Red-Barracuda Religious dramas are pretty uncommon in movies these days. I am guessing this is on account of this being a highly contentious subject which is tricky to bring to the screen, while serious studies of the subject tend to only appeal to a small demographic. Not being religious myself, I was a bit wary when approaching this one and wasn't entirely convinced I was going to like it. So, it was a pleasant surprise for me when I discovered that Stations of the Cross was a very engrossing film indeed. The story follows a teenage girl from a fundamentalist Catholic family who simultaneously tries to meet the strict demands of her faith while dealing with her more human desires. The events occur during the highly intense period when she prepares for Confirmation.Ultimately, this film warns of the destructive potential of organised religion, in particular religious extremism. In this instance the fundamentalists believe in old school Catholicism which disregards any forms of modernism. They espouse a view that popular music and social media are satanic and personal sacrifice is to be encouraged. The film opens with a scene where a priest teaches young teens that sometimes death is better than moral failure. When I watched this opening scene, it did educate me in matters pertaining to religious practise and belief, yet it also reminded me how absolutely none of it makes the slightest bit of sense to me. It is detailed and ingrained yet highly absurd and illogical to me.The movie itself is divided into fourteen chapters, which seemingly tell of the various 'Stations of the Cross' that detailed Christ's path to crucifixion. These scenes are dealt with cinematically in a manner which is simultaneously extremely minimalistic yet very bold. They take the form of fourteen long single takes, with all but three featuring static camera shots from one angle. It is a very austere method, yet the form accentuates the content and never feels for its own sake at any point. The intensity of the drama is enhanced by these extended takes and the serious tone of the material amplified. By the very nature of this approach, this calls for strong acting and excellent acting is what we certainly get here. Lea van Acken puts in a beautiful performance as the highly sympathetic tragic central character of Maria; it is a very mature turn from a teenage girl and highly effecting. Franziska Weisz is the other significant presence as her fundamentalist mother; a frighteningly monstrous character whose blind intolerance drains the life and vitality of all that surrounds her.All-in-all, this one definitely qualifies as a very powerful bit of cinema. It challenges yet engages, has interesting things to say and does so using a very bold presentation. Definitely one to take a chance on.

frank-fazio-101-4910 Another mis-understanding of the schismatic and excommunicated "Congregation of St Pius XII" which is NOT a Catholic organisation. Rejecting the reforms of Vatican II, this group (which includes Mr. Mel Gibson who builds her own churches!) considers all Popes after Pius XII invalid and heretics.Other than that, it is a solid movie but without the "Catholic" stuff, it would me nothing.

Reno Rangan It was surprisingly an amazing movie. Related to the religious thing, but science had a fair amount of display in the narration. You don't have to be religious to watch this film. You know I enjoyed the movie as a subject that portrayed in a conflict manner. In the end, whatever happen or wins are the best conclusion for a cinematic story. The contents are supposed to be the path the human walked through the past 2000 years, not on the interest to raise the issue. The film was clear on the matter, that is how the movie had the upper hand to receive respect everywhere.The story was told in the multiple episodes. The story deals on the basis of the each episode's title that I can clearly say it had something to do with the Christian faith. Because it follows the same order. Since I don't belong to any, it became a study material. From the introduction to the conclusion, it was well maintained pace, that is slow. But in the middle, I was almost drifted away from my concentration. Somehow managed to hold back my position like I always do and finished watching it by liking it very much.You can take the movie and its contents in many angles. It is up to you, but either way the movie succeeds in balancing and revealing the facts. Leaves you make your own verdict, because you know what's right and wrong being a human to believe in religion or in science, which both were the creation of ours. Sometimes these both do not require to understand life, just like the animals which survived alongside us for very long without civilization revolution, religious faith and proper law and order. The point is the one who understands the life and those who don't bother about knowing it, lives better than being confused between the line and seeks the shelter of religious.An easiest camera work for the cinematographer. All he has to do was to place the lens in a right position and that's it, the rest would be monitored on the television screen where the director seated, I believe. Because there is no camera panning except in a couple of places, other than that it was motionless and the characters appears in the front to perform. The cast has to memorise the lines of those scenes that covers up to non-stop 10 minutes."My religion has put a ban on running in circles in a gym."More like a stage play where setting for one frame (view) is always there and keeps changing for each scene with the different backgrounds what the script demands. My initial thought was, it might have been based on the play, but I still don't know the answer to that. Probably not, because it won an award for the script at the Berlin film festival. Yep, I loved the presentation, it was so cool and beautiful.From this what I have learnt was the involvement of minors in the religious ceremony is kind of inhumane. It's okay to teach them, but some rituals and sacrifice are way beyond acceptable. Those innocent minds have no experience of the difficulty of life, they're yet to explore it. Being poor or someone in the family is very ill should not be the reason to force them to take part. It is the great issue in all the religion. I think physically and mentally affecting take part in the religious ceremony must not be allowed for the underage.I had mild doubt over opting it to view in the earlier, but went for it to refresh from my regular kind of cinema and it did not fail to have my full attention, well I managed, did not I? I am happy I tried to have a different cinema, in fact the filmmakers given the distinct one, so I appreciate them. In the todays world, young film fanatics are addicted to either Hollywood/British or Korean films, but there are plenty of hidden gems in front of us that they're neglecting to have a glimpse. I would recommend this for the adults, they need to watch this more than children and young adults.7/10

paolo-rosse88 I went to movies yesterday at Cinehoyts La Reina and Kreuzweg was being played for SANFIC (Santiago Festival International de Cine) in Chile, so i bought a couple of tickets and watched it with a friend of mine.I had never read or heard anything about this movie before, so i didn't have any good or bad expectation before getting into the cinema.The movie shows us religious fanaticism as it's most absurd. It really reminded me part of my childhood, when i went until the age of 10 to a protestant school in Santiago de Chile, where teachers said that Iron Maiden was the most satanic rock band in the world or things like that, i remember they said once that even Elton John was a satanic artist xD. Well this film shows us some very similar situations, and maybe for someone who has never experienced it, might believe that this only happens in movies, but, i lived it and i know it, there is lots of this religious fanatics in many schools and families. The movie is split in 14 chapters, and they tell us about Maria a teenage girl who is about to get her catholic confirmation. The church she is part of, is a church which refuses to be like modern churches, and it considers a sin everything related to modern music, television, social networks, parties, etc, etc... At the beginning of the movie, the priest advised Maria and other students that if they want to get the goodness from God they have to make some sacrifices. Maria got convinced that she had to make a sacrifice in order to get a miracle from god, but she took the advise a little bit too far. One of the things that really got my attention from this movie, was that the camera isn't moving at all (it just moves a few times and it's almost not noticeable for the viewers).I'd suggest you to watch it, but don't expect a very good movie, i rated it with 7 stars out of 10, i mean i liked it, but i'm not sure if i would watch it again soon.