Hail Mary - Vancouver Film School (VFS)

[adidassoccercleats]

i kicked that ball at 1:17 !!!

[zelderfordel]

this was very well done... ut i found myself asking what was the point? This film has an anti climax :(

[Yoetah]

SHOW me the MONEY padre!

[Oumashta]

Wow, but what was the whole point of the story?

[mrsoc]

Oh my! How brilliant and unique! An attack against the RC church and done with such panache! Why who would ever have thought of doing that! It's an attack on "The Man" the great satan of the world-it's positively radical I tell you! What would we do without film schools and their fresh, new vision of the world? Why we'd be stifled I tell you-just stifled.

I think I'll go puke now. Same shit, different day. Hope your parents made you take business management too. Would you like fries with that?

[worldsindustries123]

im in this movie im the main charecter really im not lieing my name is shimon boriskov :) awsome its on youtube

[popaddict]

Difficult subject matter. Good on you guys for tackling it. Although the ending left me a bit cold. I felt distanced from all the characters.

Stunning cinematography. Every shot could have been a picture.

Another really good short film that deals with a similar subject - its dialogue only and incredibly intense - its called The Echo (directed by Joe Shaw), its up on the vimeo website. People should check that out as well.

[nikkijaneallison]

I kinda remember the movie Magdalene Sisters. It was very sad and a bit disturbing. Based on a true story.

[viqueoushumor]

It's a good film about a deeply stirring and troubling subject. I would like to see groups of people all over the world take on the issue of pedophilia and each make separate films. But what is the best way to inspire people to do something about it? Why are there people like this? A friend of mine who counsels abuse victims set up a bunch of manikins in the college where she teaches each with the story of their abuse pinned to the chest. Many cried walking through this display.

[Abazin89]

all religious r evil in the world!

[Sidhlairiel]

that made no sense

[andrewtheholygoalie]

hail mary full of grace

cmon the celtic fc

[22poopoo]

The nun is a martyr, the priest is a yuuh, oh my god i feel sick

[juliawuvzoo]

The ending is chilling... what an excellent film

[UploadPancakesHere]

The kid should have stabbed the priest in the neck. Sick bastard. Awesome movie.

[rawrimillion]

what the heck was that?!

[liverpoolsamurai]

good lighting.i liked cinematographer .props are looked little unnatural to me though

[jackphil21]

I'm just speachless after watching that movie... Great movie.... that's all I have to say

[RishavR]

WOAH!

Great short film, it gave me chills at the end. I was deeply disturbed by the father, the cast was amazing.

The child, Luke

the young hot nun

the older respected nun

and the creepy but somehow pious father

all depicted so well in this short film

Yet again another great VFS production...

[sk8carver]

that young nun is hot...

[jemuelfernandez]

great cinematography. compliments to the DP. although the lighting is too dark even if it's to portray the mood. great film!!!! giving it a 5 star!

[danthemango]

dp? double pentration?

[jemuelfernandez]

Director of Photography.. duh...

[danthemango]

lol

[RUBYxx12]

i don't get it ...

:\ did the kid get raped?

&& when he was hit ... it sounded like a basketball

&& howd does she die to one slap... :S while the child looked like he had endured it for MORE than her ... :\

[jaragab2]

the kid gets beaten/whipped by the priest for his sins

as for the nun dying in one blow...i think the point the person was trying to make was that people out there are trying to stop the wrong doings of others and sometimes they risk losing their lives for the benefit of others...

[ananabob007]

The good thing about this is the one person who sees the wrongness of this all and tries to change things.

[rhodalenegdr]

i agree with you. i just wish that a lot of people are like her.

[MarittaDahlqvist]

very impressive...

[rhodalenegdr]

i am deeply affected by this short movie. i actually got a head ache after watching it because i can't stand the thought that some people use religion as a way to do their evil acts.

what can we do to stop this? i am a Catholic but of course, i am totally against this kind of wrongdoings.

[msteacy1975]

Great short movie. To answer a few question ( Catholic views ) Church is NOT a building church is the poeple you do not need a building to have a church. After Vat2 things changed and so was the way things where done. There are no more beatings or haveing nuns whack your hand that is all in the past. Lastly let's not foget that it is only he who sits and the right hand of God the Father that shall JUDGE the LIVING and the DEAD. take care and God bless you and yours.

[loser078]

wow. powerful.

is the kid young Evan from the butterfly effect?

