Ignazio di Loyola

This could've been great. The early life of Ignatius of Loyola - soldier, sinner, saint, founder of the Jesuits - has all the makings of a gripping drama. Instead, we get two hours of mood lighting, overlong monologues, and a lead actor trying to carry a film that keeps dropping the cross.

Andreas Muñoz, intense and mostly alone on screen, does his best with a wobbly script. We meet Iñigo (his pre-saint name) as a minor noble turned frat boy: drinking, whoring, and stabbing Frenchmen. Then comes the obligatory cannonball-to-the-leg moment, followed by an extended "spiritual recovery" montage that feels like a pilgrimage in real time.

Eventually, he swaps his sword for sandals and sets off to preach. Along the way, he's thrown in jail by the Spanish Inquisition for being a little too into Jesus. Cue a painfully long CGI "spiritual battle" atop a digital mountain that looks like it came free with Windows XP.

For a low-budget film, it's baffling that they blew their money on this absurd scene instead of tightening the story. After more theological chit-chat, Iñigo is released and heads to France to start the Jesuit order. Inspiring, I suppose, if you're not already asleep.

It's not the worst saint biopic ever made, but it's close. Disappointing.

If you're expecting a documentary that explains the life of St. Ignatius in detail, complete with direct quotes, references, and biblical passages, you will be disappointed. If you're expecting a film on how to be a perfect and holy Christian, you will be disappointed. Just as the filmmakers took many risks to create this film, watching it will be a risk to you... You risk crying a little, laughing a little... You risk asking questions you might not have asked in a long time... You risk remembering painful memories -- losing a job, a heartbreak, a serious illness, a humiliating moment, the death of a loved one... You risk spending time discussing and arguing with your friends afterwards over coffee... You might even risk putting down your phone and praying again. I strongly encourage everyone to see this film. At the very least, you risk having a good day. At best, you just might figure out how to live a good life.

"Ignacio de Loyola" traces the life of St. Ignatius from childhood up to his exoneration at the Inquisition at Salamanca in 1537, and subsequent departure for a university in Paris to further his studies. In between he experiences a transformation from a soldier of the king to a soldier of Christ.

It is an intense transformation, having pledged his life to a princess then switching allegiance during his recuperation from a battle wound to a life in the service of God. His wound left him with a limp, a mark of dishonor since he could no longer soldier. It is here that the narrative acquires interest, as the earlier battle scenes had an artificial quality, as though filmed on a sound stage. It takes off as he finds his true calling and is accompanied by some excellent, well written dialogue, especially in some admirable speechifying instances. The overall quality of the script sets 'Ignacio de Loyola" apart from most other films made nowadays and accounts for my rating.

This movie will probably get a bad rap from critics due to its religious nature, but "Ignacio de Loyola" is about much more than that. It is about change, a change of mind and of lifestyle, a change of values and the discovery of what was front and center all the while, what really counts in life. Ignatius Loyola is a saint, but came by it the hard way - steeped in the temporary and ignoring the spiritual. We can all relate to that.

Rich guys "leaving" their riches to "become poor" are all frauds: their self-inflicted poverty is a show they put on to get powet using the misery of the actual poor, who, unlike them, cannot switch off their poverty at will and return to a life of confort, freedom and influence.

What they should rather do is actually give away money and then use their power to enable others to be self-sufficient in business and politics, to find their voice and the strength to do something of value.

But, from Buddha to Loyola and to Bush, the fraud has been consistent and consistently told by corrupt prophets, media and film people. Don't be fooled you too.

The Father and the Son are the Parents of the Holy Spirit, if many churches are correct. The Trinity is a Family-- two Parents and a Progeny, if many churches are correct. In the Book of Job which is part of the bible, the Lord is compared to a father and also a mother with a womb. "From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens"--Job 38:29. Saying that the "Father and the Son are the Parents of the Holy Spirit" is simply another way of saying that the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son" which has been official Catholic Church teaching for centuries. According to the Catholic Church, the Son is begotten from the Father. If this is true, the Father is the Father (Parent) of the Son. According to the Church, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. If this is true, the Father and the Son are the Parents of the Holy Spirit. Of course, the scriptures are vague if the Holy Spirit is the 3rd or 1st or 2nd Person of the Trinity--whichever of these is true, the First Person and the Second Person may be the Parents of the Third. Parent definition 1a from Merriam-Webster dictionary: one that begets or brings forth offspring.