BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

In the past few weeks, Ignatius Press started to publicize its distribution of a film on the life of St. Augustine entitled THE RESTLESS HEART for English audiences, based upon a miniseries produced for Italian TV first shown in the autumn of 2009. An abridged version of the miniseries was shown to Pope Benedict XVI in Castel Gandolfo in September 2009, when it was revealed that the Pope himself had inspired the film project with some words he said in the pre-visit interview shown on German TV before his apostolic visit to Bavaria in September 2006.

"Make a film on Augustine, for example," the Pope had remarked in the interview, "to show that film subjects need not be about terrible situations. There are marvelous figures in history who are far from boring and whose lives are still very relevant".

I postponed making this post until today, the actual feast day of the man whose one-of-a-kind 'Confessions' have been read by generations in the past 15 centuries.

St. Augustine comes to the big screen:
Ignatius Press starts sponsored screenings
by TIM DRAKE




ARLINGTON, Texas, August 24 — The first feature-length theatrical motion picture on the life of St. Augustine has its official U.S. premiere in Texas next week. The film’s distributor, Ignatius Press, hopes to bring it to screens across the country using a hosted-screening program.

The official premiere of Restless Heart: The Confessions of Augustine takes place Aug. 29 at the Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show, which is being held in Arlington, Texas. Many Catholic leaders and retailers will have an opportunity to see the film there for the first time.

Restless Heart was directed by award-winning Canadian director Christian Duguay and was co-produced by Italian, German and Polish production companies. It originally aired as a five-episode TV series in Italy in 2009.

American Catholic publisher Ignatius Press has repackaged the film and will not only be distributing the DVD in North America, but has also developed a program that allows parishes, organizations and individuals to bring the film to theaters in their locale.

For the past few years, Ignatius Press has worked with European production companies to secure North American licenses to release films about saints on DVD. When the company heard that a film was being made about St. Augustine, it expressed interest in obtaining the North American rights.

“We are thrilled to bring Restless Heart to the big screen,” said Mark Brumley, president of Ignatius Press. “St. Augustine is one of the first doctors of the Church. His story is inspiring and compelling, and his writings are among the most respected in the world, even today.”

“We’re doing this on a bigger level because we understand the importance of films for impacting the culture in modern society and the importance of evangelizing through the film medium,” said Anthony Ryan, director of marketing with Ignatius Press. “We decided that if we were ever going to try to get these films in theaters, this was the perfect movie to do it with.”

The film draws largely from the Confessions of St. Augustine to tell his story. Unlike many saint films, it does not shy away from telling about his less-than-saintly early life and his conflicts with his mother, St. Monica.

Born in North Africa, St. Augustine led a hedonistic lifestyle and ignored the advice of his Christian mother before his conversion and baptism in Milan, Italy, at the age of 33. His Confessions and City of God are two of the Church’s great spiritual classics. Augustine was declared one of the first doctors of the Church by Pope Boniface VIII in 1295.

The film has drawn praise from many who have seen it.

“This film brings the words of the Confessions to life by enabling us to more fully understand the relationships and the culture that shaped Augustine and to better grasp his talents and ambitions, sins and struggles and, ultimately, his sanctity,” said Cardinal Francis George, archbishop of Chicago. “Restless Heart
draws us to appreciate the magnitude and the totality of Augustine’s conversion of mind and heart.”

“As the life and times of this saint for all ages are beautifully re-created before our eyes, we understand better than ever the danger of being ‘in love with love,’ the insatiable void of a life defined by secular pursuits,” said Bishop Felipe Estévez of St. Augustine, Fla. “Appealing to the restless heart in each of us, this film of faith and hope is sure to become a spiritual classic.”

Pope Benedict XVI saw an abridged version of the TV series in September 2009. He praised the film for its depiction of man’s search for truth.

“This (is) the great hope that it ends with: We cannot find truth by ourselves, but the Truth, which is a person (Christ), finds us,” said Pope Benedict. “We hope that many who watch this inspiring human drama will allow themselves to be found by the Truth and in return also find Love.”

It is well-known that Joseph Ratzinger's own thinking was inspired by the saint and theologian. As a young priest in 1953, the Pope wrote his doctoral thesis on St. Augustine’s teachings about the People of God and the Church.

