Faustina: Love and Mercy (2019) User Reviews

Good film but mostly for those already convinced.

[Partnerfrankreich · 6/10 · 13 May 2019]

This is quite a good film describing the life and work of Helena Kowalska, who entered a convent as Sister Maria Faustyna and experienced divine visions of Jesus Christ expressing emphasis on His ability to accord Divine Mercy to believers, even in the most extreme circumstances, and asked her to commission a portrait of Him in which such merciful attributes literally emanate from him in the form of rays of forgiveness. Sister Faustyna was ultimately canonized and is now a Saint of the Catholic Church. The story is initially presented in "docudrama" style, with actors portraying the principal participants (Christ Himself, Saint Faustyna, Father Michal Sopocko, her confessor who encouraged her to write a diary of her experienced and ultimately helped commission the portrait, and other participants. The second part of the film is devoted to interviews with various spokespersons explaining in further detail the concept of Divine Mercy.

The film itself is quite good: the production values are excellent and the actors do a good job (with special mention to the actress portraying Saint Faustyna).

However, the film clearly speaks the strongest to those viewers already convinced of the truth of Saint Faustyna's visions and the concept of Divine Mercy. A significant portion of the film is given over to pseudo "scientific" proof of the visions, including a somewhat ludicrous sequence in which it is "proven" that the head of Christ as portrayed in the painting corresponds to the image of the Shroud of Turin, thereby demonstrating without doubt the veracity of her visions. There are many possible explanations for this (after all, the popular image we all have of Christ is fairly universal).

It seems to me that the film would have been better off either simply expounding further on the concept of Divine Mercy itself or taking a different approach to convincing those unaccepting of its virtues, e.g. by showing how appealing a concept of univeral forgiveness is, rather than trying -- and in my view failing -- to provide a "scientific" basis for it.

In short, if you are Catholic and especially if you find the concept of Divine Mercy to be particularly comforting, you will probably find the film to be an uplifting and emotional experience. If you are not, then I do not think this will be the film that convinces you.

It's a documentary.

[antheriuminblack · 6/10 · 29 October 2019]

Better suited for free viewing at your local Catholic church. Not worth the $14.50 cinema admission price, in my opinion.

Somehow a bit confused or confusing...

[jrarichards · 6/10 · 27 December 2019]

The first blow for those coming to this movie uninitiated is that it resembles a Polish predecessor "Pilecki" of 2015 in telling a Polish national hero's story by way of docu-drama. Thus anyone settling down to watch "a movie" and just getting into "the plot" will find it an almost fatal blow in the face to suddenly - without warning - be dragged back to real-life "talking heads".

For someone not expecting it, that looks like an extremely disorientating lack of artistry.

Given that the material here is obviously not without its interest or value, the inevitable subsequent question is - would we prefer this film to be entirely documentary or entirely (of course true-to-life) drama? My traditional answer would be definitely the latter, but I know my motivations for this are flawed (and not far removed from the sinful), given that they revolve around the enigmatic and unique good looks of Kamila Kaminska in the starring role as Sister Faustyna. She is rather spellbinding by any measure (!), but this does not create entirely the right mood for picking up the message here - all the more so as Maciej Malys as Father Sopocko is a good-looking chap too, allowing us to begin to see this as a kind of love story between the two. It is not inconceivable that IN SOME WAY such feelings were indeed present in real life, but that energy was channelled into the cause both devotees served, and anyway the actors should NOT have been chosen in this way. Certainly, the real Sister Faustyna was not an ugly woman by any means - and she did have that certain nun's radiance about her; but did NOT look like she was portrayed here.

For all but the most-devout viewer, a further problem here will be the twists and turns of the "mission" Faustyna receives and serves. A wonderful part of the story is that the dimensions of the face of Christ on the painting she finally extracts from artist Eugeniusz Kazimierowski (in the film's best, most convicing, funniest and most-emotional scenes also featuring an effective Janusz Chabior) apparently match those of the face on the Shroud of Turin, suggesting in some nearly-inconceivable way that Faustyna guided the artist to paint the real face of the deity she was seeing. This is obviously a highlight and strong backbone of the story, but diluted by the fact that there are actually two or more versions of the likeness, as Kazimirowski's from 1934 - what any normal or rational person would call "the real one" - is in Vilnius and is LESS-KNOWN (if in IMHO far more subtle and beautiful and artistic) than Adolf Hyla's from 1943 which provides a foacl point for the cult at Kraków-Lagiewniki in Poland (as opposed to Lithuania). For a normal, rational viewer, that part of the story is going to look a bit eccentric and inconsistent, to say the least.

To add to that is the way (the film tells us) that Faustyna destroyed her first diary accounts of her regular meetings with Christ - having been instructed to do so by whoever it was she was meeting (other versions tell us it was the forces of evil disguised as an angel); and was then asked by a shocked and disappointed Father Sopocko to reconstruct some of them from memory.

