God be praised

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Movie
German title God be praised
Original title Grâce à Dieu
Country of production France
original language French
Publishing year 2018
length 137 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director François Ozon
script François Ozon
production Eric Altmayer ,
Nicolas Altmayer
music Evgueni Galperine ,
Sacha Galperine
camera Manuel Dacosse
cut Laure Gardette
occupation

Praise be to God (original title Grâce à Dieu , English-language festival title: By the Grace of God ) is a French feature film by François Ozon from 2018 . The drama addresses child abuse in the Catholic Church based on real events . It tells of the fate of the three men Alexandre, François and Emmanuel, who live in Lyon and were abused by the Catholic clergyman Bernard Preynat during their time as young boy scouts.

The film had its German premiere on February 8, 2019 at the Berlinale , where the film was invited to the competition for the Golden Bear , and opened as planned in French cinemas on February 20, 2019. A German theatrical release took place on September 26, 2019.

action

Lyon, January 2014: Alexandre, a staunch Catholic, is a family man and works as a financial expert for television. As a teenager he was abused by the Catholic clergyman Bernard Preynat until the summer of 1986. 30 years later, Alexandre turned to the Archdiocese of Lyon, led by Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, after discovering by chance that Preynat was still working with young people. After an intensive exchange of letters, Alexandre, the psychologist Régine Maire, who works for the diocese, and Preynat have a joint meeting that is disappointing for Alexandre. Preynat admits to being a pedophile but does not ask for forgiveness. Alexandre then turns to Cardinal Barbarin, who speaks to him and looks after his eldest sons, but does not want to make the scandal public.

When the Vatican opened a case against a pedophile Polish priest a year later, Alexandre tried to find other previous victims. But most of them shy away from going public. Alexandre finds out that Preynat abused young people until 1993, but most of the cases have already expired. When Preynat is not deposed, Alexandre officially reports him to the police. In François and Emmanuel, he finds two other comrades-in-arms who were abused by Preynat. The impulsive François received support from his parents, who, however, did not take action against the priest for fear of their reputation in the community. Emmanuel was gifted as a child and today suffers from epileptic seizures and a curvature of the penis, which, however, after such a long time cannot be definitely linked to the abuse. He tries to distract himself through exercise. Alexandre's wife Marie tells Emmanuel that she was abused by a neighbor as a child and that she finds the strength to fight with him.

At the police station, Preynat, who is facing a trial for abuse and rape of minors, admits the deeds to Emmanuel. Those affected and their relatives form a group called La parole libérée (Eng: “The Broken Silence”) and go public. Cardinal Barbarin also turns to the press and causes a scandal when he uses the words "Praise be to God" to express his relief that the majority of abuse cases have now expired. The Pope then lifts the statute of limitations. The activists of La parole libérée will spend Christmas 2016 together in Lyon. Some like the doctor Gilles and his wife decide to give up their cooperation in order to find peace. François became an apostate . Alexandre, a devout Catholic at the beginning of the film, is insecure about his faith: When his son asks whether his father still believes in God, he does not answer.

background

Melvil Poupaud plays Alexandre Guérin in the film

Director and screenwriter Ozon based his script on original documents and often adopted the dialogues in the wording from letters, police minutes or press conferences. He also used the real names of the people involved from the Catholic Church, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin , Father Bernard Preynat and the psychologist Régine Maire, who was volunteering for the Catholic Church at the time. In order not to be hindered during the filming, Ozon shot all interior scenes in churches in Belgium or Luxembourg, many scenes in Paris and only four days exterior scenes in Lyon, whereby "Alexandre" was used as the code name for the film. A lawsuit by Preynat to postpone the theatrical release in France after the conclusion of his legal proceedings for sexual abuse of minors was rejected in the first instance on January 18, 2018. In this case, artistic freedom is to be classified as more important than the defendant's presumption of innocence. The court of appeal upheld the judgment on June 26, 2019. Régine Maire's action to remove her name from the film was also rejected by the competent court on January 19, 2019.

