posted by NotAnyRon on February 10, 2007; screened on February 10, 2007
Amy Berg
-
2006
The second documentary for me today is Deliver Us From Evil, a heart-wrenching, unflinching and fascinating look at Fr. Oliver O'Grady, a priest in the Catholic Church who abused and molested children in the Los Angeles Archdiocese in the '70s and '80s. Amy Berg, the director, was somehow able to gain the trust of this man and get completely honest interviews from him. Like driving past a gruesome car accident, it is impossible to avert your eyes.
O'Grady begins the film by comparing the interview to a Catholic confession and expresses his hope that his victims come to the understanding that he believes that "it shouldn't have happened." Only through the course of the film do we begin to understand the lack of compassion and remorse that this man has. He may claim that he is apologetic, but in his eyes we see there is only selfishness and excuses for his actions. It is a truly scary depiction of an evil man.
Berg also spent many hours with O'Grady's victims. One has to wonder if they knew that she was interviewing their molester, or as they more accurately call him, their rapist. Would they have understood his right to tell his own story, I wonder? If I were in their situation, I'm not certain that I could have been so charitable. Their presence in the film is crucial, however. Without their stories, and the stories of their parents, it would be all too easy to forget how cataclysmic child molestation is to an entire family. The emotional heart of the film comes when two parents share how they discovered that their daughter was abused. It was not until she was an adult and Fr. O'Grady was finally arrested that the parents considered that abuse was a possibility. In fact, these particular parents posted bail for Fr. O'Grady believing that the accusations were completely false and unfounded.
The film also does a magnificent job at highlighting the particularly horrific nature of abuse by a priest of the Catholic Church. This is a man who is considered the earthly representative of God Himself. He not only holds the power of adult authority over children, but the authority of God. It is a literally a breach of a sacred trust.
The film does not stop here, either. In the end, it is a condemnation of an entire system of patriarchal and monarchical politics that can not only allow a pedophiliac priest to survive in the organization, but to thrive in it. The film makes a very good case against Fr. O'Grady's Bishop, now a Cardinal, that he personally covered up the "scandal" for political gain. It even goes so far as to blame the current Pope Benedict XVI, who presided over a group of bishops who had a responsibility to put a stop to this well known and widespread problem.
I have a couple of complaints about the film, but I need to get moving to the next documentary. The complaints are minor, really. Occasionally the film drags. There was a scene where some of the victims attempt to personally take a letter to the Pope in Vatican City. Of course, they are not even let through the door, further victimizing them and alienating them from the Church. I don't see how Berg could have left this out, but it didn't really add much to the story except to further demonize the Church as a large corporation. Also, no one speaking on behalf of the Church was interviewed (they declined). Though not the fault of Berg, it would have been interesting to hear their side of the story.
So far, I believe this is my favorite documentary up for the Oscar, even over the frontrunner, An Inconvenient Truth. Gotta run! I've got a schedule to keep!