The fact that Faustyna became ill and close to death and then died might be taken as support for the main thesis (so many saints had to suffer as we know from history), or could equally look like the surprisingly mean way that true believers so often seem to be treated. Sorry for this, but I'm only a mere mortal, and even an acknowledgment that "suffering is good for the soul" does not fully allow me to avoid the conclusion that it was a tough time Faustyna had to go through.

Long back into history we know that the stories of saints rarely run smoothly, hence the need for faith. But the viewer of this presentation of the story is not going to find it entirely easy to stay the course without a moment or two of doubt about just what is going on.

Since the tale revolves around events between Poland, the USSR and Nazi Germany, there are extra twists and turns so typical of stories that concern Poles; and these are obviously fascinating for those from countries lucky enough to have fared rather better.

It is also fascinating to see - presented quite clearly and fairly in the movie - the Church's original lack of conviction on this whole issue, and it's return to this in 1959, when an actual ban on the cult was instigated (this now being attributed to problems with rewrites and mistranslations of Faustyna's original diaries).

While the painting is very much present in this movie, the diaries seem somehow to take second place. That is at least an artistic decision/choice made by the makers of the film; but it is surely hard to say if that is the right one...

Equally, inevitably and ultimately, there can be no doubting the sincerity and importance of the concept of mercy, as strongly emphasised by Faustyna and picked up by her fellow Pole, Pope John Paul II aka Karol Wojtyla. And so the following that developed on this basis is definitely of worth. But for typical watchers who have some struggle with their faith, the mix of presentation styles here will seem to enmesh with a story a bit too convoluted to allow for easy acceptance of any message other than the rote "God moves in mysterious ways" - which may or may not feel like enough...

Just a documentary with some actors

[rrr651 · 6 October 2020]

Documentary for Catholics. It would be appropriate on YouTube.

Please understand this

[js1801 · 6/10 · 22 April 2020]

The Father and the Son are the Parents of the Holy Spirit, if many churches are correct. If many churches are correct, the Trinity is a Family-- two Parents and a Progeny, similar to a human family.(Humans are made in the "likeness" and "image" of God according to Genesis 1:26) In the book of Job, which is in the Bible, God is compared to a father and a mother with a womb "From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens?"-Job 38:29. Because we can think of God as like a mother (Isaiah 42:14, Isaiah 66:13, Matthew 23:37, Catechism of the Catholic Church 2nd edition paragraph 239), all three roles(Father,Mother,Progeny) in a basic human family are filled in the Trinity. Saying that the Father and the Son are the Parents of the Holy Spirit is another way of saying "the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son" which has been official Catholic teaching for centuries. The Church teaches that the Son is begotten by the Father. If this is correct, the Father is the Father(Parent) of the Son. The Church teaches that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. If this is correct, the Father and the Son are Parents of the Holy Spirit. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (second edition) paragraph 246 says that the Holy Spirit's "nature and subsistence" is "at once...from the Father and the Son."If the Church calls Mary mother(parent) of God even if Mary isn't the first source of Christ's humanity(God is the first source), then the Son can also be called a Parent of God (the Holy Spirit). If the Church is correct, the Father is the principle-Parent and the Son is the begotten-Parent. The scriptures are vague if the Holy Spirit is the Second or Third Person of the Trinity, whichever of these is true, the First and the Second may be the Parents of the Third. Parent definition from Merriam-Webster dictionary: One that begets or brings forth offspring. Principle means base/foundation/first-source/first-origin/root-cause.

Very positive movie and great guidance for life

[casioenrique · 10/10 · 10 December 2019]

I read the book of saint Faustina and this movie is a great complement of the book. This is truly guidance for life and I would like my kids see this movie.

Almost fell asleep

[totallytyguy · 2/10 · 30 October 2019]

This is the most boring thing I've ever seen, let alone it was a docudrama. They didn't have subtitles for translators, and everyone spoke in a thick Polish accent, which made it hard to understand. The topic of the documentary was questionable... it went from the life of Faustina to a painting she made to how it was restored and kept alive, all in a really random way if you ask me. The idea was good, but what it came out to be was boring and lengthy.

Inspirational and beautifully told

[Whiskeywalk · 10/10 · 30 January 2020]

The narrative and the multiple storylines were incredible. Be careful, if you didn't start out the day a Catholic, you may end it by converting to God's one holy and apostolic church by the time you finish watching this movie. Watching the story of St Faustina's work as God's servant bringing the Divine Mercy to life was a spiritual experience. Done in both faith and facts; The story weaves into the Vatican's backdrop as only God can. Well done. Bravo.

God is Good!!

[alanbourbeau24 · 10/10 · 22 July 2021]

When I first heard about this documentary movie and watched it for the first time, I felt a deep loving connection with God and his son Jesus Christ. And realizing that the Divine Mercy novena and chaplet means a lot to me. When the time is right for the devotion, I prepare myself by praying the novena and at 3:00 pm, the divine mercy chaplet begins. I've done this devotion by myself and with a prayer group. My older brother Jason is a Catholic Christian but he's not practicing. However, I have him on my divine mercy prayer list.

Good documentary

[reneefbrandt · 10/10 · 9 April 2020]

I took my 12 year old daughter. We both learned so much. We really enjoyed it!