PG-13 | 2h 22m | Drama, Biography, History | March 8, 2024
In 2023, Angel Studios reinvented the Christian film genre with the releases “After Death,” “The Shift,” and director Alejandro Monteverde’s smash box office hit “Sound of Freedom.” Mr. Monteverde’s follow-up is the epic drama “Cabrini.”
Not a typical cradle-to-grave biography, the film covers a single stretch of years in the life of Maria Francesca Cabrini (Cristiana Dell’Anna), who was later canonized as St. Frances Xavier Cabrini. She was also the first U.S. citizen to be granted sainthood in the Catholic Church.
Born in 1850 in Lombardy, Italy (where she later founded her first mission), Cabrini first wished to become a missionary in the Far East. After repeated written denials by the Vatican to do so, Cabrini went to Rome and essentially demanded an audience with Pope Leo XIII (Giancarlo Giannini), who denied her request.
Don’t Take No
As we are to find out through the duration of the film, Cabrini was a woman who rarely took “no” for an answer, and she convinced Leo to change his mind—but it came with a catch. After hearing her state “The world is too small for what I intend to do” (which is also the tagline from the film’s poster), Leo allowed her to continue her work in the Five Points area of New York City. “Go West, not East,” he says.Upon arrival, Cabrini hits her first of two more roadblocks in the form of New York Archbishop Corrigan (David Morse), an Irishman more concerned with keeping his political contacts happy than helping “his flock.” He tells her to go back to Italy, and then she reminds him that the pope sent her. Corrigan forces down some crow, grudgingly acquiesces, and “allows” her to stay.
Cabrini’s meeting with Corrigan is a relative day at the beach compared to one she’d later have with the openly hostile New York Mayor Gould (John Lithgow), a lowlife whose hatred of “brown skin filth” Italian immigrants knows no bounds. It should be mentioned that Gould is a composite character.
Epic Sweep
The budget for “Cabrini” is not yet known and it doesn’t matter; the movie looks amazing. The set designs by Carlos Lagunas and the cinematography from Gorka Gómez Andreu are reminiscent of the work of Dean Tavoularis and Gordon Wills, respectively, in “The Godfather II.” It also matches, if not exceeds, the minute detail found in “Gangs of New York,” also set in the Five Points.One might expect a movie lasting nearly two and a half hours to come with some narrative bloat, but that is not the case here. Every word penned by Mr. Monteverde and his story co-author Rod Barr fits perfectly without ever feeling rushed, including two lengthy passages of voice-over narration.
No strangers to portraying evil foils, Mr. Morse and Mr. Lithgow are both at the top of their game here; you’ll love to hate them. While not exactly an antagonist, Mr. Giannini’s Leo does little to make Cabrini’s life any easier.
The two dozen or so characters with minor speaking parts are played by mostly unknown performers, which is also applicable to Ms. Dell’Anna. Bearing an uncanny resemblance to Jennifer Connelly, Ms. Dell’Anna takes on her first dramatic leading role with remarkable assurance and equal levels of grit and grace that would make Cabrini proud. Her breakthrough performance is nothing less than astonishing.
Not an Ending
While the third-act live action ends in New York, the final 10 or so minutes feature voice-over narration alongside dozens of still photographs and animation, describing in fine detail just some of the things Cabrini achieved in her 67 years. It offers perfect punctuation to one of the greatest motion pictures I’ve ever seen.
Be sure to stick around through the end credits. Information of how to purchase “pay it forward” tickets for the less fortunate among us is provided.
This segment also includes “Dare to Be,” a new song co-written and sung by Andrea Bocelli and his 11-year-old daughter Virginia, a young lady who inherited her father’s angelic voice.
Do not miss this movie. It will make your year.
