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By the Grace of God (film)
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Wikipedia article
'By the Grace of God' is a 2019 French-Belgian drama film directed by Franois Ozon. The film stars Melvil Poupaud, Denis Mnochet 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. The film was released in France on 20 February 2019 and in Belgium a week later, and has received critical acclaim.
Plot
Alexandre, Franois and Emmanuel were sexually abused as children by the predatory priest, 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
*Melvil Poupaud as Alexandre Gurin
*Denis Mnochet as Franois Debord
*Swann Arlaud as Emmanuel Thomassin
*ric Caravaca as Gilles Perret
*Franois Marthouret as Cardinal Barbarin
*Bernard Verley as Bernard Preynat
*Josiane Balasko as Irne Thomassin
*Martine Erhel as Rgine Maire
*Hlne Vincent as Odile Debord
*Frdric Pierrot as Captain Courteau
*Aurlia Petit as Marie Gurin
Production
Principal photography on the film began on February 12, 2018 and lasted till April 13, 2018 in Paris, France and Belgium.
Reception
'By the Grace of God' received largely positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has approval rating based on reviews, with an average rating of . 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." It has a 75 out of 100 score on Metacritic based on 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
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".
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". The film received similar 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".
The Jesuit publication, 'America' praised the director, calling his approach to the film as "masterful", while Justin Chang of the 'Los Angeles Times' called the film as "patient, lucid, [and] generously human".
'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".
Lawsuit
The priest portrayed in the film, Bernard Preynat, attempted without success to block its release in France. 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. In March 2020, Preynat was convicted in the French courts of sexual assault and given a five-year prison sentence.
References
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