Pilgrimage

2017 "A journey paved in blood."
Pilgrimage
5.9| 1h36m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 11 August 2017 Released
Producted By: Savage Productions
Country: Ireland
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

In 13th century Ireland a group of monks must escort a sacred relic across a landscape fraught with peril.

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jakob13 Brendon Muldowney's 'Pilgrimage' is an odyssey, so to speak, of a group of monks, guardians of a sacred relic, across the Irish landscape, shrouded undreamed menace that moors and vales foreshadow, to its final destination the seat of papal power in Rome.The narrative, written by Jamie Hannigan, traces a path though woodlands, as it winds its way in 1290 towards the port of Waterford where a ship awaits the holy cargo.As we travel into the heart of history, the story takes a road of themes that we can recognize today in holy war, political tensions between west and east, Europe and the Muslim world that play itself out in of constant movement, in a setting fraught with danger and death. In the silences of the Irish countryside, the perilous journey causes great stress and ominous presence of Norman conquerors; of the great struggle of religion and pagan beliefs; of faith and superstition; and of rough justice and the ever-present supernatural.Yet, 'Pilgrimage', in the way the story line works itself out is simply the woven strands of plot are drawn ever tightly together into a poetic or maybe a mystical finale; it is also the moral and spiritual education of Dairmuid (Tom Holland), raised in a monastery in the Irish west where Gaelic is spoken, as he ventures into a wider and dangerous and unknown world.And in the end it is his innocence that saves him from death that his fellow monks and Norman nobles and the zealous fanatical Cistercian monk meet at the hands of wily pagans who stand outside the Church's redemption.Duplicity is a common theme: Christian piety and simplicity versus raw and naked politics, a harking back to the Guelf and Ghibelline controversy, opposing factions that, one supports the papacy and the other kings and emperors, for possession of the sacred relic will determine the fate of Western Christendom.For the pope, the relic--a stone that crushed the skull of the apostle Matthais will prove him the Church triumphal and triumphant in a holy Crusade that once and for all wrest Jerusalem from the hold of the Muslims.For the Norman sire Raymond de Merville (Richard Armitage), it will enable the French king to bargain with the Pope for his right to influence the church in France, a precursor of a national state and feeling.For Brother Geraldus (Stanley Weber), the stone as he lays it in the hands of the Pope, will seal his rise in the esteem of the Pope and promotion to higher office if not election as Pontiff, a Faustian bargain he made by denouncing his father as a heretic.And for Dairmud, his faith will never fails him through intrigue, betrayal, murder and grotesque mayhem. And then for the mute (Jon Bernal) who protects him and fight valiantly to protect the lad until his death, protecting the stone is an act of atonement for past sins and crimes he had amassed in the sacking of Constantinople?And into the world of extraordinary violence and faith, and our imagination. Muldowney's camera captures sharply and clearly the symbols of death and doom, heavenly wrath and the symbols associated with death in the presence of crows, ravens and black birds of carrion. 'Pilgrimage' inspires us as much as it repels us by its turbulence and claps of thunder and raging thunderbolts.The story is historically true in detail: it reflects the linguistic fluency of the time: Gaelic, English, French and Latin; the fluidity of the camera, its sharp color and images that create an atmosphere of dread and hope; and, the suspense that lends itself to atmosphere of dread and hope, doom and salvation; and ultimately, the sole survivor, young Dairmuid whose simple childlike faith and purity of mind and soul mirrors the promise of salvation that Jesus foretells in 'Matthew'.'Pilgrimage' is a better film than publicly received. It is a small film financed for the most part by the Irish Film Board, which may account for its being slighted by the critics.The vividness of color and the superb camera work and the acting make it a film worth seeing again and again. Still, it is not a story for the faint of heart.
padhraigryan The ancient times of Ireland are fascinating, yet rarely represented in cinema. This film offers a glimpse of the burgeoning Christian faith, ancient and mysterious pagan traditions, and military upheaval. These forces characterise Ireland in the 1200s. There are clashes between belief systems and brutal military forces. The film portrays devout faith and a closeness to nature. The hills and valleys are beautiful, and often depicted in a suitably harsh and forbidding manner, while the plot and characters are nicely layered with good action-packed twists and turns.I recommend this film to anyone with an interest in Ireland, ancient times, or religion.
noelbillington I must have watched a completely different film with an identical cast and title to the majority of reviewers, harder to sit through than a full Latin mass and sinks as quickly as a monk clutching a man bag containing a large rock. No amount of candles lit can save this turkey form a roasting
steveleebee1973 This is very good. far more realistic than Hollywood might produce. it's interesting, much dogma was born of superstition, identifications that without science, were attributed to whatever godly (natural) forces our people believed in at the time. However, belief is a force unto itself and it does serve to manipulate circumstance. that is in here too. well told