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AGNES OF GOD (1985) Starring: Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft, Meg
Tilly Nominated for three Academy Awards:
Best Actress, Anne Bancroft Best Supporting Actress, Meg Tilly Best Original Score A bloodcurdling scream is heard from within a
small, isolated convent a few miles outside of Montreal, Quebec. The several
nuns who live in the building run to the room where the screams are coming
from, and there they find young Sister Agnes, passed out on the floor and
drenched in blood. As she is rushed off to the hospital, Sister Miriam Ruth
investigates the room, and there she discovers the lifeless body of a small
infant child. That is how this film, based on a 1982 play by John Pielmeier
(who also wrote the screenplay for the film), begins. The film was directed by
Norman Jewinson (best known for such films as IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT
and THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING), and does a fine
job at directing this mystery of faith and religion seen through the eyes of
a cynical investigator sent in to interview the young Sister who gave birth
to a baby nobody knew she was carrying, and who possibly strangled that baby
to death. Jane Fonda plays Dr. Martha Livingston, a
career oriented woman who decided to focus in on her profession as a
psychiatrist then having a family of her own. She was raised a Catholic, but
now has absolutely no faith in the church or in God due to several tragedies
that have plagued her life (the death of a sister who died in a convent, the
illness of a mother who can’t remember who her own daughter is). When she is
assigned to investigate the case of Sister Agnes by the courts, she believes
the case has a lot more to it then simply a nun trying to cover up a scandal
in the church. She goes to the convent, where she is greeted by Sister Miriam
(Bancroft), who is headstrong and tough, and makes it clear she has
absolutely no belief in the world of psychology and fears that Martha is
there to take Agnes away from God and corrupt her mind. Martha meets with
Agnes (Tilly), and instantly believes that she is a highly naive and
frightened woman who has the mind of the child and is just as innocent
(Miriam explains that Agnes has never even watched a television program or
ventured outside the grounds of the convent, and is totally oblivious to the
world around her). Agnes carries a lot guilt that has been put on her through
years of systematic abuse from her now deceased mother. Agnes had to endure
humiliation, both mentally and physically, and when her mother died she came
to the convent where she believed God personally spoke to her and punishes
her for being a bad person (being overweight for example is something God
would despise, and Agnes decides to stop eating all together in the past
explained by Miriam). It’s obvious to Martha that Agnes has been through some
serious abuse, and Sister Miriam only feeds her ignorance to the world around
her to her more and more. She shelters the young girl and protects her from
any harm, but even begins to wonder if the girl is truly blessed when she discovers
stigmata marks on her hands one afternoon (explained in a flashback
sequence). Martha doesn’t believe the girl is a miracle of God, but a victim
of his existence. She probes into the death of the baby and who the father
might be, but Agnes has totally forgotten about the birth and refuses to
believe she even had a child. As Martha begins to investigate further and
further, unsettling truths are ultimately revealed about Agnes pregnancy and
even Miriam herself. The film is emotionally tense one, as one
revelation opens up to another. The questions the film asks is if faith and
religion lie within psychology, and that those who believe in a greater power
are nothing but pawns in a belief that the good are holy and the bad are
wicked, and that good triumphs over evil only if it rejects the possibility
that they could ever experience evil themselves. The performances by Bancroft
and Tilly are extremely gripping ones, with Bancroft having some sharp
dialogue which is delivered with great strength and yet incredible subtlety,
though she can experience anger and moments where her intolerance is notable
and to a degree understood. Tilly is amazing in her role and brings a lot of
emotional depth to her fragile character. Jane Fonda is effective, this being
her first film in four years after the wild success of 1981’s ON GOLDEN
POND. Though she does do a good job, her character suffers of too much
excess that feels like it was put to explain her motivations for discovering
the truth. Though her motivations are justified, I think the film is scared
the audience may not feel her determination and thus spreads everything a
little thick. My only major problem with the film is during
the final climax with Tilly’s pregnancy ultimately being explained. I think
that it doesn’t bother allowing the audience to have an open mind, and
instead insists that what it wasn’t preaching beforehand exists. It feels
like an unintentional cop out but a cop out nonetheless. I didn’t
particularly want a hardcore answer, but didn’t want to be cornered into one
either. I wanted to be left with open possibilities, and the mental health of
Tilly is never fully developed. But all in all, it is emotionally satisfying
and does make for a good little mystery that revolves around its characters
instead of the characters becoming overcome by the mystery. The film was, in
my opinion, harshly criticized when it was released. Though I can understand
a lot of critics’ problems, I think they let to much overpower their
judgment. To me, this was an intriguing film with a few holes in the plot
here and there, but still a satisfying experience. My Grade: B |