Victor Pap, vice president of marketing and outreach for the PR firm helping Ignatius to promote the film, bookings have already been made dioceses, educational institutions, parishes, charitable organizations, colleges and Knights of Columbus groups across the USA. Pap said there has even been interest among Protestant groups, such as some Lutheran churches and Baylor University.

One organization that’s organized a showing is Denver’s Augustine Institute, a graduate school for Scripture and theology. The Augustine Institute is hosting the film as a fundraiser at the Landmark Theater in Greenwood Village, Colo., on the feast of St. Augustine, Aug. 28, at 7pm.

Interest in the film was so great that they sold out the Landmark Theater’s largest theater and had to rent a second theater for those who want to see the film. They’re expecting more than 350 people.

“The director was first inspired to make this film because the Holy Father had lamented that no one had taken the really interiorly great people of history and made films of their lives,” explained Tim Gray, president of the Augustine Institute. “We wanted to host a showing because we’re an institute for evangelization, and Augustine is our model.”

The film is having several national premieres across the country. In addition to the showing at the Catholic Marketing Network event, Catholic Charities of Central Colorado and the Diocese of Colorado Springs, Colo., are sponsoring a showing as a fundraiser.

The film will premiere in Rochester, N.Y., and Cincinnati’s Parkland Theater Aug. 28, Sept. 1 and Sept. 2. The other premieres include St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church’s sponsored showing in Washington on Aug. 29 and St. Dominic Catholic Church’s sponsored showing at Silverado 16 Theater in San Antonio, Texas, on Sept. 1.

Individuals interested in learning more or hosting a local screening can find information at the RestlessHeartFilm.com website.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to launch the Year of Faith and engage in the New Evangelization,” said Ignatius[s’ Ryan. “There hasn’t been much in terms of films with Catholic themes. This gives people an opportunity to evangelize the culture locally.”

Here is the post on this thread about the preview of the film for Benedict XVI in September 2009.




TV miniseries on St. Augustine
previewed for Benedict XVI


Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Sep 2, 2009 (CNA) - Pope Benedict XVI was to attend a special screening this afternoon of the new television miniseries, “Augustine, The Decline of the Roman Empire", based on the life of the doctor of the Church and Bishop of Hippo, in the Swiss Hall at Castel Gandolfo.

Christian Duguay, who directed the series, also directed the films “Joan of Arc” and “The Art of War.”


One of the projects of Lux Vide which should also interest Benedict XVI is their film on St. Bakhita. The videocaps from the brief trailer available online show Preziosi and Nero playing the young and the older Augustine. P.S. Half of the very brief trailer showed scenes from Augustine's life of dissolution!

Franco Nero plays the older St. Augustine, while Alessandro Preziosi plays the saint as a young man. Augustine’s mother, St. Monica, is played by Monica Guerritore.

The miniseries is part of the “Imperium” project by the Italian production company Lux Vide, which is also planning a remake of “Ben Hur.” Duguay, together with other American filmmakers, will produce the new version.

The Holy Father was shown an edited summary of all five episodes in the mini-series.



Here is a translation of the Holy Father's brief remarks after the film was screened:

---

Dear friends:

At the end of this great spiritual voyage that is portrayed in the film that we just saw, I feel I must say Thank you to all those who have offered us this vision.

Thanks to Bavarian TV for its generous commitment - it is a great joy that a casual observation I made three years ago* started off a journey that has brought us this great representation of the life of St. Augustine. Thank you to Lux Vide and to RAI for this realization.

In fact, the film seems to be a spiritual voyage to a spiritual continent that is very remote from us but also very near, because the human drama remains the same.

We have seen how, in a context that is very distant for us. all the reality of human life is portrayed, with all its problems, its sorrows, its failures, as well as the fact that, in the end, Truth is stronger than any obstacle and finds man.

Externally, the life of St. Augustine may be seem to end tragically: the world in which he lived and for which he lived, is ruined. But as the film affirms, his message has lived on, and even through the continuing changes in the world, that message endures, because it comes from the Truth and leads to Love, which is our common destination.

Thank you to everyone. Let us hope that many, upon seeing this human drama, may be found by the Truth and may, in turn, find Love.

