Rating: 
Summary: Superb acting compensates for weakness of the book
Review: It is a tribute to the talent of three fine actresses that this film is powerful and intriguing, despite a poor premise and deficient dialogue. However, the script does have certain merits. A few sequences (for example, the apparently mad Agnes's saying she has a revelation of a lady calling to her "Marie! Marie!") do keep one guessing, even if the characterization of both Agnes and the clearly intelligent and worldly superior make one wonder about the sanity of both. Anne Bancroft's performance, in particular, is amazing. Many of her character's assertions are bizarre, and one is left to wonder whether she truly sees Agnes's situation as a miracle (...unlikely, since it led to manslaughter) and Agnes as a great saint (ditto). To depict a woman of clear intelligence and world knowledge as capable of thinking Agnes's child had no earthly father would seem impossible until one sees how Anne Bancroft's superb skill makes it close to believable.
Rating:
Summary: Tank you, Hane!
Review: Jane Fonda as psychiatrist is sent by authorities to investigate young nun accused of infanticide. This atmospheric film works on many levels: it is fine as a face-value
story, but just as compelling is the protagonist's emotional conflict with religious values.
Rating:
Summary: Enigmatic
Review: Jane Fonda stars as a court appointed psychologist analzying a young nun at a French Canadian convent who has been accused of murdering her newborn baby. The case has caused a scandal, and both the Church and Court want it resolved as quickly as possible. But when Fonda begins questioning the young nun, Meg Tilly, and her Mother Superior, Anne Bancroft, it becomes clear that things are much more complicated than they would appear. The film raises a lot of questions about miracles, Catholic dogma, and failings of the Church. It also taps into that sense of secrecy in the Catholic Church, since so much happens behind close doors and in quiet, whether it be behind the walls of a convent or even the Vatican, or inside the small space of a confessional. It doesn't answer a lot of the questions it poses, and in a certain sense, the ending was not completely satisfying. But there's a lot to compensate for it. The performances are quite good. Anne Bancroft comes off best, with her stubborn, blunt Mother Superior trying to protect the young novice. Meg Tilly is also wonderful as the innocent, enigmatic nun. Jane Fonda is a bit one-note as the doctor, having a few good scenes along the way. Director Norman Jewison creates a mood and atmosphere in the film that compliments the subject matter well. Although it's not the blockbuster success you'd hope it would be, and although the subject matter had more potential than you will see here, the film is nonetheless involving and well made and certainly worth a look.
Rating:
Summary: An air of greatness, but not quite complete
Review: Meg Tilly plays a young nun, who gave birth to a baby, in a convent, and the baby is killed. Ann Bancroft is the stern, effective, incurious Mother Superior. Jane Fonda is a psychiatrist, who comes to the convent to aid in the investigation. Is this a case of murder, a miracle, insanity, or some combination thereof?
The premise of the story is compelling, the setting is portrayed excellently, and all of the acting is admirable. Tilly is tortured, naive, secretive, and driven. Bancroft is indomitable, aloof, stern, and a power to be reckoned with. Fonda is high strung, intelligent, inquisitive, and determined.
But, something in this film left me thinking, "Oh, okay, I guess that's all." It creates an air of imminent greatness, then delivers only a very good film. It's like a delicious meal that's missing a course, or the portions are a little small. It aims at greatness, but the arrow hits the target a bit off the bulls-eye. It is still worth watching, and memorable.
Rating: 
Summary: OUTSTANDING!
Review: Meg Tilly plays Agnes, a nun in a convent in Montreal who apparently got pregnant and murdered her baby, but doesn't remember anything about it. Martha Livingston (Jane Fonda) is the court ordered psychiatrist who is called upon to examine Agnes and find out exactly what happend. Mother Superior (Anne Bancroft) is opposed to Ms. Livingston opening up Agnes' mind and searching for the truth. This movie has strong performances from all three ladies. Meg Tilly is outstanding as the young and naive Agnes. I believe she was nominated for an Oscar for this performance and deservingly so. Fonda and Bancroft also give strong believable performances. This story is filled with secrets,mystery and the wonderment of miracles. It's very touching and has a wonderful soundtrack as well. A must see.
Rating:
Summary: A trio of actresses inspires wonderment
Review: Several weeks ago, I reviewed the 1973 film CATHOLICS, and made the point that it would be best understood and appreciated by Roman Catholics. AGNES OF GOD, released in 1985, is a picture for which the same might be said.
Meg Tilly stars as a young woman who's recently given birth to, and apparently murdered, her baby. No surprise there, except that she also happens to be a young nun, Sister Agnes, tightly cloistered in a French Canadian convent. Agnes has no memory of the deed, so Jane Fonda plays the court-appointed psychologist, Dr. Livingston, tasked with unearthing the facts of the matter. Who was the biological father? How did he breach the convent's walls to gain access to Agnes and impregnate her? What were the circumstances of the birth and killing? Anne Bancroft plays the head of the religious house, who apparently knows more than she's telling. Livingston won't be stopped, and the Mother Superior is indomitable. It's a case of the Irresistible Force meeting the Immovable Object. All three actresses give exceptional performances in a film that pivots around two key elements of Catholicism, the doctrines of the Immaculate Conception and the Virgin Birth, as well as the phenomenon of the Stigmata. There's even a lighter moment as the Fonda and Bancroft characters discuss what sort of cigar might have been the favorite of certain of the Apostles. (Can you envision Peter smoking a big stogie?) It's been argued that the picture, while undeniably excellent, was ultimately unsatisfying. I think such a conclusion misses the point, which is that some things, like the Immaculate Conception and the Virgin Birth, will never be proven facts, but must be accepted on faith by those so inclined. And, not all movie endings are necessarily tidy, nor should they be. Sometimes, the conjecture one is left with is the point of it all.
Rating:
Summary: 3 great actresess carry this movie!
Review: The 3 actresses made this movie believeable. Tense drama and a glimpse at the way things actually run in a Nun's life make this a fantastic movie. Worth seeing again.
Rating:
Summary: Believe it or Not
Review: The movie in its entirety is an unresolved investigation of a psychologist Dr. Martha Livingston on a murder inside a mystery within a miracle in the convent. To be honest, i enjoyed the film but it was quite interesting to conclude that the character played by Jane Fonda is justified to her quest of knowing the truth behind the mystery by using the methods of science, but at the end...what had happened to her investigation, does she truly found the answer she was looking for...or she was just affected by the holy and symphathetic character of Meg Tilly (as the young novice)? The movie still remains a mystery to unravelled if your are more on scientific side like Livingston but to the one who is religious, no methods of science can explain the miracle of God for a person like Agnes. This film is also an excellent example of science and religion collition. A movie that speaks of the stroing points and weaknesses of both fields. The movie speaks like this, There are some things that one cannot be explained scientifically...it's beyond our capacity to know it and sometimes, we must accept our limitation and start a leap of faith.
Rating:
Summary: One my all-time favorites
Review: There is something about the sweetness and innocence with which Meg Tilly plays the part of Agnes that attracts me to this movie time and time again. Perhaps it's the longing for some of the innocence and naivety that she portrays in Agnes. I think Jane Fonda's portrayal of Livingston is just wonderful. She manages to play a tough, atheistic psychiatrist with such gusto, yet she still appears very human and vulnerable. I recommend this movie highly, especially to people who have struggled with the paradoxes involved in the conflict between faith and science.
Rating:
Summary: Meg Tilly Shines As Agnes
Review: This film provokes more questions than it provides answers. The score by Georges Delerue enhances the unfolding of the mysterious narrative. Meg Tilly shines as Agnes. Her performance is inspired and affecting.
|
