Reading the above reviews, I find it somewhat surprising that almost no-one saw what I saw in this excellent movie.
What I saw was an expose' of the heartlessness of the Catholic Church (and I hasten to add that they are not alone).
I saw ambition among the clergy and the girl's mother, overriding their humaneness for this unfortunate girl.
I saw the philosophy of self denial taken to absurd extreme. Who is more deserving of flowers in her hospital room than a dying innocent eleven year old? Is mind control, sequestration, withholding of personal information, constant supervision and the encouragement to wear stones in ones shoes a way to prepare anyone for office anywhere in this day and age, let alone for the catholic church? I saw the Catholic Church manipulating the tragic events in order to "glorify" the church, and the individual clergy involved supporting this in order to enhance their own standing within the hierarchy.
Instead the movie tells us that Camino's dying thoughts were with Jesus, but not with the Jesus of Nazereth, which was the assertion of the clergy and no doubt the overriding factor in her subsequent beautification, ("the church needs more saints" says one clergyman), but with her prepubescent love of a boy of the same name.
I also saw the medical establishment questioned. A GP "No Xray but an injection will settle it", A specialist when an Xray is finally taken-"no problem here, she will be OK soon" - The surgeon on the second Xray "This is serious must repair the vertebrae without delay", finally a scan "The tumor must be removed ASAP" - where a careful diagnosis would have possibly isolated the problem from the beginning and made the last months of Camino's life at least a little more pain free.
In all I found this a very bitter movie, it did not glorify the church but rather leveled serious criticism at it as it did the medical establishment.
Not a movie for the masses, not a movie that could come out of America but in my opinion one of the VERY BEST movies ever.
Warning, If light entertainment is your wish avoid this movie like the plague, but if you want your thought processes stimulated, do not miss it.
What I saw was an expose' of the heartlessness of the Catholic Church (and I hasten to add that they are not alone).
I saw ambition among the clergy and the girl's mother, overriding their humaneness for this unfortunate girl.
I saw the philosophy of self denial taken to absurd extreme. Who is more deserving of flowers in her hospital room than a dying innocent eleven year old? Is mind control, sequestration, withholding of personal information, constant supervision and the encouragement to wear stones in ones shoes a way to prepare anyone for office anywhere in this day and age, let alone for the catholic church? I saw the Catholic Church manipulating the tragic events in order to "glorify" the church, and the individual clergy involved supporting this in order to enhance their own standing within the hierarchy.
Instead the movie tells us that Camino's dying thoughts were with Jesus, but not with the Jesus of Nazereth, which was the assertion of the clergy and no doubt the overriding factor in her subsequent beautification, ("the church needs more saints" says one clergyman), but with her prepubescent love of a boy of the same name.
I also saw the medical establishment questioned. A GP "No Xray but an injection will settle it", A specialist when an Xray is finally taken-"no problem here, she will be OK soon" - The surgeon on the second Xray "This is serious must repair the vertebrae without delay", finally a scan "The tumor must be removed ASAP" - where a careful diagnosis would have possibly isolated the problem from the beginning and made the last months of Camino's life at least a little more pain free.
In all I found this a very bitter movie, it did not glorify the church but rather leveled serious criticism at it as it did the medical establishment.
Not a movie for the masses, not a movie that could come out of America but in my opinion one of the VERY BEST movies ever.
Warning, If light entertainment is your wish avoid this movie like the plague, but if you want your thought processes stimulated, do not miss it.