April 1, 1995

Furor Over Priest

 

By BRUCE KIRKLAND

Toronto Sun

HOLLYWOOD -  Sex or religion? Bare bums or bared souls? British

filmmaker Antonia Bird figured her controversial film Priest would

generate a religious storm, not a sexual one, when it hit America.

 

She was wrong, although there is a teapot tempest over the release

date - in the U.S. but not Canada - because it originally landed on

Good Friday in some cities. It's pegged for April 7 in Toronto,

steering clear of the danger zone.

 

There are also signs some Roman Catholic groups in North America are

generating opposition to the film because of its subject matter.

 

But Bird says the real fuss has been over cuts and changes to the

scenes of sexual trysts between the priest and his male lover.

 

Priest is the story of a sexually repressed and morally tortured

young priest who lives a secret life trolling through gay bars in

Liverpool. When he actually finds a lover who wants a real relationship,

not just sex, and when his activities are made public, the priest's

world implodes with a fury.

 

"To be honest," Bird says, "I had no idea how sensitive the subject

of sex is here." She is referring to the U.S. When Priest made its

North American debut last September at the Toronto filmfest, audiences

embraced it without reservation and voted it as the people's choice

for most popular film.

 

Nevertheless, Bird has been forced, since Toronto, to cut 10 minutes

out and use more tame shots of priest star Linus Roache in his bedroom

scenes.

 

"I'm completely and utterly amazed that in this modern, forward-thinking

society," Bird says, "you're allowing people's heads to be blown off

(in films), with the most awful violence depicted, and you can't have

two people in the privacy of their own home make love. Please! How

insane is that?

 

"So I didn't expect it. It never occurred to me that there was anything

remotely offensive or anything that would be sensitive in this film.

So, when that (sex) came up for discussion in the States, I was,

to use a Liverpudlian phrase, gobsmacked!"

 

Bird did not eliminate the "naughty bits" but re-worked them to avoid

the American NC-17 rating. She is actually amused over the bare-bottom

shots. "I think it's incredibly funny that you can't show a bare male

bottom (if the men are engaged in a sex act together) on the screen.

And they were beautiful male bottoms. It wasn't disgusting!"

 

The religious protest, however, has not reached the fire-and-brimstone

level Bird expected. "I was really ready for that, muscles clenched and

ready for the fight. And then it's the sex that's the problem.

Incredible! Very interesting!"

 

But Priest has a life. Bird is basking in the glow and giving credit

to the Toronto festival for launching the film internationally.

The first Toronto sceening, she says, "was honestly - and this is not

an exaggeration - the most extraordinarily wonderful night of my life!

I mean, I could have died happy that night.

 

"And Toronto completely started the process of the film being sold

around the world. Suddenly, we had a major movie on our hands, which

is just extraordinary to me. I'm still kind of reeling from the shock."