---

A review of 'Restless Heart':
He allowed Truth to find him
by Brandon Vogt
brandonvogt.com/restlessheart/
August 27, 2012

Over the centuries, millions of people have been captured by the story of St. Augustine. The brilliant young orator, seeking Truth in many philosophies, found it in the Catholic Church and became the most famous convert in history [after St. Paul!]

His whole journey is recounted in his spiritual autobiography, The Confessions, which is a classic by any measure. Even many non=believers praise it, a fact signaled by its inclusion in the mostly-secular Great Books of the Western World.

(If you're looking for a copy, Ignatius Press just published a new edition as part of their Ignatius Critical Edition Series, edited by Joseph Pearce. It features the acclaimed English translation by Sister Maria Boulding, O.S.B., along with extra annotations and essays, all for roughly $8.)

My wife and I read through The Confessions together a few months ago and were deeply moved. So much so that, being pregnant with our third child, we decided to name him Augustine. So we were especially excited to see a new full-length feature movie on the saint titled Restless Heart.



The title, of course, comes from Augustine's classic line on the first page of The Confessions: "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."

Restless Heart follows Augustine through this restlessness. We watch him as a youth, pursuing mastery in the art of rhetoric, convinced that the fame and power which flow from it would eventually satisfy him. When that failed, he turned to physical pleasure. He satiated his lusts through sex and partying, yet those failed him too. [I bet the producers edited this part suitably for the version that Benedict XVI previewed!]

From there he drifted through several Gnostic philosophies, including Manichaeism, a Christian heresy. And again, nothing satisfied.

Even after pouring himself into fame, power, money, pleasure, and cults he was still left panting for more. It wasn't until he encountered Christ and his Church that he realized how empty his indulgences were. Only then were all his longings and all his seeking fulfilled.

While Restless Heart depicts this whole search, the film accentuates two aspects better than the book. First, the power of rhetoric in Augustine's life. At the beginning of Restless Heart, we see Augustine begging Microbius, the top orator and lawyer of his day, to teach him the art of oration. At first, Microbius balks. Augustine is unfocused and unskilled, and Microbius is too busy to train him.

But Augustine refuses to give up. He studies hard, continues to beg Microbius, and the master eventually gives in. He begins teaching Augustine how to persuade through words, how to sway judges and jurors through appealing to emotion. Microbius openly admits to twisting the truth to his advantage.

Once he tastes this power, Augustine becomes drunk on it. He works hard and becomes one of the world's greatest orators. Like his master, he sways courts and even convinces a jury to acquit a man whose guilt is later proved true.

By request of the emperor, Augustine is summoned to Milan to become the emperor’s personal orator. And there he meets a pivotal figure in his conversion: St. Ambrose, the bishop of Milan. Augustine is immediately taken aback by the bishop's intelligence and rhetorical skill. He had rarely encountered anyone whose genius could match his own, much less a Christian bishop.

Ambrose, though, seems to use rhetoric in a different way — a more noble way. He doesn't twist words nor pretend to create his own truth. Instead Ambrose tells Augustine that men never find the truth through words. "They must,” he says, “let the Truth find them.”

And so it does. It takes many more months, but Augustine eventually relents and lets this objective truth enrapture him, within and without. He gives up his lusts, he becomes baptized, and grows into the most ardent, articulate defender of Christianity of his day, in no small part due to his early rhetorical studies.

Restless Heart exhibits the profound transfiguration that occurs when gifts once used negatively against God are redeemed and then used for him (one thinks of St. Paul's own pen, for example.) In Augustine's case, his gift was rhetoric, first developed and used for ill. But when untwisted it became a powerful tool used in the service of God.

Second, the movie beautifully highlights the role of St. Monica, Augustine's mother. Almost all we know about her comes from Augustine's own Confessions. And even there, the details are scant. Like Mary in Scripture, Monica rarely speaks directly. She instead hovers on the periphery, praying in the background for her son.

The film, however, places her front and center. It showcases her resilient, tear-drenched prayers which influence Augustine as much as Ambrose's intellectual appeals. She's featured almost as much as her son, a testament to her profound role in his conversion.

In the end, Restless Heart is the most epic saint biography ever produced. The film stands above the recent flow of sappy, low-budget Christian films and is more in line with The Passion of the Christ. With gifted acting, a moving score, and masterful screenwriting, it breathes life into three of the Church's greatest and most iconic saints: Augustine, Ambrose, and Monica.