To Kill a Priest

The title may seem a little tacky, but this overlooked drama based on a true story is an absorbing picture, similar to Romero in plot, but it shifts the focus onto the priest's murderers rather than the priest himself. Ed Harris stars as Stefan, a captain in Poland's Communist secret police force. As 1982 begins, the secret police are videotaping the sermons of various preachers who are sympathetic to the Solidarity cause, Stefan's assignment is Father Alek (Christopher Lambert), a charismatic, saintly, and outspoken young priest. When Stefan sets a trap for Father Alek, and a bishop later springs him free, Stefan tenders his resignation in an impotent rage. His superiors give him the go ahead, and he decides to kill Alek. What makes To Kill a Priest such a powerful and complex portrait of a tragedy is Harris's intricate performance as Stefan. As he vacillates between his love for his country and his ordinary, decent, family man existence, we see the forces at work when politics and humanity are at war on the battleground of the soul. When Stefan anonymously calls Alek the night before the planned murder and begs him not to deliver his sermon the next day, we almost believe that the tragedy will be avoided. But history is sometimes stronger than the individual-and both men are unfortunate pawns in a game with no winners. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)