Mother Teresa: In the Name of God's Poor | |
---|---|
Written by | Dominique Lapierre Carol Kaplan |
Directed by | Kevin Connor |
Starring | Geraldine Chaplin Keene Curtis Helena Carroll William Katt |
Music by | Irwin Fisch |
Country of origin | United Kingdom Germany United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producer | Robert Halmi |
Producers | Leslie McRay Dominique Lapierre |
Cinematography | Mike Frift |
Editor | Barry Peters |
Running time | 95 minutes |
Production companies | Hallmark Entertainment The Family Channel |
Release | |
Original network | The Family Channel |
Original release | October 5, 1997 |
Mother Teresa: In the Name of God's Poor is a 1997 made-for-television biographical film directed by Kevin Connor and starring Geraldine Chaplin as Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa herself had approved the script but withdrew her imprimatur shortly before her death. [1] It was broadcast on what was then known as The Family Channel on 5 October 1997.
In mid-1940s Calcutta, Mother Teresa teaches geography at her convent. One day, she and one of the other sisters go outside the convent to find food for their girls, only to get caught up in a riot. Though they manage to make it back to the convent, Mother Teresa is shocked by the sight of the massive number of people starving in the streets. Haunted by the images of the hungry people, Mother Teresa decides to leave the convent to devote her life to caring for the poorest of the poor.
Soon after her arrival in the slums, Mother Teresa teaches the children to read and write, but she faces opposition from the adults in the slum who mistrust her because of the colour of her skin. As Mother Teresa continues her crusade to help the poor, some of her former students from the convent come to her with the desire to become nuns and help her on her mission.
The films end scene sees Mother Teresa travelling to Oslo, Norway to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
The film was generally well received by critics. At the time of the broadcast, The Philadelphia Inquirer applauded the film as a triumph for the network, as "probably the most important show it has presented in its 20-year history." Praise was lavished on the "authoritative" Chaplin who "commands the little screen at every turn. Quietly and without histrionics, she convincingly demonstrated Mother Teresa's absolute faith that God guides and God provides, despite opposition from both church and state." The review continued to praise how the film is "skilfully and winningly dramatized..and directed with assurance and passion". [1] William Brailsford of The Washington Times noted that "Miss Chaplin gives a convincing performance as Mother Teresa, imitating her soft voice and her awkward yet charming mannerisms and re-creating that aura of piety that surrounded the "saint of the gutters." This remarkable actress has us in the palm of her hands early on, and she never lets go." Brailsford also praised the realism of the project, "The film's portrayal of the horrors of poverty and disease in India's streets is chillingly realistic. With extreme vividness, some scenes will cause viewers to wince as they become bystanders to the insufferable agonies of the poor and starving." [2]
Caryn James of The New York Times also praised Chaplin "Ms. Chaplin is fine in the role, full of quiet determination and faith". However, James felt that "This faithful telling of her middle years cannot capture her inner life. She seems like one more extremely good woman. Whatever Mother Teresa might have thought of that, it doesn't go far as biography or drama." [3]
The film won the Audience Award at the 1998 Art Film Festival and the writers were nominated for the Humanitas Prize. [4]
Chaplin drew on her experience as a convent-educated schoolgirl in Switzerland and her once-held desire to become a nun. [5]
Agnes of God is a 1979 play by American playwright John Pielmeier which tells the story of a novice nun who gives birth and insists that the child was the result of a virgin conception. A psychiatrist and the mother superior of the convent clash during the resulting investigation. The title is a pun on the Latin phrase Agnus Dei.
The Missionaries of Charity is a Catholic centralised religious institute of consecrated life of Pontifical Right for women established in 1950 by Mother Teresa, now known in the Catholic Church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta. As of 2020, it consisted of 5,281 members religious sisters. Members of the order designate their affiliation using the order's initials, "M.C.". A member of the congregation must adhere to the vows of chastity, poverty, obedience, and the fourth vow, to give "wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor." Today, the order consists of both contemplative and active branches in several countries.
Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, MC, better known as Mother Teresa or Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic nun and the founder of the Missionaries of Charity. She was born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in Skopje, part of the Ottoman Empire at the time. At the age of 18, she moved to Ireland and then to India, where she lived most of her life. On 4 September 2016, she was canonised as Saint Teresa of Calcutta. The anniversary of her death, 5 September, is her feast day.
Geraldine Leigh Chaplin is an American actress. She is a daughter of Charlie Chaplin, the first of eight children with his fourth wife, Oona O'Neill. After beginnings in dance and modeling, she turned her attention to acting, and made her English-language acting debut in her portrayal of Tonya in David Lean's Doctor Zhivago (1965). She made her Broadway acting debut in Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes in 1967, and played the role of ancient Egyptian Queen Nefertiti in Raúl Araiza's Nefertiti and Akhenaton (1973) alongside famous Egyptian actor Salah Zulfikar. Chaplin received her second Golden Globe nomination for Robert Altman's Nashville (1975). She received a BAFTA nomination for her role in Welcome to L.A. (1976). She played her grandmother Hannah Chaplin in the biopic Chaplin (1992) for which she received her third Golden Globe nomination.
