The Club Review
By David Kempler
A Club For Members Only
We all have read endlessly of the sex scandals of the Catholic Church, and it has certainly been depicted in film often enough. However, we have never read or seen much of what happens to the abusers afterwards. Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín's "The Club", takes a look at what happens to a group of priests that have been thrown out and shamed. His previous film, "
No", looked inside the seamy side of politics in Chile. This time it's the Chilean Catholic Church.
In a remote coastal town, there is a modest home where a group of disgraced priests live together. They have been put there by the church to live anonymously among the townspeople and they must live out their lives in perpetual repentance. Hermana (Antonia Zegers) is the sole woman in the house. She is a disgraced nun who serves them their meals, cleans up after them, and leads them in prayer and song.
The action is set in motion when Sandokan (Roberto Farias) arrives at the home. He is the latest priest to be banished and, almost immediately after his arrival, a disheveled man shows up at their front door and he screams out an endless list of sexual atrocities that he has suffered as a child at the hands of Sandokan. While the others watch from inside, Sandokan goes outside to confront the man, or so it seems. Instead, he pulls out a gun and shoots himself in the head. The remaining priests are understandably stunned and Hermana cleans up the blood after the police leave the scene.
A couple of days later Father Garcia (Marcelo Alonso), an official sent by the Vatican, moves into the home. His mission is either to restore order or shutter the home permanently and send the shamed priests elsewhere. He interviews all of them extensively in order to make his final decision on their respective fates. The interviews reveal the histories and mindsets of the priests and this is where Larraín's film begins to shine.
What distinguishes "The Club" from other films that have delved into Catholic Church scandals is that it makes us listen to what the priests have to say about what they have done and not all of it is remorseful. One priest in particular revels in what he did and sees nothing wrong with his acts. By humanizing these men, Larrain lets us inside their way of thinking and, while we will find it objectionable, it sometimes becomes difficult to hate them. We never quite see it their way, but we understand them a bit better. Its lack of moral clarity is one of its best assets. I don't want to join this club but I'm glad I got to visit.
