Kirpianuscus to talk about cultural differences is far to be easy today. but this is the theme of ~Black Robe~. the idealism of a priest. the realities of tribes from Canada. traditions, conflicts, survive of perceptions about the other, the relativity of truths and the manner to say them. ethnographic details, impressive landscapes, the discover of yourself and the survive. a film who reminds many others about the same theme. but it is difficult to reduce it at comparisons. because its poetry of image, the build of story, the subtle performance of Lothaire Bluteau are pieces of a trip in the heart of things. it is a film about Europe more a film about Indian tribes. it is a delicate and precise discover of Christianity as the only way to change yourself and the world. and this does "Black Robe" useful.

runamokprods If Bruce Beresford's 'Driving Miss Daisy' suffered from a softened, Hollywooden view of history and racial conflicts, the bleak, beautiful sometimes horrific, always uncompromising 'Black Robe' is its correlative opposite.Set in the 17th century, both the Native Canadian people, and the French Jesuits who come to bring then religion (when they already have their own, thank you very much) are presented as deeply flawed, cold and cruel at times, blind to the complexities of each other's humanity.Yet both are also touched by moments of kindness and understanding that lead to the sense that this story of one Jesuit's torturous trip with a band of native guides is not without it's growth for all involved.Most critics were mixed on this, and I understand their objections, though I don't share them. The film is distant emotionally, and we never really get inside any of the characters, even the titular priest, called 'Black Robe' by the native people. The film is more illustrative than dramatic. Again, the exact opposite strengths and weaknesses of Beresord's 'Driving Miss Daisy', which was full of wonderfully moving characters, but lacking honest context.But I found the historical context here, and intellectual insight, the suspense inherent to the story, along with the physical beauty of the locations and the sharply honest insight into the Native universe enough to be always engrossed and interested, and ultimately quite moved.

Chris Impens A most impressive movie. For once, politically correct stuff has been reduced to the absolute minimum, namely a transcultural love story-- feeble but tolerable. Apart from that, everything is as it should be. The scenery is breathtaking, the score likewise, and the characters, each one a prisoner in his own universe, are very convincing. The last words on the screen are as strong a message as everything else in the movie: the Hurons, turned Christian because they expect some medical profit from the priest's "water remedy", are overrun and exterminated by their pagan neighbours. So, in the end, nothing whatsoever is left from the desperate attempt we have witnessed.

Cristi_Ciopron The following quote might scare the kids; yet read it, because I deconstruct it after-wards.'No film better captures the strangeness and complexity of the Native-European collision in North America. The courage, fear, religious fervor, confusion, nobility, and savagery of the natives and Jesuits are conveyed with an almost anthropological dispassion, with the beautiful, brutal Canadian wilderness portrayed as the ultimate, sovereign force.'—wrote somewhere a _blogger; well, pals, he couldn't be farer from the truth. I don't like to bash a fellow _blogger—but this one is wholly wrong. Why? Why, fair reader? Because:--(1)—BLACK ROBE is a enormously enjoyable movie—a very fun movie; literate and original, yes, but in a mainstream and discreet ,unassuming way; Beresford is no Godard or other experimental directors; consequently, BLACK ROBE is straight fun, a dramatic thriller; --(2)—there are no scientific whims, no savant antics—it's a suspenseful drama, a thrilling and hugely palatable movie;--(3)—and where did he came with that sovereign nature from? Beresford's flick is entirely about people.On the funny side, there's sex, there's violence and brutality; on the priestly side, the movie's thorough and keen. It's nothing above Beresford's head, as it were—but an original, likable and straight movie.I remember that Lothaire Bluteau, a Canadian, was the lead.