THE CALLING
US, 2009.
Directed by David A. Ranghelli.
The Calling is a very sincere and heartfelt film about the call to religious life and to ministry.
The film works well not only as a documentary but as providing a narrative, akin to a feature film. There are interviews as well as scenes focusing on the work of the central characters as well as the reflections on their life and the calling.
The director has followed three people from the late 1990s into the middle of the next decade. They are all from Tampa, Florida. The film opens with a parish priest, Father Philip Scott, preaching to his congregation. However, Fr Scott is originally from Peru and feels that he is called to return there. But he also feels called to establish a new religious congregation, the Family of Jesus, Healer.
Elizabeth, a mother of two adult children in the parish discerns her calling to join him in Peru. She becomes the superior of the community of nuns who work with Father Scott. She draws on her experience of marriage and motherhood to work not only with the sisters but with the poor, especially the women, of the impoverished village where the parish has been set up.
The third person is Orlando, a 21 year old young man, originally from Nicaragua, but who has grown up in a gated community in Tampa and educated there. A good friend of Father Scott, he decides to spend six months in Peru to discern whether this is where God is calling him to live and work.
The film establishes the three characters quickly and quite vividly. They provide strong screen personalities. The scene then moves to Peru, showing the three working there amongst the poor. There is also up a community of men as well as of women. There is camaraderie amongst the religious and a great deal of detail of the local work with people.
The new order is somewhat traditional in its style, especially with the religious habit, prayer patterns. However, Fr Scott and Orlando move amongst the people in the village quite freely, in a more relaxed style then do the sisters.
The drama of vocation is played out for each of the three characters. There are many interviews with Father Scott, glimpses of his work and interaction with the people. He is a great enthusiast. Orlando is at first frustrated then gradually becomes used to the village, the work, the requirements of religious life. However, there are several scenes with his parents, especially his doctor father who does not entirely approve. They visit him in the village and get a firsthand experience of his life. After the six months, he decides to continue with his vocation, begin his novitiate, receive his habit. His parents are present.
But there is much more drama with Mother Elizabeth. Her two daughters put a great deal of pressure on her to be with them and with their children. They make a strong case for the mother to be with them. Elizabeth returns several times with Father Scott to the parish in Tampa to promote the missions. She visits her children, reflects on their feelings, and ultimately decides to take a year’s leave of absence to discern whether she should stay in the United States.
With audience interest in the characters, with the continuing story of their work and the discernment, the film engages the audience. It also offers the opportunity for the audience to reflect on God’s presence in people’s lives, the unique experience that is a call and that has its demands, despite other people’s questioning or disapproval. It does show the realities and difficulties of religious life and working with the poor and the necessary sacrifices. With the story of Elizabeth, it surprises the audience with her ultimate discernment to be with family.
There are three very interesting extras on the DVD. They give more background to the three characters, more interviews and commentary, often very personal. There are a good supplement to the film itself. In some of the segments there is more focus on the two sisters who had come from the United States, their background, work, the family connections, the decisions to join the order. In the film, they are quite subsidiary characters but come alive here.
The film runs for 80 minutes. The DVD also has a 60 minute version.
The three extras are: Feeling the Call, Knowing the Call, Living the Call.
The film is a credit to the director, David A. Ranghelli who stayed with the characters over many years and helps the audience to get to know his friends as he got to know them.
It is a film for reflection and discussion.
