The Worst Film Ever

Pretty Good

Admirable film.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

This train wreck of a "movie" is the apparent darker side of Mother Teresa's story about secret letters that she wrote. These letters reveal a darker side to Teresa, stating that she had struggles with her faith, yet even in her hard times she stayed in the faith and continued to put others above herself. At Least that's what the audience is told, the plot of the movie, the most interesting aspect of this adaptation isn't shown or expanded upon, instead it is told to us multiple times throughout the movie all in different ways that reveal nothing new. Since the movie tries to tell Mother Teresa's story in a new perspective while trying to be "safe" the movie falls flat on it's face becoming lifeless, bland, and uninformative. I went into the movie knowing just as much as I did leaving it, Mother Teresa was a nun who helped the untouchables, nothing more nothing less, everything that is more interesting about her story is either told to the audience by a confusing narration or given to the audience on tacked on credit facts that are supposed to tie up the movies loose ends.I give The Letters a very low C, almost to the point of F, but since the movie was so safe it deserves a C. The movie begins on a scene where a photo of mother Teresa heals a woman of a tumor, this event technically did happen but no one can be sure that it was Teresa's photo. It's a poor scene to start the movie on because it set's mother Teresa up to be a supernatural force of God, which she is not! It was also a poor choice to open on because the event is filled with so much uncertainty that it's more probable than not that it didn't happen, thus starting the movie with possible inaccuracies. Another thing the movie blundered on was Mother Teresa's religion, throughout the movie she is called a Christian woman, yet she was a catholic nun. Given the benefit of the doubt Christianity is a term that is notably used for multiple religions, like the Catholic people. Yet the rest of the movie is very safe, it doesn't take any risks or any controversial aspects of Teresa's life, instead they made a very easy movie that panders to the average viewer who doesn't know better than.The reason I specifically wanted to give this movie a F was because how terribly represented Mother Teresa was, she was stripped of all likability and all visible motivation for what she was doing, it also ignored key factors of her life while somehow including them. For example the darkness that was continually spoken of, they mention it multiple times throughout the movie, yet not once did we see Mother Teresa actually convey or experience any signs of deeper darkness or doubt, instead she smiles and goes through the motion. The introduction of her character and her will to go help people was so underdeveloped that I didn't realize that she was Mother Teresa until multiple scenes later in the movie. Yet the reason I didn't give the movie an F is because the movie followed the most minimum basic beats of Mother Teresa's life, only showing what they wanted to and being, for the most part, accurate. Yet the absence of many of the other important aspects of her life make this movie a slightly biased representation of her life. This may sound like nitpicking but I truly believe what I listed above hinders the historical accuracy of this movie. This is not a movie I would recommend to view for a class, for if you are studying Mother Teresa this movie will not introduce anything new, and it may hinder what knowledge you already have.

The Letters is a biographical film about Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta based on the letters of 50-year correspondence with her longtime friend and spiritual adviser,Father Celeste van Exem. It stars Juliet Stevenson as Mother Theresa together with Max von Sydow, Rutger Hauer and Priya Darshini.The story starts when Mother Teresa is honored to be a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for being one of the greatest humanitarians of our time.Millions are touched due to her selfless commitment that have changed their hearts and inspired them to be the extension of Christ's work particularly charity and helping the poor.Then a story is told from the point-of-view of Fr.Celeste who recounts her life from her work,how she started her own charity cause,the political oppression she experience in aiding the poor and her love for Christ.We could have been treated to a good film if there was more research done on Mother Teresa.Too bad that we just have the same information that is probably already known by many people around the world.Added to that,there is not much depth in too the characters as well.In the end,it simply became a watchable fare about the saint.

The Letters is an absorbing and interesting film on the life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Revealing her accomplishments but concentrating on her trials and tribulations--and her bouts with "spiritual darkness"--it has a different perspective than previous films about Mother Teresa. Max von Sydow and Rutger Hauer were excellent, as usual. The rest of the cast were very good, although some presented as somewhat rigid, but that might have been on the part of the script. Juliet Stevenson, however,was exceptional. Her posture and mannerisms were reminiscent of those of Mother Teresa. The cinematography and editing were well done. The film is certainly worth watching, and a good biographical rendering, contrary to the unsubstantiated and unreferenced accusations about Mother Teresa offered by angry, unkind persons influenced by the same agendas fostered by the late Christopher Hitchens.

The Letters was a beautiful film about a very pious and humble servant of God who dedicated her life to the poorest of the poor, the starving, sick and dying in the slums of Calcutta. Research done By Juliette Stevenson was obvious in that her portrayal of Mother Teresa was flawless, she became Mother Teresa down to the most minute detail. Her hands stood out to me in how she so lovingly and kindly touched the sick and dying. Oscar contender for sure. This film is a much needed reprieve from all the horror, violence, and ludicrous reality shows and senseless killings, in the name of religion no less, that is so prevalent today. A Nobel Peace recipient we all know she was, but The Letters will tell you so much more about this woman who suffered within, but never stopped giving of herself because in her eyes everyone was a child of God.