[rafatabb]

It is a bit disturbing, however it touches on many reports that has been done upon many of the first nations people in Canada. My relatives, being some of the victims. Good on you for having the guts to create something like this.

[ninadorj]

Ridiculous and not realistic at all.

Bad choice. Bad taste.

You should be embarrased to expose this crap on youtube.

[Pyromaania]

corruption stands everywhere...

those convicted arent punished.

so true..

[djnoreg]

The film was well made

[Intoxication]

Amazing short film!

[Tallyhoo16]

The ending made me shiver. I think this is a little mature and......very scary. *shudders*

[garfunkelgrl]

Statistically, the Catholic church has no more reports of rape from its ministers/priests/clergy than any other church.

[meminchii]

then all the churches r stupid

[tototutoo]

What a garbage film! Though the Catholic Church has evil within it's enclaves, so does every other segment of society. Two major things wrong with this film. First is the disgraceful misrepresentation of a largely moral, just, and devout institution, and secondly is the poor cinematic presentation so that the viewer can't discern what is being presented. Witness all the witless comments that totally missed your character assassination! BTW, I am not a Catholic.

[JaDuetschland]

k dude chill the fuck out it's just like a school project k chill the fuck out it's a movie not real life. calm the hell down now

[tototutoo]

Are you mentally challenged or are you just a social idiot?

[tototutoo]

That was for JaDuetschland

[forgetnamn]

This movie is not a documentary on the Catholic Church in Canada as a whole. In fact, it is not a documentary at all- and it does not preach the idea that Catholic religion is evil, if you actually paid attention to the characters and the praying/plot devices. And as for the representation, turn up the brightness on your screen, stop looking for non existent facts in an artistic film, and try bitching about something you actually know a rat's ass about.

[andrelamy]

omg that is sad, but very good, you should make it into a movie

[davidatwork]

Sad, it looks like it could be from a true event.

[veritasaequitas67]

man, this film was heavy. it hurt my heart.

[andjosephsaid]

Thank you, Di Fruscia, for messaging me to explain the video. My interpretation was REALLY off because I thought that the kid really had sinned and because I didn't think that the kid was raped (It was too dark to tell, thought the kid was moaning from his wounds). Officially, the kid was not sinning, and the kid was sexually abused by the father who was blaming the kid for his own sins.

I wish I could remove my older comments, since it seems to be really confusing some.

[thefreedomfactory]

I don't think movies are made to be analysed. I think they are made to communcate ideas and feelings. To be understood. I think the beating of a child cannot be justified.

[DiFruscia]

Hey Jace, you have an idea why the picture is so dark on here??? I know the movie is contrasty all way through but sometimes we can't even see the actors' expressions on here...

[jace1266]

Hey man, to be honest, I didn't even bother watching the film on here, but now that you mention it, it does seem really dark, the solarium scene looks like a night scene. I guess it must have something to do with the conversion to youtube. lol, but I have no idea, I'm an AD, you're the one I'm supposed to be asking this, you know all of this editing stuff. Maybe VFS messed something up on there end...

Hey, Pierre told me about your new project, good luck with it man, wish I could help out!

[andjosephsaid]

Sorry my comments aren't showing up in a reply thread. :-\

[djthefluff]

wow... made me shiver...

[lotfalibabak]

It makes me cry. Is it possible that the rape and beating of a child should be intellectualised by people to mean anything else than the absolutely horrifying thing it is? Does anyone really wish to be so aloof and pretentious as to even analyse this? Does it help us or anyone else to be that way? What power do we lose in feeling terrible for the child and thankful to the intervention? If the clothes/titles/religion that people wear blinds us to the blatant truth then it is truly sad.

[zimzim7]

Its a movie. Made to be analyzed.

[jonboyiscool]

I loved it. It showed the evilness of mankind but how evil can be destroyed through through love

[andjosephsaid]

Personally I think the film should have told us what "sins" the boy committed. Without that info, the film seems biased to persuade us against discipline.

Discipline is controversial. But discipline can be done in love (for correction) or not in love. Here, it appears to be without love: The boy does not see love in midst of his discipline but sees that the old man is hurting him. The motive for discipline is unclear for him.

The film portrays discipline as child abuse. It doesn't have to be.

[andjosephsaid]

I'm not justifying the father's actions either. I found the "hail mary" emphasizes grace, which the father fails to communicate. The last image haunts us, to wonder would Jesus be pleased?

