The people affected are often shifted to the background as "supporting cast." Twist of Faith firmly puts them to the forefront. Not just the victim but his partner, their children and the effect on the wider community.

I believe this film was nominated for an Oscar. Congratulations to the Academy for promoting this film.

It's shocking to learn the amount of abuse inflicted by a lot of Catholic priests in the past. There's not a day when one hears about a new case as the abused come forward to accuse what criminal men did to them years ago. Kerby Dick, a brave film maker, takes his camera to a group of people that were the victims of one priest when they were teen agers.

The documentary concentrates on Tony Comes, who finally had the courage to go on record to denounce his abuse. He had plenty of company, or so it seems. In fact, their bishop, who should have taken care in dealing with the corrupt priest, didn't do anything to prevent. In fact, this man chose the easy way out by ignoring the accusations.

Wendy Comes, Tony's wife, is deeply affected when she learns the extent of what her husband suffered in the past. In fact, Wendy was wounded when she discovered the truth. In fact, she had converted to Catholicism when she married Tony. In spite of their trauma, we watch as the Comes' young daughter making her first communion, accompanied by her parents.

Kirby Dick deserves to be congratulated for showing us how the actions of some evil individuals ruined lives by what they did to children who trusted them and saw in them role models.

This is directed to Braindog... All I have to say is...have you ever been sexually abused? NOTHING is black and white. You have shown your utter ignorance in your review. I have not yet seen this film but after reading the reviews, I am very interested in seeing it. I have to say though, that I was completely blown away by Braindog's comment. If anyone has personally experienced sexual abuse, either personally or through a close friend, then they would know that it's not as simple as Braindog makes it seem. When the church is a huge part of one's life from the time they very little, even after something horrible happens by a respected member of the church, the person is not absolutely ready to reject the whole of the church by that one member's atrocity. There is separation and compartmentalization that occurs between the church as a whole and the offender who is a part of the church. The fact that one of the people highlighted in the film kept attending the church and had his daughter's First Communion in the church makes complete sense to me. Think of it this way. Are you willing to walk away from your family when one of them hurts you? Yes, the hurt is CONSIDERABLY less and completely in a different vain, but what if that parent hit you or verbally abused you throughout your life...you still feel a connection to that person or a connection to the family...most aren't willing to just walk away from the family for forever. To me, it's all about empathizing. Even though you may not have reacted a certain way, don't judge and put down others for what they did. And, you never know what you may do until you have "walked a mile in another's shoes."

As someone who was raised Catholic in Toledo, I found this very well-done, low-budget film to be incredibly compelling and real. While I personally never experienced abuse, many of my classmates and I had very strong relationships with the priests that worked in our parishes and schools. Watching on film the Archbishop (who was present at my Confirmation) so badly handle the revelation of the abuse was hard. But this film helped me understand the full ramifications of the abuse scandal. I liked that the film never allows itself to overly dramatize what is an incredibly painful and divisive situation. It simply shows the real impact of sexual abuse on a single man and his family. I just read another comment for this film, and it was less about the film and more about a particular viewer's political views on Church abuse. That anyone could watch this film and question the motivation of Comes is really difficult to imagine and sad. But of course -- as the film shows -- many people find it easier to further persecute victims of abuse than face the truth about the leaders of their faith.

A great, moving movie! Kirby Dick's films have always shown not only a light touch but an unerring impulse for the right emotional detail, revealing gesture and sense of when to pull back. In "Twist of Faith" he lets the points make themselves: the Church condones child abuse, they cover their tracks and lie about it. Dick's use of church music is especially telling, as is his judicious implementation of his "chain camera" technique: giving subjects their own video-cams to record their thoughts, document outward aspects of their lives and make occasional but heartbreaking confession. If only Art could make Change! Now THAT would be a Twist.