"But what is faith for the most people? It's the fear of death. It's nothing more than that."

There was a time, some years ago, when I used to believe in God and even went to church. It somehow helped me through the boredom of my days. I am only 20 now, so I can say it wasn't much of a reasoned faith to begin with, but I had one. As a child born after my father's death of lung cancer, I found the idea of an afterlife conquered with a good and meaningful life to be, simply, beautiful and "true". Growing up I felt more and more reluctant to adjust to a Church which in my brain connected (and still does) with child abuse and luxuriance.

I have read the Bible and often talked to religious people and I have to admit that, in my arrogance, I mostly found them to be naive and to be honest quite dumb, in a way that almost detached them from the logic of the material world. I must say that living in Italy made these thoughts even harsher: the presence of the Vatican State and its multiple scandals in recent years, the involvement of southern priests in the mafia, the prayers sent to Padre Pio (a man who used to bless fascist soldiers before the masses) and the exaggerate power and richness, often combined with racism and ignorance, of a lot of Catholic people I knew made me think of Christianity as a mere exploitation of a beautiful and meaningful human philosophy.

That being said, in my voyage through Cinema I was surprised to discover how well this art can talk about deep matters directly speaking to the mind and hearts of the audience. For the first time, I felt something new in me and had sympathy for a character that I would have never believed of being capable to like. Something similar had happened to me before only while watching Rossellini's "Rome Open City".

I have to say I was blown away by this great film and its main character. While the beginning of the film seems to be not-so-perfectly written in depicting an incredible amount of human allegories and clichés ("is there anyone slightly normal in this town?"), I later realized it was necessary as it is simply the way people are. I realized, too, that everyone has had his/her share of trauma and bad experiences, and without "virtues" we all would be walking broken disasters.

All I can say is that if every person who claims to believe in God had half of the Faith this movie can express in its essence, I would probably be a better person myself. Unfortunately, in my heart, Father James remains one of the few symbols of a true and felt connection with Christ and his teachings. Chapeau.