Customer Reviews

Agnes of God

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This is a movie for women who want to see women in strong vibrant rolls. The performances of Jane Fonda, Ann Bangcroft and Meg Tilly are outstanding. The movie leaves several key issues up to the audience to decide what they think, faith or no faith doesn't really matter, the movie is a fantastic and stands by itself.

Explaining Jesus Christ is hard to nail down. Analogously, interpreting this film is hard to nail down. I would expect to see wide variance in interpretations, and that is all right. We Americans love to disagree, and we defend the God given rights to disagree without malice.

Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft, and Meg Tilly all play outstanding roles in this film. The supporting cast (e.g., Guy Hoffmann, Winston Rekert) is brilliant as well. This film has elements of a great movie such as humor, a message(s), gripping drama, suspense, and haunting music.

I have seen this movie more than 100 times. I believe that Sister Agnes experiences an Immaculate Conception in this film; furthermore, I believe Sister Agnes was "crucified." He (God) chose Agnes to give birth to His child. Why Sister Agnes? A number of reasons can be conjectured; however, speaking as a Mathematician and Computer Scientist, I can't attach a mathematical certainty to any of these reasons. For example, is God warning us? Afterall, very few people believe in God today. So God, for example, may have chosen Agnes to bear His child in order for Agnes to give birth, say, to a holy person whose purpose is to warn those outside of God's flock to adhere to the teachings of God. Unfortunately, Agnes fails God by paradoxically murdering His child because she felt unworthy of bearing God's child. So did God make a mistake?

The true beauty of the movie from my perspective is that I'm always left after watching this film with feelings of serenity, tranquility, and a heightened belief in God.

Britt W. Barrett
Senior Computer Scientist & Mathematician

Postscript: It would be interesting to know what Reverend John Trigilio Jr., PhD, ThD, one of the co-authors of "Catholicism for Dummies" has to say about this film.

Salutation to the Virgin Mary:

Ave María, grátia plena, Dóminus tecum, benedícta tu in muliéribus, et benedíctus fructus ventris tui Jesus. Sancta María, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccátóribus nunc et in hora mortis nostræ. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.

The movie in its entirety is an unresolved investigation of a psychologist Dr. Martha Livingston on a murder inside a mystery within a miracle in the convent. To be honest, i enjoyed the film but it was quite interesting to conclude that the character played by Jane Fonda is justified to her quest of knowing the truth behind the mystery by using the methods of science, but at the end...what had happened to her investigation, does she truly found the answer she was looking for...or she was just affected by the holy and symphathetic character of Meg Tilly (as the young novice)? The movie still remains a mystery to unravelled if your are more on scientific side like Livingston but to the one who is religious, no methods of science can explain the miracle of God for a person like Agnes.

This film is also an excellent example of science and religion collition. A movie that speaks of the stroing points and weaknesses of both fields. The movie speaks like this, There are some things that one cannot be explained scientifically...it's beyond our capacity to know it and sometimes, we must accept our limitation and start a leap of faith.

Director Norman Jewison adapted the Broadway play of the same name with an A list of performers who, despite their individual and combined magnificent talents, can't quite salvage what might be to some a disappointing resolution. Still, getting there is a provocative odyssey in defining the fine line between divine faith and science. In a usually engaging performance, Jane Fonda is a chain-smoking psychiatrist in a French-speaking Canadian territory and is appointed by the Crown to evaluate the mental stability of a novice nun, Agnes (brilliantly played by Meg Tilley in an Oscar-nominated supporting role) who gives birth and then kills her newborn in her blood-spattered convent room. Soon, with Agnes proclaiming Immaculate Conception and virgin birth, the film's premise of faith vs. science vs. rape is laid. All too soon, Fonda clashes with the protective but domineering Mother Superior (Ann Bancroft, also in an Oscar-nominated turn). With the Crown dubious about Agnes' version of how she got pregnant, it nonetheless wants the case quickly adjudicated so as not to create a battered public image associated with prosecuting a nun. Along the way, we learn that the strain between Fonda and Bancroft is the former's rejection of the Catholic faith stems from the former's bad experience with a sister during childhood. Still, the focus is on the extent of human faith and its sometimes incompatibility with science. All three actress - Fonda, Bancroft and Tilley - are captivating in their adverse positions with each other in the argument of Science vs. God. The film's resolution is consistent with contemporary dogma and leaves us somewhat puzzled but more disturbed by its hint that faith may not be enough to salvage ourselves. Then again, maybe there's not supposed to be a happily-ever-after or comfortable absolution: after all, even with the strongest of faith, not everything ends happily ever after. Nonetheless, "Agnes of God" remains a tantilizing film that entices its viewers to question and reaffirm their faith and whether it can survive the invasion of skepticism that comes in the name op science. Beyond that, as an entertainment piece, "Anges of God" is a showpiece for its three lead characters, and watching them finding the answer none of them wants is a worthy watch.

