Liberty Lessons in 'For Greater Glory'
Most movie goers likely haven’t heard of the Cristero War, the Mexican uprising against draconian government measures designed to stamp out Catholicism during the 1920s.
Pablo Jose Barroso, producer of “For Greater Glory,” can relate. The Mexico native knew very little about this horrific chapter in his country's history before embarking on the film’s production.
Barroso’s film stars Andy Garcia as a faith-challenged general leading a holy rebellion against the Mexican government. The movie pulls few punches, including harrowing visuals of priests hanging from telephone poles and a heroic pre-teen suffering at the hands of government thugs.
The reality was far “worse than what we portrayed,” Barraso tells Big Hollywood of a story he says has been “written out of the history books.”
One critical scene in "Glory" involves a character being killed in gruesome but quick fashion. In reality, Barroso says the actual person was stabbed 14 times and his jaw was shattered to prevent him from praising the Cristero movement in his final breaths.
“For Greater Glory” arrives in theaters just as a series of lawsuits against the Obama administration’s alleged assault on religious freedom hit the courts. Barroso dubs the timing “amazing,” and says it’s a key reason why films like “Glory” matter.
“It’s amazing that we keep doing the same mistake over and over,” he says.
The producer doesn’t think we’ll see a scenario as drastic as the one retold in “Glory,” but the lessons built into the film don’t necessarily tie only to one particular faith.
“It’s not only the Catholic Church … it’s everyone that has a conscience and has the ability to choose who they worship and also what they do or don’t do,” he says.
Barroso and his team had to dig deep to unearth information about the Cristero War, but when they tried interviewing relatives of the key figures from the era they found people were hesitant to retell these stories – at first.
The producer also had help from Garcia, who dove into the material and did his own research to help the project.
“The main thing was, he was so moved about the story,” Barroso says, adding Garcia even lent his advice to first-time director Dean Wright.
“For Greater Glory” is told in English despite the Mexican setting, but Barroso says the decision came down to making sure as many people didn’t miss the chance to learn an important chapter in modern history.
“English is the language for all the movies … any other way wouldn’t be wise,” he says. “If we want to really show this part of history to the world, it needs to be what it is.”
[Cross-posted from Big Hollywood]
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Comments
When I read the NYT's review of this movie, ...
Submitted by Newsbubba on Sun, 06/03/2012 - 12:10pm.
... I knew that it was a Must See!
They basically said it was long, boring, and had nothing to do with Drone Boy's war on the church.
Riiiiiiiiight.
Resource material
Submitted by lrgon on Sun, 06/03/2012 - 2:07pm.
a book was published in 1935 titled Mexico No God Next Door by an American writer named Jack Kenny. The publisher was Hirten of New York [ Wm J. Hirten Co., Inc, New York,New York}.It's the tale of this horrid period in Mexico's history.
The "Cristero Uprising" in Mexico has similarities to the Vendee uprising in revolutionary France in the 1793-1794 "Reign of Terror." The people of the Venee region of France were organized under the leadership of a young Frenchman farmer and former soldier that led them in a counter revolution.The Vendee uprising shocked the anti-church forces as to how much resistance was left in France.
The Cristero uprising in Mexico in the 1926-1929 era ruled by president Plutarco Elias Calles is evidence that Christians can and do fight back anywhere they are organized. We've seen it in Russia and the suppressed history of the pro-Christ Vendeans that rose up to fight Robespierre and the Jacobin forces in 18th century France.
It is interesting that the paranoid French government passed laws eerily similar in scope to American 21st century counter terrorism congressional acts. The French radicals named one of their oppressive laws the Law of Suspects.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_the_Vend%C3%A9e
The Archbishop of San Antonio, Texas sounded a warning to
Submitted by lrgon on Sun, 06/03/2012 - 4:53pm.
Americans in July 19, 1935 about the "Moscow Laboratory" operating south of the border.
"Moscow has its laboratory, its efficient workshop in Mexico. And it is not merely distracted Mexico they want to conquer; they are after bigger game. The Collossus, our own United States they wish to bag in their relentless war against God and Christian civilizations. They have established in this city of San Antonion the first 'cell' for communist propaganda in the United States; and i know personally of astounding perversions amongst our young people who have become enthusiastic propagandists of the Stalin and Lenin philosophies with their atheism and communism."
The next paragraph is a prophetic warning to America of things coming to pass in Mexico in the nineteen twenties. We see these same things happening in America today:
"Cardenas (Governor of Michoacan & successor to Elias Calles to the presidency) is forcing athestic education on the Universities; and his decree confiscating all properties that are even suspected of any connection with religion at any time, and offering state rewards for informers thereof, is the most effective device for rooting out priests, sacraments and religion that history records."
"May No God Next Door be read by many ...Our leaders ...strive to put this book in the hands of every American citizen." ---Archbishop Arthur J. Drossaerts, Archbishop's residence, San Antonio, Texas 7-19 -1935
How bad were things down south?
Between 1926 and 1934 at least 4000 priests were killed or expelled; one of the most famous was the Jesuit Miguel Pro. Once there were 4,500 priests serving the people before the rebellion, in 1934 there were only 334 priests licensed by the government to serve fifteen million people, the rest having been eliminated by emigration, expulsion, and assassination. By 1935, seventeen states had no priests at all.
After nearly 100K deaths a "truce" was negotiated with the "Cristeros." it was a very bad mistake on the Cristero's part to trust the Maximato (maximum government) of Calles. The Cristeros agreed to lay down their arms and as soon as they did president Calles had some five hundred Cristero leaders and 5,000 other Cristeros shot, frequently in their homes in front of their spouses and children. Calles forbad Church teachings at the universities; he insisted upon a complete state monopoly on education, suppressing all Catholic education and introducing 'socialist' education in its place.
Decreed Calles:
"We must enter and take possession of the mind of childhood, the mind of youth."
The persecution continued under the Maximato and did not relent until 1940.