The Thorn Birds

The movie The Thorn Birds is considered one of the most successful American films ever made.

While it might have been intended as a "statement" against blasphemy, paganism, hypocrisy, and bigotry, I personally experienced it as a purely provocative depiction of the state of the Catholic Church—though it felt totally over the top!! I honestly feel that if a provocative critique had been aimed at a different level, it might have been more effective...

It follows the story of a young priest named Amaro, whom the Bishop sends to some remote rural town in the American Southwest to face the obvious struggles facing the Church, the clergy, and the faithful in everyday life.....

Amaro finds himself confronted by an old, cliché parish priest who is actually colluding with a local drug cartel boss; this boss funds the construction of a massive hospital as a way to essentially launder his dirty money. On top of that, the priest has a mistress, which initially leaves young Amaro completely bewildered, though we eventually learn that he isn't exactly a staunch supporter of celibacy either.....

Amaro falls in love with the daughter of the priest's mistress, who is only sixteen. At first, there is just a bit of flirting (for two or three seconds 😁), but then he dives into a romantic relationship without much hesitation, selling it to the "little girl" as something "out of this world." However, the moment she becomes pregnant, his entire narrative becomes marginal, since he never actually intended to leave the priesthood anyway!!! The story concludes with the girl dying after a failed abortion at some "clinic" deep in the wilderness.

What bothered me most was how the whole story is told somewhat haphazardly; there isn't really a "common thread." We don't learn anything about why Amaro decided to enter the priesthood, nor do we get any insight into why he slips so easily into a relationship with a sixteen-year-old.....🙄

There are several beautiful scenes, such as the old local "witch" feeding her sick cat a communion wafer, believing the host possesses magical powers.....

The actors also did a superb job!!! Especially Gael García Bernal (from Amores Perros), who is excellent; I thought his performance was truly wonderful 😁 😳

Overall impression: they took great material (both in terms of the acting and the story) and turned it into a film that might shock some people, but the actual message gets marginalized through all the provocation and "confusion"......

Has anyone else seen this film? I am genuinely curious about other impressions!!!! I'm not even sure if it's playing in American theaters at all... maybe at some festival?!

I just watched it. Honestly, I loved it—I don't really buy the argument that the pacing felt all over the place... Though, if they wanted to truly complete the picture, they probably should have touched on the whole pedophilia aspect too, but even as it stands, it's top-tier. 😁

Finally, a movie that actually feels real, without all that Hollywood nonsense and predictable tropes. In the end, the bad guys walk away winning—which is pretty much how life works in the real world. This one skipped the big theaters and went straight to streaming because our country is still so bogged down by religious fundamentalism. It really exposes the hypocrisy of the Church as an institution, showing priests who are more focused on worldly pleasures than anything spiritual. It’s a raw look at hedonism. Definitely worth a watch.

I caught it about two weeks ago and man, what an absolute blast! 👍

Has anyone here actually sat down and watched The Thorn Birds? Or maybe it was called something else... I can't quite recall the exact title...
It’s supposedly hit the rental shelves recently, so I’m wondering if it’s actually worth my time.
Gael García Bernal is in it—the guy from "Y Tu Mamá También" and "Love Actually."👍

Worth a watch.

What an absolute train wreck of a movie—just pure, unadulterated garbage writing.
Since I don't speak Spanish, I can't even tell if the acting is actually bad or if it just feels off to me.
It’s bottom-of-the-barrel stuff... honestly, it’s like some weird mashup of *The Thorn Birds* mixed with a gritty documentary about forgotten veterans.

I definitely need to track down the book; they completely butchered the source material.