This film provokes more questions than it provides answers. The score by Georges Delerue enhances the unfolding of the mysterious narrative. Meg Tilly shines as Agnes. Her performance is inspired and affecting.

This film provokes more questions than it provides answers. The score by Georges Delerue enhances the unfolding of the mysterious narrative. Meg Tilly shines as Agnes. Her performance is inspired and affecting.

Agnes of God is an adaptation of the hit Broadway play from the 1970's. The film follows a two act structure, that alternates between scenes with Agnes and Mother Superior, and asides to the audience. The film tells the story of a court appointed psychiatrist that is assigned to investigate a suspect in a murder. The catch is that the murder occured inside a monastary and was committed by a youn nun named Agnes- that claims that she is pregnant through immaculate conception. The strongest part of the film was Jane Fonda's performance. The writing in the first act is very solid, and makes it clear that even though the psychiatrist is on an outward mission to discover teh truth about Agnes, the journey ends up beign about herself. The film loses some ground in the second act (which was a problem with the play as well). However, definetely an adaptation that is thought-provoking...in the same spirit as Oedipus Rex and Equus.

Agnes of God has a very tight script, plot and cinematography. It is gripping from end to end. The film is not about religion but about the inter-personal and intra-personal conflicts of a psychiatrist, the mother superior of a community of nuns and one of her young nuns.

Set in Montreal, the movie opens with a very young, pretty nun being discovered unconscious and splattered with a lot of blood. A dead newborn baby is also discovered in the room.

Presumably, unknown to anyone, the nun, Sister Agnes (Meg Tilly), had been pregnant, and she strangled the baby immediately upon its birth. She is charged with manslaughter.

A psychiatrist, Dr. Martha Livingston (Jane Fonda), is summoned by the court to make a diagnosis of the woman. Initially Dr. Livingston resisted the assignment, because she said, it was an open and shut case. The community of nuns is cloistered, and for Dr. Livingston to do her job, she must penetrate the world of the cloister. She is not at all congenial or sympathetic towards the nuns. It turns out she has her own emotional ax to flail against the church.

Mother Miriam Ruth (Anne Bankcroft), the mother superior of the convent, is equally hostile to Dr. Livingston. She is adamantly opposed to having a psychiatrist diagnose Sister Agnes, but she has no choice since it is a legal matter. She is faced with the dilemma of sending her young charge go to jail or the nuthouse. Later on, it comes out that the prioress has been keeping a few secrets of her own related to the issue.

Everyone denies knowing the girl was pregnant. No one has any idea how it happened. Its obvious the postulate/novice is suffering from a serious psychiatric illness, or several. She has the social and emotional development of a naïve grade school child.

The few surprises and plot twists are well spaced and more than enough to keep the plot flowing. I found all of the characters and action credible. The three main characters are all multi-dimensional. The Mother Superior is well rounded, a mature person and leader, full of flaws and dragging a lifetime of baggage. Sister Agnes is the epitome of innocence and purity. She comes across as truly otherworldly. Her singing symbolizes both. I was a little disappointed in Dr. Livingston. Considering she was a psychiatrist, I thought she was a too lacking in self-knowledge. Her chain smoking was both annoying and symbolic.

Dr. Livingston's assigned task is diagnosing Sister Agnes only, not cure her, but Dr. Livingston quickly channels her anger into passionately trying to help her. She succeeds as a psychiatrist and as a human being.

Incredible story, incredible acting, incredible writing. i guess u can say i though it was incredible, plus the movie still holds up after 2 decades. Just goes to show hollywood though, wheres Meg Tilly now. so amazing a preformance. Get the popcorn, take the phone off the hook and get involved. U will be happy u did!

While the theme surrounding AGNES OF GOD (virginal nun giving birth, baby is found murdered) may seem trite (or, even more sadly, of little interest) for modern filmgoers, the movie itself is a triumph of style over substance. Not that there's anything really wrong with John Pielmier's award-winning play or its adaptation for film--in fact, most of it is quite literate. But what elevates the film to near-greatness is the work of Norman Jewison, probably one of America's most underrated directors, and the inspired casting of Jane Fonda and Anne Bancroft, two of the world's great actresses, and the brilliant, Oscar-nominated (and Golden Globe-winning) performance of Meg Tilly as the beset young novice.
Fonda is simply great (though probably miscast) as the psychiatrist trying to unravel the secrets of Agnes and her convent, receiving little help from the Mother Superior (Bancroft, also Oscar-nominated as Best Actress) or her colleagues, who simply want a quick, dismissable verdict to a non "p. c." court case. Fonda's character has some demons of her own to fight along the way (including a church-disavowed abortion and a sister who died in a convent), but so, we find out, does Bancroft's character. The convergence of these events answer some of the questions surrounding the birth, while leaving others appropriately open to speculation (like religion itself).
The direction and cinematography create a real feeling of cloister and serenity, and the lovely music by veteran Georges Delerue also contributes to the haunting effect of the movie. Whatever your views of the topic might be, the movie is a stunning success. Highly recommended for discerning viewers.