Cabrini Movie: I have thoughts

    So, I finally went to the movie theater and watched the Cabrini movie. I was a little disappointed. It's well filmed and the cinematography is good. It's worth seeing if you like period dramas. I do not see a reason you have to catch it in the theater. In fact, I think it would be better to wait until it comes out on streaming or DVD (Do they still make DVDs? asking for a friend...) I say that because it's like 10 minutes longer than Dune 2, which I am not sure how or why that is even possible. I dislike films that go over 2 hours. I very seldomly encounter a film that needs that sort of length, and this film did not. So, unnecessarily length is my first gripe.

    My other gripe is the lack of theological substance. Now, I was not expecting it to be overly preachy. This was a general audience movie theater film and not a documentary from EWTN. So, I get that. They were trying to make Cabrini's story accessible to all crowds, not just the religious Catholic crowd. That is admirable in its own way-a message to try and reach the masses.

    What I found grating after a while (as it was a really long film, that was indeed quite a while I was waiting to this...) was the lack of description of any real theological motivation. If one knew nothing about Cabrini and the Church at that time, one might be led to conclude that she was a secular social worker or some sort of social justice reformer that just happened to be using the Church as her platform to achieve her sociopolitical goals.

    I know that was not the case with Cabrini. In fact, she was informed by her profound religious faith in Christ and Christ's message of the Kingdom of God. Again, I did not expect to have 30+ minutes delving into her deep inner spiritual life and convictions, but there was virtually no discussion of what drove her to do the massive reforms she was doing. One does not simply start a religious order and found countless hospitals, asylums, orphanages, etc...and not have some driving ideological and/or religious experience(s) feeding that drive. That is completely white washed over in the hopes of making her look not so much like a person driven with religious zeal, but as some sort of secular humanist. 

    I found that complete lack of religious background or discussion thereof completely lacking in the film, which at the end of the day made it seem artificial. The acting was good, and it was otherwise a good (if too long) story. The lack of religious belief or discussion made it seem like something oddly redacted, lest people be offended. Again, worth seeing when it comes out on the little screen, but don't waste big money seeing it in the theater. 

If you wish to watch the trailer, you can do so here:



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