Bob Mann (00:08.824)
Hello and welcome to Flickering Dreams. In this edition, we are looking at the film Cabrini. And in Cabrini, it's 1889 and the driven nun, Mother Cabrini is tasked by the Pope of starting her first female mission in New York City. What she finds there shocks her to the core and she finds herself in a battle with the city elite who are not just anti-women, but also...
Even more anti-Italian. Here's a clip.
Bob Mann (01:12.782)
Andy, why don't you start off on your views of Cabrini please?
Rev. Andy Godfrey (01:17.024)
Yeah, I was really looking forward to this because it's from the writer, director of Sound of Freedom and also from the Angel Studios, which has given us the excellent TV series The Chosen. I really thought this was a superb production. The thing that I want to say most about this is how much I love the production values. I really felt right from the opening shot that I was there in New York in 1888, 89, I really felt the poverty you could
It's one of those films, and this sounds stupid to say, but the smell of poverty came through. The sound of poverty came through. I mean, I only saw it on my... No, no, not at all. I mean, I was gonna say, I only ever saw it on my laptop because I was fortunate to be sent an advanced copy of the film by the production company. Because we... Yeah, I'm intending to, Bob. I really am.
Bob Mann (01:53.221)
You saw it in 4D, did you?
Bob Mann (02:04.288)
Right. You ought to try to get to see this at the cinema on the big screen if you can. Because I agree with you, it's absolutely magnificent. And the cinematography as well by Spaniard, I'm going to pronounce his name of Gorka Gómez Andreu is, I thought, simply wonderful. Some of the framing of the shots was just magnificent. Yeah.
Rev. Andy Godfrey (02:16.705)
Yeah.
Rev. Andy Godfrey (02:20.51)
Yeah.
Rev. Andy Godfrey (02:27.336)
Absolutely great. And also Gene Back's score is really delightful as well, but also quite hard hitting in a way. So for me, this film brought alive poverty in a very real vivid way. There's almost like a, you know, at times you almost think you're looking at photographs of the time rather than the sort of obviously a stage set of the of the New York. I thought that the performances were all terrific. I thought the script was really intelligent. I waited for the bit at the end where we get to find out.
about the real Cabrini and what happened. And I knew that there are Cabrini orphanages and hospitals all over the world, but I never knew the story, the backstory. So this was fascinating, really enjoyed it. It was a 10 out of 10 for me, just on production values alone, but the performances, the music, everything else about it rated a 10 for me. Gripping story, true story, really well told.
Bob Mann (03:20.204)
Yep. Okay, good. Emma, would you agree?
Emma Sewell (03:25.518)
I thought it was very well done, as you both said. I didn't know anything of Mother Cabrini at all, never heard of it. Like the whole thing, like when it came up at the end saying, this is where, you know, she's managed to have her organisation spread as it were. I was amazed I'd never heard of it. And I thought it was very...
Bob Mann (03:33.241)
Nope.
Emma Sewell (03:55.826)
I enjoyed the way they had done the story. I did feel it was a little too long. And I think like the acting was really good. Some of the kids were great in it. There was literally only one moment though where I really felt like I had obviously connected with the characters and I was crying at the screen. And I...
Bob Mann (04:01.966)
Mm.
Emma Sewell (04:24.078)
particularly John Lithgow, I did not enjoy his performance at all.
Bob Mann (04:33.036)
What, as in, as in you didn't like his character?
Emma Sewell (04:36.598)
I also didn't like his character, but it felt a bit too, not quite pantomime-y to me, but maybe a little bit over-acted. I liked what he was representing in the story, but it just didn't gel for me.
Bob Mann (04:45.542)
Oh, okay.
Bob Mann (04:58.446)
Okay. Scott, anything to add?
Emma Sewell (04:58.462)
or not.
Scott Forbes (05:02.965)
Um, Not so much in terms of adding. I think the other guys have all said it perfectly. I think score, cinematography, both phenomenal. The acting was just great across the board. Special mention to David Morse, who is one of the archbishops in here that she meets up with to help her when she gets to New York. I say help, sort of. Sometimes help, sometimes not. Um, Yeah.
