Power of love
Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Cast: Olivia Hussey, Sebastiano Somma, Michael Mendl, Laura Morante, Ingrid Rubio
Music: Guy Farley
Cinematography: Giovanni Galasso
Editing: Alessandro Lucidi
Direction: Fabrizio Costa
Written by: Massimo Cerofolini and Francesco Scardamaglia
Front Row Entertainment
A stubborn lady who speaks her mind, stands her ground and finds no comfort zone in institutional procedures…
A kind-hearted woman who believes in love as worship and discovers in prayers the ultimate answer…
A simple soul who works to allay the suffering of humanity in her own little way…
All these are the images of Mother Teresa that the film, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, leave behind on the viewers. The film, featuring Olivia Hussey, in the title role, sticks to Mother’s life faithfully. And the mind-blowing tale of that remarkable human being, who has left behind a legacy hard to replicate, gives the film strength — in content.
From where the filmmakers take over, in the execution of her tale, and in finding a narrative structure to the film, the results are, however, hardly impressive. Sad, indeed. How one wishes that a far more accomplished filmmaker, say in the league of Richard Attenborough, had attempted to portray the life of Mother Teresa on to the big screen.
Director Fabrizio Costa’s attempts are sincere alright but he falls prey to too many clichés. Not nit-picking here, but one of the biggest irritant in the film is the sight of all Indian women walking around in bunches of white and orange flowers.
Even the beggars, even the tired old lady who is idling in her broken down home’s backyard, the lady reporters – every one has flowers on their hair. Sorry Mr Costa, this is Calcutta, not Chennai, down south, where jasmine flowers are more common (but certainly not this rampant) and what are those Tamil film posters featuring MGR and Shivaji Ganesan, south Indian stars, doing up there in 1950s Calcutta?
Costa fails to capture the ambience, and the seeming anachronism of the frames soon starts to bog you down. In the deluge of clichés — villainous Indian bureaucrats, beggars stretching out their palms in unison — there is only one saving grace: The individuality of the frail looking Mother Teresa effortlessly captured by Olivia Hussey. A body language of urgency, the kindness in the eyes, Hussey gets them all perfect. If only she had the support of a better art direction and a more visionary director, who could have done away with amateurish shots.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta centers on the life of Mother from her early convent days in Calcutta to her death. In all fairness, Costa must have faced an uphill task in collating the significant moments from Mother’s life. The film touches on a number of them including the media controversies regarding fund management and child adoption. The weak point is the execution. The sight of a British television reporter urging his cameraman to “shoot it, get it all,” is outright childish.
On final count, despite the hiccups in the film’s structure, it is hard not to be moved by the film. The final takes that expound Mother’s simple philosophies — to love, to give, to share — touch a chord.
But that isn’t the success of the filmmakers. It is the magic that Mother Teresa leaves on your lives. For that experience, yes, the DVD is worth a watch.
