Thérèse Film Making Waves

TORONTO, ON, February 21, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - After years of anticipation and internet buzz, the film Thérèse has opened on screens across Canada, and its February 18 premiere in Toronto has generated rave reviews from filmgoers city-wide.

American filmmaker Leonardo Defilippis, who directed and starred in Thérèse, surprised audiences by appearing at select locations in Toronto Friday night, and accepted praise for his film bio-pic, whose 5-year odyssey to the big screen has been fraught with obstacles, criticism, miracles, and changed lives.

“We’ve beaten the odds,” said Defilippis. “We’ve brought the message of Thérèse, her simplicity, her love of God, and her heroic devotion to the public in an entirely new way.”

The film grew out of the success of a play on the life of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the Catholic nun who lived in France in the late 19th century, died at age 24, and whose autobiography “Story of a Soul” has sold millions of copies world-wide. Donations from Catholics urged the film version into reality, and shooting began in 2000 on-location in France, Italy, and the Pacific north-west.

After a failed bid to premiere at World Youth Day in 2002, the film was seen by Pope John Paul II at his summer residence Castel Gandolfo, and won the backing of Archbishop John Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. According to Defilippis’s production company Luke Films, Thérèse is the first movie ever officially endorsed by the Vatican prior to its theatrical release.

Since its U.S. debut in New York last fall, Thérèse has gone on to become something of a film wunderkind, a modest motion picture whose gentle combination of simplicity and beauty has beaten its more cynical critics by proving itself at the box office.

In a limited release, due to the grassroots efforts of Catholics and without studio support or distribution, the film held a #2 position in per-screen average for more than two weeks, beating out hefty competitors like “Shark’s Tale”, “Ray” and “Ladder 49”. It has since played or continues to play on nearly 200 screens in the U.S.

In Canada, Thérèse opened in Vancouver on Ash Wednesday and going into its second week continues to hold the #2 position. Appearing in an unprecedented six cinemas in Toronto is a major risk for Luke Films, but if initial results are an indication, it will succeed if audiences continue to muster. At its first night at a multiplex in Toronto suburb Mississauga, the film battled nine other films for box-office primacy, and came out number one. But in an industry where the bottom-line trumps all, audiences will have to continue to arrive in solid numbers for it to achieve any longevity.

As for the film itself, it is best to be judged by the individual, as it is spiritual in intent and character, and effects are wide-ranging. There are critics who hate it for its flaws, and others who have wept throughout the entire thing. It is certainly no Passion of the Christ in terms of scale, and it remains, like the protagonist herself, simple. But it has resisted becoming marginalized as an art film, and stands on own feet as a period-piece drama of respectable quality. Judging from theatre-goers at the Toronto showings, it also succeeds as a dramatic story.

“It was just so refreshing,” said Elaine Dalton, exiting the Toronto premiere. “It was beautiful, and touching, and a wonderful introduction to the Little Flower.”

“To see this movie and not cry is impossible,” added audience member Trudi Cortens.

With sentiments such as these characterizing audience reaction, Defilippis said he hopes many more are inspired by the life and spirit of one of Catholicism’s most beloved saints.

“Thérèse always lived in the presence of God,” he said, “and ultimately it’s about drawing close to Christ in the little, unobserved, but heroic ways. We want people to be spirit-touched, to take a little time out of their busy lives, the rush hours and stresses of day-to-day life, and look up to heaven and smell the roses of Thérèse.”

Lindsay Younce plays the role with alternating understatement and sometimes frustrating intensity. But her natural beauty and a childlike purity carry the role to its wrenching finale. According to Defilippis, he had almost given up after a fruitless nationwide talent search when he spotted her in a crowd and invited her to audition. While playing Thérèse, Younce converted to Catholicism, the first of many conversions reportedly inspired by this film, and today she speaks widely to youth audiences on spirituality and other issues.

The film soundtrack also deserves praise. Composed by Sr. Marie-Thérèse Sokol, a cellist and cloistered Carmelite nun, the score is sumptuous and symphonic, capturing the varying themes of Thérèse’s life with remarkable variation and startling profundity. Discerning listeners will detect the stirring strains of the Veni Creator, and melodies of French carols from the era are also manifest. However it’s the delicate and piercing “Canticle of Love”, a hymn based on the saint’s own words, that alone makes this recording worth acquiring. It has already been recognized by Hollywood insiders for its unusual originality, and it is quickly climbing in sales as people take notice. It can be ordered from Luke Films.

“Coming to Canada has been a dream of ours,” said Defilippis. “We’ve had a spiritual connection to so many groups here, artists and writers, and communities like Madonna House. In fact the whole idea of doing a film on Thérèse was inspired by a Canadian priest named Fr. Don Neuman in Vancouver back in the 1980s. He died last year, but he remained our first inspiration.”

There’s more than one connection between St. Thérèse and Canada. The gorgeous sets for the film were created by Canadian production designer Andrew Baklinski. And according to reports, more people visited her traveling relics in Canada than in the U.S. during their North American tour three years ago. So the opening here is something of a homecoming.

Thérèse has opened in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Saskatoon, Burlington, Ottawa, Toronto, Whitby, and Windsor, and is scheduled to open soon in Regina, St. Foy and Montreal, Quebec.

“We’re the only Catholic independent film to ever play in theatres for more than a weekend,” said Defilippis. “And in America it’s now in its twenty-fifth week. We want to keep it going in Canada as long as possible, and continue exposing her message to multitudes of people in this country.”

I had heard of this film from a friend in Toronto. I can only hope that it will make its way to the U.S.

I can only hope that it will make its way to the U.S.

It did. The theater in my town advertised it for a week but refused to sell any tickets for it. They had a different excuse each day for why they couldn't show it, then told everyone who called the second week that it'd been replaced with something that would sell better.

Wow, when was this? That is a shame, but no surprise.

Last month. Or maybe late January.

I saw the film at a theatre in St. Louis a few months ago. It was there for about two weeks, on one screen.

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