''Monsignor'' is a 1982 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Frank Perry Frank Joseph Perry Jr. (August 21, 1930 – August 29, 1995) was an American stage director and filmmaker. His 1962 independent film '' David and Lisa'' earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay (writte ...

about a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

's rise through the ranks of the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

, during and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Along the way, he involves the Vatican in the

black market A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the se ...

eering operations of a

Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

, and has an affair with a woman in the

postulant A postulant (from la, postulare, to ask) was originally one who makes a request or demand; hence, a candidate. The use of the term is now generally restricted to those asking for admission into a Christian monastery or a religious order for the p ...

stage of becoming a

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

. He eventually repents and returns to his faith, attempting to make right the things he has done wrong. The cast includes

Christopher Reeve Christopher D'Olier Reeve (September 25, 1952 – October 10, 2004) was an American actor, best known for playing the title character in the film ''Superman'' (1978) and three sequels. Born in New York City and raised in Princeton, New Jersey, ...

Geneviève Bujold Geneviève Bujold (; born July 1, 1942) is a Canadian actress. For her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the period drama film ''Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969), Bujold received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her other film cre ...

, Fernando Rey, Jason Miller,

Joseph Cortese Joseph Cortese (born February 22, 1948) is an American actor who had major roles in films such as ''Windows'' (1980), '' Evilspeak'' (1981) and ''Monsignor'' (1982). Early life Cortese was born on February 22, 1948 in Paterson, New Jersey. He ...

Adolfo Celi Adolfo Celi (; 27 July 1922 – 19 February 1986) was an Italian film actor and director. Born in Curcuraci, Messina, Sicily, Celi appeared in nearly 100 films, specialising in international villains. Although a prominent actor in Italian ...

, and

Leonardo Cimino Leonardo Cimino (November 4, 1917 – March 3, 2012) was an American film, television and stage actor who in 1937 appeared in the original stage production of Marc Blitzstein's ''The Cradle Will Rock''. Cimino's most well known roles are in the 1 ...

. The film was not well received by critics and performed poorly at the box office; Reeve later blamed this on poor editing. Supporting actors Miller and Rey were singled out for their strong performances. The film was nominated for a

Golden Raspberry Award The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...

for Worst Musical Score, the only Razzie nomination

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

ever received in his career to date. The filming location was entirely in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Plot

With the

having financial difficulties during

, a young priest from America is sent for, recommended because of his accounting skill. He has already broken the rules, for his first assignment after ordination, is a military chaplain. There he ministers to a dying soldier and then takes the dead soldier's position as a machine gunner and destroys a squadron of advancing German troops. This action of a priest killing in combat gets him removed from that position, and he is then sent to the Vatican, with his knowledge of business and accounting. Father John Flaherty does indeed have a good head for figures, but also believes in any means to an end. To raise money for the church, he is willing to enter into a

operation with

the Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

, selling cartons of cigarettes by the tens of thousands for a percentage of the take. The priest's morals are strained further when he develops a romantic interest in Clara, a young nun who is having a crisis of faith. They begin an affair, but Flaherty does not confess to her his true identity. One day during a papal ceremony, Clara catches sight of Flaherty in his clerical robes. Her love and trust are shattered. Flaherty's methods may be overlooked, but his success at raising funds is appreciated by some of his superiors as he rises to become a monsignor, then a cardinal. When an ill-advised stock investment costs the Vatican millions, however, Flaherty must pay the price for his deeds.

Cast

as Father Flaherty *

as Clara *

The Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

* Fernando Rey as Cardinal Santoni *

as Cardinal Vinci * Jason Miller as Don Appolini *

Tomas Milian Tomas Milian (born Tomás Quintín Rodríguez-Varona Milián Salinas de la Fé y Álvarez de la Campa; 3 March 1933 – 22 March 2017) was a Cuban-born actor and singer with American and Italian citizenship, known for the emotional intensity and ...

as Father Francisco *

Robert Prosky Robert Prosky (born Robert Joseph Porzuczek, December 13, 1930 – December 8, 2008) was an American actor. He became a well-known supporting actor in the 1980s with his roles in '' Thief'' (1981), ''Christine'' (1983), ''The Natural'' (1984), an ...

as Bishop Walkman *

Joe Pantoliano Joseph Peter Pantoliano (born September 12, 1951) is an American character actor who has appeared in over 150 films, television and stage productions. After his early roles in the television series ''M*A*S*H'' and the 1983 comedy ''Risky Busin ...

as Private Musso *

as Ludovico 'Lodo' Varese * Milena Vukotic as Sister Verna *

Joe Spinell Joe Spinell (born Joseph Spagnuolo; October 28, 1936 – January 13, 1989) was an American character actor who appeared in films in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as various stage productions on and off Broadway. He played supporting roles in ''The ...

as Bride's Father * Ettore Mattia as Pietro *

Gregory Snegoff Gregory Snegoff (born June 22, 1955) is an American voice actor, writer and dialogue director who frequently works on English-language anime-dubs. He is also known by the names Greg Snegoff, Gregory Snow, and Greg Snow. Early life Snegoff is a ...

as Soldier *

Pamela Prati Pamela Prati (until 2016 as Paola Pireddu; born 26 November 1958) is an Italian actress, showgirl, model, singer, and television hostess. She has appeared in many television variety shows and in erotic comedies. She has hosted several programmes ...

as Roman Girl * Darin Berry as Altar Boy

Music

The score of the film is composed and conducted by John Williams and performed by the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

. The soundtrack was released in 1982. In 2007,

Intrada A prelude (german: Präludium or '; la, praeludium; french: prélude; it, preludio) is a short piece of music, the form of which may vary from piece to piece. While, during the Baroque era, for example, it may have served as an introduction t ...

released a limited edition of Williams' score of the film and an expanded version was released on June 4, 2019.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 0% based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 2.4/10. In 1983, Christopher Reeve said ''Monsignor'' "was a horrible picture and deserved to be lambasted" and a "very bad movie." He complained that the film "makes serious allegations about a religious figure and fails to prove it." Reeve lamented that "we had the material and it was misused," blaming the result on "corporate decision-making."

Controversy

On November 29, 1982, the film was banned from showing in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

; the

Irish Film Censor Board The Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO) ( ga, Oifig Aicmithe Scannán na hÉireann, OASÉ) is the organisation responsible for films, television programmes, and some video game classification and censorship within Ireland. Where restrictio ...

cited its conflation of religion and adultery, as it features an affair between a priest and a postulant nun. The decision was overturned by the Film Appeals Board on December 17; this caused controversy among members of

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian- ...

– chairman Ned Brennan believed the majority of the Irish public did not want it to be released and said "standards must be maintained", wanting it banned on "moral grounds".

Notes

External links

* * {{Frank Perry 1982 films 1982 crime drama films 1980s war drama films 20th Century Fox films American crime drama films American war drama films 1980s English-language films Films critical of the Catholic Church Films set in Vatican City Films set in the 1940s Films directed by Frank Perry Films about capital punishment Films with screenplays by Wendell Mayes 1980s American films