Conspiracy of Silence

Well told story (sorry, but I do suspend my disbelief whenever watching dramas) that's very well dramatised, about the controversial subject of celibacy among the priesthood of the Catholic church. You get a bit of a history lesson about the subject too. No doubt this film falls into the category of a film with a "message" to the Church itself, but that doesn't detract in any way from the entertainment value of the story if you're not Catholic and don't have an axe to grind about this subject.

Well acted, beautifully filmed and thoroughly entertaining - what more do I need? What's more, no big name actors, so you can concentrate and enjoy the story for what it is.

Secrets & Details can have a reflect towards that Next Generation to come! I feel that how the decisions we make can either help us "OR" hurt us! It's how we interact! When I watched this Movie about Helen Betty Osborne! It stopped me on my track towards the way we become & may start with another but Ends with Ourselves! It's how we take things in & how we proceed with that! I Can Not find this Movie anywhere!! & how 1's Culture is like that Family Tree Either we Stand together "OR" Fall together together! I truly believe it's about understanding each other & what represent.....having Love!!!!

I was lucky enough to be invited to a cast screening of the film at the Empire in Leicester Square, (my dad has a small part - he sings the Wild Colonial Boy in a pub scene). I really enjoyed the film as it struck a number of chords with me having been brought up a Catholic, taught by priests and Irish (at least Irish descent). The film has the same well observed quality as Alan Parkers film of Roddy Doyle's The Committments. The topic is a serious one about Aids and Homosexuality in the Catholic Church but don't let that put you off, the film is full of funny interactions that are typically Irish and will appeal to many people. I didn't think that the message of the film was clear it covered the Church's attitude to aids, homosexuality, harshness of the regime in a seminar and corruption. So something for everyone. A well acted and entertaining film with a number of well known stars in fairly minor roles.

In the last decade or two a lot of news has come out about the Catholic Church's cover-up of pedophilia. John Deery's "Conspiracy of Silence" isn't about that but about something similar: the church's policy of celibacy. In this case, the suicide of a gay priest living with HIV and the expulsion of some students suspected of a same-sex relationship prompt an article questioning the rightness of the church's celibacy policy.

It seems very likely that forcing priests to be celibate increases the risk of the priests' molesting children. Relationships are natural among all species, and not letting people be in relationships can only damage them. This is not to be confused with pedophilia, which is a disease. But either way, the Catholic Church has had a history of suppressing all news of the molestations, as well as a history of homophobia.

"Conspiracy of Silence" isn't a great movie but does a good job looking at these different topics. It's all the more impressive considering that the director was a first timer. I recommend it.

This is an interesting drama built on some questionable premises: 1. That many priests are HIV positive, and 2. That a good student would be summarily expelled from seminary because he visited another seminarian's room alone in the early evening. Premise #1 seems to me unlikely, especially in the United States, but in Ireland...who knows?

Premise #2 is the situation which sets this drama in motion, but it is almost unbelievable that this seminary would expel a student for possible but unproven sexual misconduct, when the whole culture of the seminary was to keep any such conduct, real or imagined, deeply buried in secrecy.

That said, the problem of clerical celibacy in the Catholic Church is explored and handled well. The actors are all credible and the film moves swiftly toward the final confrontation scene when all the secret sins are exposed. Then the film is suddenly over, leaving many unexplained plot strands dangling and unresolved.

Luckily the DVD contains sub-titles in English. You will need them to understand the swiftly-paced Irish brogue employed by the cast.