Lent Reviews Year 6 Week 3: Mother Teresa (2003) (International Cut)

     Way back in 2014 I reviewed the Mother Teresa movie from 2003. I had somewhat mixed feelings about it then. I wrote that the dialogue was stilted, the pacing erratic and that Mother Teresa doesn't have much of an internal struggle. I also noted that there was an international cut that added nearly an hour of new material and expressed interest in watching it with the hope that the new scenes would address some of my issues with the film. I am happy to report that this is the case.

     While the dialogue remains somewhat stilted, probably in part because of the English dubbing for most of the supporting cast, this version definitely improves on the pacing. The story plays out as a series of conflicts for Mother Teresa to overcome. First, she must obtain permission to leave the monastery and go out to the streets of Calcutta to serve the poorest of the poor. Then she must start her new order, the Sisters of Charity. Finally, she must found a hopice for those suffering from leprosy which she calls the Shanti Nagar (the City of Peace).

     In all three of these conflicts Mother Teresa comes up against a human antagonist who does not understand her unique calling. First it's her superior Mother Cenacle (Laura Morante) and then the British journalist Kline (Neil Stuke). As far as I can tell both characters are fictitious and meant to represent the opposition Mother Teresa faced from both from inside and outside the church. Kline, it seems to me, is probably inspired, at least in part, by Christopher Hitchens, who was an extremely harsh critic of the saint during her life and made the documentary Hell's Angel to "expose" what he saw as her nefarious proselytizing agenda.

     The main addition to this cut is the inclusion of material showing her childhood in Albania, revealed in flashback. This provides us with a better glimpse in her psyche as we see her Catholic upbringing, the sacrificial example of her parents, and her initial call to religious life.

     I've have yet to address my biggest complaint about the film in my original review: that it lacks internal conflict for the main character. I don't really feel this way any more about either this release or the U.S. cut of the film. The central conflict throughout is between Mother's deep faith and trust in Christ and the more worldly minded views of those around her, especially Father Serrano (Sebastiano Somma), the priest sent from Rome to evaluate her application for founding the Sisters of Charity who then becomes her follower and advocate.

     Throughout the film, Serrano tries to persuade Mother Teresa to organize her charitable foundations more efficiently, hiring lawyers and financial advisers to help run things. She resists this idea, preferring to trust completely in God rather then the ways of the world. Her confessor, Celeste van Exem (Michael Mendl) advises her that while it would be sinful to fully embrace the ways of the world, rejecting it completely would also be sinful.

     This idea extends to her conflicts with Mother Cenacle and with Kline. Cenacle feels that Mother is being prideful and refusing to conform to the norms of Religious life while Kline sees her as, at best, a naive and ineffectual worker for social justice and at worst a self-serving fraud. What they all fail to understand is the saints deep trust and faith in the Lord and His ability to make all things work for those who love him. What makes Mother Teresa's example even more heroic is the fact that, after her initial encounter with Christ on the way to Darjeeling, she entered a period of spiritual dryness (a dark night of the soul as John of the Cross would say) which lasted for the rest of her life. As the film touches on (all to briefly) she brought the life of Christ to others despite not feeling his love or his presence herself.

     Fabrizio Costa's workmanlike direction falls a little flat at times, though there are some nice tracking shots and the flashbacks to Teresa's childhood are actually done quite tastefully. The score, by Guy Farley, is simple but effective. The performances are solid all around and Olivia Hussey is absolutely magnificent as the titular saint.

     While not a great film, Mother Teresa is, ultimately, an inspiring look at the life of this, the most beloved saint of the 20th century. The international cut improves on the more commonly viewed U.S. version, helping the pacing and adding welcome background about the saint's childhood.

Score: 8/10