2018 ‘Grâce à Dieu’ Directed by François Ozon
Alexandre lives in Lyon with his wife and children. One day, he discovered by chance that the priest who abused him to scouts always officiates with children. He then starts a fight, quickly joined by François and Emmanuel, also victims of the priest, to "release their word" on what they suffered.
Melvil Poupaud Denis Ménochet Swann Arlaud Éric Caravaca François Marthouret Bernard Verley Martine Erhel Josiane Balasko Hélène Vincent François Chattot Frédéric Pierrot Aurélia Petit Julie Duclos Jeanne Rosa Amélie Daure Nicolas Bridet Pierre Lottin Ferjria Deliba Baya Rehaz Stéphane Brel Pauline Ziadé Martine Schambacher Serge Flamenbaum Christian Sinniger Bernadette Le Saché Arnaud Viard Xavier de Guillebon Stanislas Stanic Alexandre Steiger Show All…
С Божьей помощью, Gelobt sei Gott, Graças a Deus, Gracias a Dios, Gud være lovet, Θέλημα Θεού, Por la gracia de Dios, Jumalan armosta, Isten kegyelméből, Grazie a Dio, グレース・オブ・ゴッド 告発の時, დიდება ღმერთს, 신의 은총으로, Dzięki Bogu, По воле божьей, Z milosti božej, I Guds namn, Yüzleşme, З божої волі, 感谢上帝, 以寵之名, 感謝上帝
However reductive it might be to frame “By the Grace of God” as a French riff on “Spotlight,” that’s exactly what writer-director François Ozon was hoping to make when he decided to make a film about the ongoing trial of Lyon-based Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, who stands accused of covering up the fact that a charismatic priest in his dioceses has been sexually abusing children for more than 30 years. More to the point, that’s also exactly what Bernard Preynat’s victims asked Ozon to make for them.
Not a documentary exposé, as the filmmaker once intended, because that would do little more than reiterate the facts these brave men have already worked so hard to disseminate through the media. And certainly…
"Not listening to kids is wrong."
By the Grace of God is a film by one of the greatest living masterful directors in France, François Ozon. It covers probably the most delicate subject matter: child abuse. Compound that with the fact that the abuser was a priest: Bernard Preynat, and you have the added issues of faith and apostasy. There are victims that can't forgive and those that. don't know if they can forgive.
Ozon made this film before Preynat was set to stand trial and unfortunately, it's only too relevant and powerful. Only by pressure, did the Catholic church do anything about Preynat. He was able to work with children for decades.
The actors did a wonderful job. Swann…
Sacrifices artistic license for solid, formal storytelling regarding a subject that’s swept under the rug far too often. Stylistically, it’s minor Ozon, but narratively it’s one of his most challenging.
It's refreshing to see François Ozon taking a break from his brand of kinky queer stories and trying on something as heavy-hitting and grim as child abuse in French churches. It's not my favorite Ozon, but it's definitely a necessary expansion of Ozon's filmmaking versatility.
Naturalistic filmmaking at its finest, By the Grace of God is restrained yet highly expressive. As a detailed recollection of a group of sexual abuse victims fighting for their own justice decades later, By the Grace of God meticulously captures the emotional tolls for the victims against a world that's still prone to defend the aggressors.
On 2016, a little film that could, filled with a ton of A-list actors won the Oscar for Best Picture. That movie, of course, it was Spotlight about a group of journalists that go on a hunt to uncover the many priests and church leaders within the Catholic church in Boston that had a long trace of molesting childs....
I mentioned this movie because in many ways, this film sorta plays along the same lines. Its based on a true story on France, it deals with pedophiles within the Catholic Church and it goes for a very investigative type of drama - the only prime difference is that everything in here is told through the eyes of the victims themselves.…
Francois Ozon's By the Grace of God can both be complimentarily and reductively referred to as the French Spotlight. To me, it's a complete compliment. Any film can say they want to be Spotlight, yet when you're making your film, to have the restraint and patience of Spotlight to display a natural realism and not go for cheap melodrama aimed at low-hanging fruit like the Catholic church is just not something anyone can do.
