Doubt
I just saw the film Doubt yesterday and I just totally love it. This is a serious multi-faceted enigmatic film starring the legendary Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams. The film was excellent.
Doubt the movie is based on John Patrick Shanley's Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning stage play. Written from Shanley's personal experiences, the film explores not only the issue of possible sexual abuse but conservative versus progressive religious values and how far one can rely on suspicion in the absence of proof.
Set in 1964, one year after the Kennedy assassination the movie takes place in a private Catholic school shortly after the death of President John F. Kennedy. It involves Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep), the strict, sour, humorless nun and principal of the elementary school, who makes accusation against a humane and likable parish priest, Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman). She accuses him of committing an immoral act and mortal sin with the lonely and lone African American student and, perhaps, somewhat effeminate, church altar boy whom Father Flynn has befriended.
Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep) is the dragon lady of St. Nicholas school in the Bronx. A strict taskmaster, she relishes her role as the upholder of tradition, rejecting such modern devices as ballpoint pens and the singing of secular songs at Christmas, like Frosty the Snowman which she equates with pagan magic. Under Aloysius is the sweet and innocent Sister James (Amy Adams) whose easy going manner and charming personality is a welcome antidote to her authoritarian superior.
The priest at St. Nicholas is Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who is the closest thing to a progressive at the school. He is open to new ideas and the changes initiated by Pope John XXIII, being much more open and relaxed with the children and engaging them in sports and conversation. In his sermons he brings the language of religion into the twentieth century, talking about the positive aspects of doubt and the injurious effects of gossip.
"Doubt", he says, "can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty. When you are lost, you are not alone." Resentful of the limited role of women in the Catholic Church and suspicious of Father Flynn, Sister Aloysius assigns Sister James and the other nuns at the school to keep an eye peeled for anything unusual in his conduct. Her fears appear justified when Sister James reports that Father Flynn asked Donald Miller (Joseph Foster II), the school's only African-American student, to a private conference in the rectory and was seen hanging up the boys undershirt in his locker. Sister James also informs her that there was alcohol on the boy's breath and that the boy seemed upset when returning to his desk.
Sister James believes, on circumstantial evidence, that Father Flynn may have committed an immoral act with the boy. She has, though, no concrete proof of its occurrence. Sister Aloysius is happy to do the obligatory assault on Father Flynn's character when Sister James provides her with this salacious ammunition however flimsy it may be. Although no inappropriate behavior was witnessed, Sister Aloysius suspects wrongdoing and summons the priest to her office on the pretext of discussing the Christmas pageant.
She accuses the priest of misconduct with the altar boy. The drama takes more twists and turns, especially when Donald's mother (Viola Davis) raises Aloysius' eyebrows by suggesting that, in spite of the allegations, the boy who is due to enter high school in a few months, may be better off in the hands of the priest than having to face his intolerant and abusive father.
As I watched this, other excellent films came to mind. I thought about Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour and Arthur Miller's The Crucible. All these story lines deal with false accusation of immorality and accusations. I thought about how easy it is to bear false witness, to think we see what we do not and to believe false witness testimony, holding the fate of others in our hands.
This film, though, is not about certainty it is about doubt. Sister Aloysius is, perhaps, the most interesting character. What made her the character she was? It is hard to tell but we are told she had a married past -- a nun with a married past? That's all we are told
That is one of the enigmas of the film and that is what the viewer must weigh. Does she doubt her own possibly false consequential accusations against Father Flynn or does she have her OWN personal doubts about her faith, the church and the existence of God.
When she puts up "any old pope" on the blackboard despite the fact that it is not the right one she says oh who cares you just want to use it as a reflective mirror to watch the kids and "make them think you have eyes on the back of your head." This is not exactly what one would expect from one who is supposed to love the church and its hierarchy. She is really quite cynical about church hierarchy and knows how the power game is played. She is shrewd and smart as she lies to Father Flynn about her knowledge of his allegedly sordid past in other parishes. She has none but she told him she did. He never questions it. Why would an innocent man not question that? More room for doubt this time of Father Flynn's innocence. We never really do know if he is truly innocent even though I rooted for him to be so.
Doubt avoids easy answers and challenges us to view inflammatory issues from a broader perspective, embracing the essential mystery of human behavior. The acting in the film is uniformly brilliant. Streep is mesmerizing, even if at times more theatrical than may be necessary for the character. Philip Seymour Hoffman's performance is more restrained and draws our sympathy with his broader view of church doctrine and display of love and compassion, although his demeanor at the end tantalizingly suggests remorse.
What may be the most noteworthy performance, however, is that of Viola Davis whose dialogue with Aloysius is one of the dramatic high points of the film. The issue of whether Father Flynn acted as a friend and mentor to the boy or a sexual partner is ultimately left to the viewer to resolve.
The once innocent Sister James says she now never sleeps. Sister Aloysius cries about here own feelings doubt at the end. This film is more than about good and about evil. It questions what we hold as truth, lies, certainty and of course, doubt and human frailty. One thing that I am sure about, and there is no doubt in MY mind that Doubt is a film not to be missed.