Don't get me wrong; the video was well made. I'm just opposed to the one-sidedness of this video: The classic villain and helpless victim; antagonism towards religion and its rules; the possibility of corrupt power.

These feel like easy shots to make at religion. Love and grace is harder. However, good job.

[jaxbaby91]

are u kidding?! regardless of what he did he was only a child and no one should be punished with beatings and rape. This is y such perversion is in the church because assholes like u make excuses for pedophiles getting their sick pleasure from taking away a childs innocence. Just because he is a church office doesn't automatically make him a good person

[andjosephsaid]

I didn't see the rape explicitly in this film. I agree rape is inexcusable. I would also say there are other ways to discipline besides beatings. But what if the child was hurting other people off screen but we just didn't know it? Like I said in my second comment, I'm not justifying the father's actions either. He clearly goes too far.

[andjosephsaid]

I didn't see rape explicitly in this film; I agree that rape is inexcusable, if that's what he did. If the guy is taking pleasure out of this, that's sick too.

I know any form of discipline is controversial. But what if the child was SEVERELY hurting other people off screen but we just didn't know it? What if the kid was doing drugs? What if the kid was stealing, lying, cheating, and enjoying to do those things?

Again I'm not justifying the father's actions either. He seems to go too far.

[jace1266]

Ok, let me clear something up real quick for ya. I'm the Assistant Director for Hail Mary, so I know the story inside and out. Luke wasn't being punished for anything he 'did'. He was being punished because he tempted Father Herald, and in the Father's eyes, this temptation was the devil. Throughout the film the boy is being molested, but you only see him being punished afterward.

[aivilo222]

if the child was doing things to deserve punishment, wouldn't that be important enough to be in the movie? thats like saying what if the father was on drugs or something like that. but that wasnt in the movie so you cant really use that when analyzing the film. the meaning is pretty obvious. why make it difficult?

[tortoiseluva]

so, I'm confused. Was he raping the child?

[zimzim7]

There were no sins of the boy. Rather he was being abused by the father, and the father's sense of self loathing after the fact triggered the beatings.

[RealityBend]

I dont like christians.......

[jsolomo5]

Honestly, aren't you judging too big of a group here? I mean, every religious group, or scientific group, or whatever has a bad apple somewhere. You can't judge one group for that. This was just portraying the "bad apples" in this specific group. Someone needs to evaluate their way of thinking, I do believe.

[RealityBend]

I believe it is you, for i never said all christians hit their young did i? I just said i don't like christians... christians believe in a very irrational religion, and with it comes irrational thinking and actions. Which results in easy corruption. Im not saying every christian acts like this, i just find it to be an unstable religion.

[jsolomo5]

An unstable religion? So you are saying that everything in this world is corrupt, because there is not one system (not just religion) that doesn't have some corruption in it in some manner. You don't state anything that is irrational about it, either. But I'm saying that yes, I agree there is corruption, but isn't there corruption in every system that humans interact with? I believe the answer is yes.

[RealityBend]

Of course there is corruption in everything, But religion is so easy to take advantage of. Lol ive seen so many evangelists robbing money from old ladies who think they've been cured of arthritis. And Westboro, oh boy, i just wont go there, even though it's a small percentage. I just beleive in the philosiphy of Occam's Razor, its the philosiphy that you should not multiply entities unnecessarily, if you can explain something without suposing the existence of some entity, then do so.

[thatmallory]

Disturbing and amazing.

I wish I could think of something better to say, but I'm in a bit of a fix right now after seeing that.

[mslepp]

congratulations Sebastien... well done.

[Risauna]

I think it was a good production overall. The priest looked grandfatherly, which I think helped. Some of the acting was a bit stiff - don't know if that was what you were going for. Otherwise, the story was pretty good. The ending I think needed more, maybe where the priest hit the nun...anyway, good job.

[DiFruscia]

Hi everyone,

I wanted to thank you for watching the movie. Thanks for all the comments as well. Don't hesitate to speak your mind! As young filmmakers, critics are important if we want to improve our work.

[flute1234555]

don't get it...:(

[pyromaniacevil]

the kid is getting abused by the priest

[flute1234555]

yeah, I know. I mean other than that. is there a point?

[mosescali]

disturbingly brilliant!

[0090807060]

very well done!

i hope it's apparent to others watching the video that these things don't happen in most parishes of the catholic church, though they do happen sometimes. keep in mind that child abuse happens in virtually every setting, although it really never should happen at all.