The Sands of Time is a 1988 action novel by author Sidney Sheldon. The novel follows the adventures of four women who are forced to leave their Spanish convent for the outside world of threat, violence and passions; and two men who are pitted against each other in a fight to the death.
Maria Nirmala Joshi was an Indian Catholic Religious Sister who succeeded Nobel laureate Mother Teresa as the head of her Missionaries of Charity and expanded the movement overseas. After taking over the charity following Mother Teresa's death in 1997, Nirmala expanded the organisation's reach to 134 countries by opening centres in nations such as Afghanistan and Thailand.
Teresa of Jesus of Los Andes, born as Juana Enriqueta Josephina de Los Sagrados Corazones Fernández Solar, was a Chilean professed religious from the Discalced Carmelites. Fernández Solar was a pious child but had an often unpredictable temperament for she could be prone to anger and being vain but could also demonstrate her charitable and loving nature; she seemed transformed when she decided to become a nun and her character seemed to change for her sole ambition was to dedicate herself to the service of God. But her time in the convent was cut short due to her contracting an aggressive disease that killed her - she knew she would die but was consoled knowing she would be able to make her profession before she died.
The Miracle is a 1959 film directed by Irving Rapper and starring Carroll Baker and Roger Moore. It is a remake of the 1912 hand-colored, black-and-white film The Miracle, which was in turn a production of the 1911 pantomime play, The Miracle, written by Karl Vollmöller and directed by Max Reinhardt.
The Nun is a 1966 French drama film directed by Jacques Rivette from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jean Gruault, based on the novel of the same title by Denis Diderot.
The Martyrs of Compiègne were the 16 members of the Carmel of Compiègne, France: 11 Discalced Carmelite nuns, three lay sisters, and two externs. They were executed by the guillotine towards the end of the Reign of Terror, at what is now the Place de la Nation in Paris on 17 July 1794, and are venerated as beatified martyrs of the Catholic Church. Ten days after their execution, Maximilien Robespierre himself was executed, ending the Reign of Terror. Their story has inspired a novella, a motion picture, a television movie, and an opera, Dialogues of the Carmelites, written by French composer Francis Poulenc.
Agnes of God is a 1985 American neo-noir mystery film directed by Norman Jewison and starring Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft and Meg Tilly. It was written by John Pielmeier, based on his 1979 play of the same name. The plot is about a novice nun (Tilly) who gives birth and insists that the dead child was the result of a virginal conception. A psychiatrist (Fonda) and the mother superior (Bancroft) of the convent clash during the resulting investigation.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta is a 2003 biographical television film based on the life of Mother Teresa, the founder of the Missionaries of Charity religious institute. The film stars Olivia Hussey in the title role and received a CAMIE award in 2007. The film was originally produced as the Italian television miniseries Madre Teresa.
The Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God are an institute of religious sisters in the Catholic Church belonging to the Third Order Regular of St. Francis. They were founded in 1910 in Santarém, Brazil, by the Rt. Rev. Armand August Bahlmann, O.F.M., and Mother Immaculata, both natives of Germany, to educate the children of the poor throughout the world.
Maria Teresa Casini was an Italian nun and was the founder of the Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The order was devoted to providing care for those around them with an added emphasis on demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ while spreading the message of the Gospel to the public.
The Innocents, also known as Agnus Dei, is a 2016 French film directed by Anne Fontaine, which features Lou de Laâge, Agata Kulesza, Agata Buzek and Vincent Macaigne in its cast. The script is by Sabrina B. Karine, Pascal Bonitzer, Anne Fontaine and Alice Vial, after an original idea by Philippe Maynial. Maynial took inspiration from the experiences of his aunt, Madeleine Pauliac, a French Red Cross doctor who worked in Poland after World War II.
The Letters is a 2014 American biographical drama film directed and written by William Riead. The film stars Juliet Stevenson, Max von Sydow, Rutger Hauer and Priya Darshini. It was produced by Colin Azzopardi, Tony Cordeaux, and Lisa Riead. It was released theatrically by Freestyle Releasing on December 4, 2015.
Convent of Sinners, is a 1986 Italian nunsploitation erotic film directed by Joe D'Amato. D'Amato directed, photographed and edited the film. The Rene Rivet screenplay was based on the novel "La Religeuse" by Denis Diderot.
Sister Lucy Kurien is the founder and director of Maher, a community and interfaith organization for abused and destitute women and children, headquartered in Pune, India.
Teresa of St. Rose of Lima was the founder of the Institute of the Carmelite Sisters of St. Teresa (CSST) Congregation in Kerala, India.
Amanda Tan, RGS, commonly known as Christine was a Filipino missionary, nun, and activist, who was known to be one of the key figures who was against the human rights abuses during the Martial law era. She headed the Association of Major Religious Superiors of Women (AMRSP) from 1973–1976, a group of religious sisters who not only vocalized their disdain against the Martial Law dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, but also managed to help Filipinos who are suffering from poverty. She, along with eight other religious sisters are known as the Bantayog sisters - honored for living a life resisting against the regime of Ferdinand Marcos by having their names were immortalized on the Wall of Remembrance.