At the same time as the film was being made, there were trials against representatives of the Church in France after various members of the victims' association La parole libérée had filed charges . On March 7, 2019, Cardinal Barbarin was sentenced to a six-month suspended sentence for failing to report sexual abuse. An appeal was filed against the judgment. On January 30, 2020, Cardinal Barbarin was acquitted in the second instance. The Pope had hesitated for a long time, on March 6, 2020 he complied with Archbishop Philippe Barbarin's request and accepted his resignation. Despite an acquittal in an abuse trial, Barbarin saw himself no longer able to exercise his office. Bernard Preynat was sentenced to five years in prison for child abuse - but he does not have to serve the prison sentence for the time being.

In the course of the discussion about the abuse cases, the limitation period for sexual abuse of minors in France was extended from 20 to 30 years.

reception

Grâce à Dieu received 2.4 out of four possible stars in the international reviews of the British trade magazine Screen International and thus achieved 7th place among all 16 Berlinale competition films. Emin Alpers A Story of Three Sisters and Nadav Lapid's Synonymes (3.0 each) topped the ranking.

Among other things, Nils Minkmar wrote on spiegel.de that the film was “an institutional criticism that could hardly be more healing”.

Awards

Praise be to God won three film and festival awards in 2019 and was nominated for seven more, including the following:

Film award / festival category Prize winners / nominees result
Berlin International Film Festival 2019 Silver Bear - Grand Jury Prize François Ozon Won
Golden bear François Ozon Nominated
Las Palmas Film Festival 2019 Best Actor Swann Arlaud ,
Denis Ménochet ,
Melvil Poupaud 		Won
Prix ​​Lumières 2020 Best movie François Ozon Nominated
Best Actor Swann Arlaud Nominated
Best script François Ozon Nominated
Best camera Manuel Dacosse Nominated
Best film score Evgueni Galperine
Sacha Galperine 		Nominated
Louis Delluc Prize 2019 Best movie François Ozon Nominated
Stockholm Film Festival 2019 FIPRESCI Prize - Best Film François Ozon Won

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Festival Screenings Guide. In: 'berlinale.de,' 'accessed on February 10, 2019.
  2. ↑ Grâce à Dieu. In: Allocine.fr. allocine , February 10, 2019, accessed February 10, 2019.
  3. ↑ Ozone film may be shown in France , deutschlandfunkkultur.de, February 18, 2019, accessed on February 19, 2019.
  4. ↑ AlloCine: Les secrets de tournage du film Grâce à Dieu. Retrieved September 30, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Condamné par la justice française, le cardinal Barbarin va remettre sa démission au pape . March 7, 2019 ( lemonde.fr [accessed September 29, 2019]).
  6. ^ Lyon: Le film de François Ozon "Grâce à Dieu" sera bien en salle mercredi. Retrieved September 29, 2019 (French).
  7. ↑ Condamné par la justice française, le cardinal Barbarin va remettre sa démission au pape . March 7, 2019 ( lemonde.fr [accessed September 29, 2019]).
  8. ↑ acquittal of Cardinal Barbarin . January 30, 2020 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed April 3, 2020]).
  9. ↑ Pope accepts resignation of Cardinal Barbarin on, . March 9, 2020 ( kathisch.de [accessed April 3, 2020]).
  10. ↑ five years in prison for former priest of child abuse, . March 16, 2020 ( spiegel.de [accessed April 3, 2020]).
  11. ↑ BFMTV: Crimes sexuels sur mineurs: le délai de prescription allongé à 30 ans. Retrieved September 30, 2019 (French).
  12. ^ Dalton, Ben: Two films tie for top spot on Screen's final Berlin jury grid . In: screendaily.com, February 15, 2019 (accessed February 16, 2019).
  13. ↑ spiegel.de: Horrible deeds in a subdued atmosphere
  14. ↑ Praise be to God - Awards . In: imdb.com (accessed December 11, 2019).