[LalliOni]

Good one, a few notes I saw while watching it:

1. Could have more contrast in the brightness of day and night making it more clear how the alignment seperates.

2. Thought I saw a boom in the chapel.

3. Could have used 1 shot of the priest when he hit the nun showing more clearly his rage and loss of judgement.

4. Conversations were pretty natural though a tad more formal but guess that's what was being portrayed.

[Aciel88]

disturbing, yet well done

[OCGirl521]

omg...wow. Props to the person who made this!

[unnisflyashell]

*silence*

[Alastair1112]

Is obscenely depressing the new creative? I think I missed the memo.

[fatamorgana1989]

Disgusting perverted old men, especially those who take advantage of their authoritative power and use religion to get to their predators.

There is a place in Hell for people like these.

[tomamil]

difficult to find words

[ixel23]

meh... *shrug

[TimJCarter]

Riveting!!!!

[shaints]

amazingly powerful work!

this is the kind of art that can change people's minds and the actual state of things. so keep on with the great work.

[Quarkinator2]

a feature worthy youtube video imho.

[jaime21985]

Brilliant!!!

[vampr1ss]

Ehhh I am already halfway in and totally creeped out!!!

[ST0Psnitchin]

Wow, crazy movie. It so sad.

[wolifgang]

person who made this film is pretty talented

and actor/actresses

i guess this is how human side are we can't always lock our human side by religion

GOD BLESS THE CHILD

[farvision]

wolifgang, the problem is the concept of gods.

he was using this concept to control everybody.

[wolifgang]

thats true

[helivestubes]

Bravo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[VideoGamePlayer12]

Child abuse!!

[blooguy312]

that was deeply emboding and moving

[MousketeerMaiden]

That was so disturbing... but it does happen, and I really think that this is an issue that needs to be addressed... it needs to stop.

[farvision]

Get rid of religions.

[TeleShaman]

It is not religion that is the problem, its the evil in man.

[farvision]

Evil is a concept from religion.

[TeleShaman]

OK with respect. So with that in mind, if there were no religion, there would be no evil? Is that it? Evil in the sense that none would do wrong towards their fellow man? Everything would be lollipops and rainbows if we get rid of religion right?

[farvision]

No, obviously there would still be awful things happening and some people would do nasty things to other people. But the big concept of "Evil" (with capital E) doesn't describe anything. There is no 'force' behind bad events (other than individuals and natural events like storms). It's easy to see that the concepts of Heaven, Hell, God, Angles, Pink Unicorns, Santa Claus etc are made up. Evil is similar. Also, "bad" is relative - humans are bad for sharks (we are wiping them out).

[TeleShaman]

Touché. Thats what I was getting at with "evil" I should have maybe said the 'bad of man' but like you said thats relative too. Doing wrong towards others. Hows that? Yes Good and Evil are concepts from religion, but its like Yin & Yang. You can't have Good w/o Evil or 'bad' right?

[TeleShaman]

I think this film did exactly what it intended, it shed light on something disturbing. Something that I feel should never ever happen, regardless of its setting. I think we can both agree there.

[farvision]

I think good and bad are relative to a species,

they are biological terms!

It's not clear that they are dual, though we usually consider them to be on a linear scale.

So maybe it's just by definition. I may have to think about that more.

[Dan2263165]

I think if anything the kid was saved by religion... the nun didn't have courage to stand up to the priest without the help of Mary. Nothing is perfect, including the church and those in it, but individuals will always be able to do the right thing...

[HPgroupie]

I have a feeling many Catholics will be hurt by this film. I myself am hurt, and hurt that such things happen, but as the nun herself has shown, there is still goodness in the church. We stay in following the faith...not the people in it.

Either way, it was a moving short film with a solid story. Technically well executed with good acting. Well done.

[tekunoredii]

wow 0_0

[Nymphaea86]

That was such a moving movie. I'm left sitting here in tears...

[kinghenna92]

nice ;)

[AVRIL120]

That was such a sad and good movie

[MouFilms]

Really Good, Great Job

[testorgguy]

this was the most touching thing vfs has ever made....

good work

[FlimFlamFilms]

Jean,

That is a very powerful and disturbing film. Aside from the very well-executed technical aspects- cinematography, sound, and superb lighting- the story is brutal, heart-wrenching and very well told. Well done.

[wied11man]

ya soccer