kvsmm1945 Spoiler Alert.In one scene, Mother Teresa is walking along a train platform, just teeming with people. All of a sudden, the camera pans to one old man lying on the ground. As she watches, he lifts a hand and beckons her to come to him. She comes and kneels down to him; he grips her wrist, looks into her eyes and says, "I thirst." At that moment, she remembers Christ on the Cross as He said, "I thirst." From that moment, every beggar on the street became Christ to her, asking her for help.I was working in social services, but after seeing that one scene, my heart changed. I felt a new compassion. I looked at my clients with new eyes. Work became a way of showing the Love of Christ. I heard someone say, "Go and preach the Gospel to all nations - and if you must, use words."This dear little soul knew what that meant, and that is how she lived her life.

lyricsislife This film is so fantastic. Olivia's portrayal is outstanding! She plays it in such a real unaffected way, really a masterful performance! The film's two most beautiful characteristics, in my opinion, are that it's not a big-budget Hollywood film. It's simple, straightforward and inspiring: which in my opinion is, the way Mother Teresa would have wanted it. And, even though you think it won't, it has this internal power to make you weep when you look around and see the state of the world, and if there were only more people like this in the world, it would be a much better place. See this film. I guarantee you it will inspire you to be a better person.

roac-1 Olivia Hussey has done a great job portraying Mother Teresa in this biopic. Her voice and mannerisms match those that Mother Teresa had. The production values are top notch. The DVD looks excellent on HDTV and the sound track is well scored. Though it wasn't actually filmed in Calcutta - the Shri Lankan locations used have a similar feel and atmosphere. The story focuses on Mother Teresa's struggle with the church leadership to move out to work with the poorest of the poor. A first for a nun - in a city like Calcutta. It deals with her motivation, not in a preachy way. I was moved to tears a couple of times while watching ... felt that the production as a whole was powerful and moving.

Stephen Hitchings Making a film about a religious figure is a perilous enterprise, particularly if the person involved is still alive or recently dead, and even more so when she is one of the outstanding personalities of the twentieth century. Happily this movie has managed to steer very effectively between the opposing dangers of cynicism and over-the-top enthusiasm which are the hallmarks of most religious movies. They have stuck very firmly to the facts, while allowing the personality of Mother Teresa to shine through, effectively revealing her powerful faith, her amazing strength, her heroic charity and self-sacrifice, but also her moments of doubt, weakness and vulnerability. There are few really great religious movies. This could have been one of them. The production is superb, the direction and the acting excellent, and Olivia Hussey does a magnificent job in a very difficult role. What spoils it is the structure: a series of excellent parts which do not really make a very coherent whole. The producers have tried to do too much, to include too many incidents, and as a result the storyline is sadly lacking in continuity. I see from the IMDb notes that the Italian running time is 180 minutes, almost 40% longer than the English language version. Perhaps the problem lies with the editing, and the longer version does a much better job. All I can say is that they should have opted for doing some bits of Mother Teresa's story extremely well rather than attempting the whole thing and botching it.