I found this very emotional movie as well. I didn't know anything like Emma, never heard of her before, didn't know anything about her or her orphanages. But just the flow of the story, just the way it went from when we first meet her in Italy and the way she was speaking to the Pope with such confidence and authority as well I thought was quite interesting. And just this clearly inspirational woman who had
Rev. Andy Godfrey (05:54.22)
No.
Scott Forbes (05:59.985)
strong character, a lot of attitude, would never say no or she wouldn't take no for an answer I should say. Yeah, special woman and special movie. Not an easy movie I'll say. Just like we talked about Origin last week, it's another movie that's not easy to watch but is an excellent watch.
Bob Mann (06:21.22)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. I thought, uh, Christiana Dell'Anna as, um, Cabrini, Mother Cabrini, I think she gave an excellent performance, really solid performance. Yeah.
Rev. Andy Godfrey (06:29.568)
Yeah. I mean, we talk about awards last week in the Oscars. I don't know whether this qualifies for next years or not, but I would have it.
Bob Mann (06:38.428)
No, there was a suggestion that maybe it's already been and gone, as it were, and it was overlooked, which I think, given the production design and the cinematography, I think that's a shame.
Rev. Andy Godfrey (06:40.972)
in that category,
Yeah, which is a shame.
Rev. Andy Godfrey (06:49.86)
I mean Angel Studios, the producer, is quite a small studio, but they did do Sound of Freedom last year.
Bob Mann (06:54.752)
Yeah, that's right. And, and I mean, I agree with everything you said. I also mentioned the title song over the end titles by Andrea Bocelli and his daughter, Virginia, which I thought could also have been a, an Oscar nom contender. Um, if it, if it's not passed it by, uh, I noticed they did the same 'Pay It Forwards' trick over the end titles with the bar code to buy cinema tickets for underprivileged people.
Scott Forbes (07:04.254)
amazing.
Rev. Andy Godfrey (07:05.369)
Beautiful.
Scott Forbes (07:17.949)
It did.
Bob Mann (07:23.8)
which worked them a treat for Sound of Freedom. I somehow suspect this will not have the same fervour behind it. But The whole thing with Angel Studios kind of left me a little bit puzzled and the whole production and direction team, because Sound of Freedom was accused of being kind of full of male machismo characters and far right-wing in its kind of...
structure. It got a lot of flak for this. And this film almost feels like the complete antidote to that. It's, it's politics are definitely left leaning. All the entrepreneurs and the business people are the baddies in it. And it's got a really strong, amazingly strong set of female characters, who mostly end up disempowering the men. So the whole thing felt like it was almost saying, well, we've done this, now we're going to do this.
I'd say every scene I thought was a joy to look at and the whole film I just found a joy from start to finish. I have to say it was long, but I really didn't notice the length. I was just so wrapped up in the story. I mean, this is an absolutely definite go and see on the big screen for me.
Emma Sewell (08:40.466)
Something I did have a problem with. So I went and saw the unlimited screening of Immaculate and I didn't have time to write down notes for each film tonight and I'd missed this. So I was like thinking about it in the car on the way home and I was like, oh this bit happened I was like, oh no that was the other film, no don't get them mixed up.
Scott Forbes (09:00.333)
Haha. Ahem.
Bob Mann (09:01.133)
Don't get the good nun and the dodgy nun. Yeah, yeah. Let's do scores on the doors. Emma.
Rev. Andy Godfrey (09:02.131)
Don't get those two mixed up absolutely!
Emma Sewell (09:10.454)
7
Bob Mann (09:11.71)
Seven. Uh, Scott?
Scott Forbes (09:14.061)
It's a 10.
Bob Mann (09:15.652)
Andy.
Rev. Andy Godfrey (09:16.524)
Like Origin last week and like Scott, it's a 10 for me as well. Yeah. Oh yes.
Bob Mann (09:19.932)
And it's a 10 for me. I have to say. So that's three tens and a seven. 37 divided by 4, which is a Flickering Dreams score of 9.25, making Cabrini a really solid gold hit for us. Jolly good.