Several victims of a pedophile priest and a system that protects said priest decide to take on that system. When no one else will help, they find each other. If you squint, you'll be able to see a friendship forming, though there always remains and overriding self-consciousness of creating something positive out of something so heinous.
The different mentalities, methods, levels of aggressiveness and relationships to faith amongst the victims creates a disparate group that doesn't always get along, but have very common goals
Victims during their childhood of a pederast priest covered by the diocese of Lyon, three men return to the wounded memories of a painful past in search of the strength needed to share their stories, free themselves from the weight that keeps them at a standstill, and unite in protest to demand accountability for the damage caused to them. In Grâce à Dieu, possibly his most conventional film, François Ozon takes the time to build the case and structure it into three parts, each led by the excellent work of Poupaud, Menochet, and Arlaud, while interspersing an epistolary narrative that provides much information and allows us to delve inside the mind of the protagonists. At the same time, the film…
Ambiciosa, incisiva, sumamente importante. Es la 'Spotlight' francesa, y los franceses todo lo hacen mejor.
By The Grace of God es un gran ejemplo de cine veraz y cerebral, comprometido con los sentimientos confusos e imprecisos de sus personajes y espectadores.
Es interesante como enlaza diferentes protagonismos, todos con puntos de vistas distintos pero unidos en una sola voz. Es de esa manera que la película profundiza de forma parcial y respetuosa en cuestionamientos de fe, justicia, ética y moral.
El modelo de narración aséptico pone gran foco en las víctimas y es enaltecido por actuaciones contenidas, íntimas, discretamente devastadoras. Se evita cualquier tipo de excesos dramáticos apostando en su lugar por un equilibrio entre la investigación documental y la crónica periodística.
Implacable trabajo a nivel de guión y me quedo corto.
Nota: B+
Writer-director François Ozon takes real-life stories of adults sexually abused as children by a priest and fictionalizes them in order to make a cohesive whole in “By the Grace of God,” both a ruminative and angry film that demands justice and change from the Catholic Church. Although it possesses a dramatic core, it is fascinating that humanist filmmaker Ozon chooses at times to tell the story as if it were in fact a documentary by simply following the traumatized victims through their day-to-day lives in hopes of eventually connecting with the right persons of authority—within the church, the government, the media—to prevent future molestations of children in the hands of Catholic priests. It is told with clarity, confidence, and purpose.…
Due to the nature of some of the content of this film, viewer discretion is advised.
Ever since I joined Letterboxd back in 2019, I’ve made it my personal mission to expand my horizons and delve into more films from around the world. My cinematic journey around the globe has since taken me to Japan, Spain and Italy. I’ve also become particularly fond of French cinema, especially the films of director Francois Ozon. I’ve so far only watched three films from Ozon’s extensive back catalogue: Swimming Pool, 8 Women and Frantz. I thoroughly enjoyed all three of those films, with them since becoming firm favourites of mine. Having enjoyed my previous experiences with his work, I’ve been keen to check…
☆"We must break the chain of silence."☆
Screened at the 22nd annual Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival. See the complete list here please.
After Levan Akin's And Then We Danced, the narrative feature I was most looking forward to seeing at the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival was the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize winner at Berlin, François Ozon’s French drama By the Grace of God. Fortunately, this lovely little festival made it available, and it'll be the fourth picture I've seen over these two weekends, and the first of a trio of films I'll catch today.
Though the comparisons to the Oscar-winning Spotlight will be made in nearly every review, how By the Grace of God differs in stark…
“The burden of silence is heavy to lift.”
Oof. Operates similar to and covers the same topic as Spotlight, but the essential difference is how the victims are kept in focus. It’s those who were preyed upon as children, trying to put an end to that abuse as adults, utilizing grassroots activism to make their community safer. Both films share the understanding that it’s not just about the one person who abused their power, but more significantly, it’s about to the dozens of people who let it happen. Priests were just relocated instead of defrocked, and more often than not, they continued to be trusted with children despite their known histories. It’s disturbing and beyond infuriating, but there is a…
