Roman Catholic clergy have an unsavory history of preying sexually on children. “Spotlight,” which plays at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center this weekend, tells how investigative reporters from the Boston Globe uncovered the truth behind this heartrending scandal. Also playing this weekend at the Capawock is the conclusion to the Katniss Everdeen dystopian fantasy series, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2.”
“Spotlight” offers the same compelling reality as a documentary, even though some Globe staffers have disputed how they are portrayed in director Tom McCarthy’s riveting film. The Globe had published occasional stories about priestly misdoings, but not until 2001 when Marty Baron (Liev Schreiver) arrived as editor did a real investigation of the scandal begin. On Jan. 6, 2002, the Globe’s Spotlight investigative team, headed by editor Walter “Robby” Robinson (Michael Keaton), published the first of 600 stories on the pattern of abuse by churchmen and the cover-ups practiced by higher-ups, who shifted guilty clerics to other church assignments or put them on sick leave. Two hundred fifty priests in the Boston archdiocese alone were implicated, and Cardinal Bernard Law eventually was forced to resign.
At the heart of “Spotlight” is the team’s determination to dig until they got to the truth. Church fathers consistently resisted and buried the facts. Mitchell Garabien (Stanley Tucci) is portrayed as one of the few attorneys with the victims’ best interests at heart. The film demonstrates the important role of investigative reporting in uncovering corrupt institutional behaviors at a time when news media are cutting back staff.
The facts of the scandal are the most important element of the film, but its demonstration of how journalists work — making phone calls, visiting potential witnesses, placing documents like the Church’s internal records on the Internet — carries equal weight. A top-drawer set of actors, including John Slattery as Ben Bradlee Jr. and Rachel McAdams as Sacha Pfeiffer, as well as those already mentioned, reinforce the dramatic power of the story.
Before the Spotlight team was finished, its Pulitzer Prizewinning series helped expose abuse in more than 100 American cities and another 100 internationally. The problem still exists. According to a November Globe story by Michael Rezendes (played in the film by Mark Ruffalo), bishops in Kansas City and Minneapolis have recently been removed because they covered up for pedophile priests. In 2012, a Jesuit trustee at Boston College was discovered to have covered up abuse, and as recently as 2014, an American cleric picked by Pope Francis to investigate abuse was discovered to have a history of covering it up. Awards for “Spotlight” are already piling up, and Oscars are likely to join the prizes.
On Saturday, Dec. 19 at 7 pm, The Martha’s Vineyard Times, the Martha’s Vineyard Film Society, and the Harbor View Hotel will sponsor “Spotlight on Journalism,” a special screening of the film “Spotlight,” and a talk featuring Globe investigative reporter Todd Wallack.
In recognition of the journalism the acclaimed film highlights, The MVTimes will provide free admission to any high school or college student (student ID required) that evening.
Following the early screening (7 pm film start time), Mr. Wallack will speak about how the Spotlight team works and investigative journalism.
The final installment of ‘The Hunger Games’
Katniss Everdeen, so powerfully embodied by Jennifer Lawrence, has liberated women — and girls — from the stereotypes that have long dominated Hollywood. As the female warrior based on Suzanne Collins’ three novels, Ms. Lawrence has endeared herself to the youth market and turned the franchise into a box office sensation. In “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2,” the final installment, she concludes the struggles against oppression in Panem. It is a little hard not to question this gun-loaded, explosion-filled, death-laden tale of the war against oppression when the real world remains awash in terrorism and problems like those covered in “Spotlight.” Farewell hugs before plunging into battle don’t quite do it.
The film begins as Katniss recovers from wounds suffered in Part I. The young warrior is determined to kill the evil dictator Snow, played with so much sleazy aplomb by Donald Sutherland. The usual suspects from the earlier films show up. Julianne Moore’s Alma Coin, leader of the rebels, sends Katniss and her team of rebels on a mission to overtake the Capitol. They set forth with maps in hand and a clunky device designed to locate pods, the booby traps they must avoid, along with monstrous mutations known as “mutts.”
One by one, members of Katniss’s team bite the dust, and her companion and romantic interest Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) has been brainwashed by Snow to kill Katniss. Gale (Liam Hemsworth), her other suitor, stays loyally by Katniss’s side until a surprising twist in the war-torn tale.
Watching the trailers for “Part 2” should remind viewers that while Hollywood has fashioned a fine, modern-day heroine, it continues to promote one violent narrative after another. What message does that deliver to our youth?
For screening times and tickets, visit mvfilmsociety.com or go to MVTimes event listings.