Ignacio de Loyola
Ignacio de Loyola, a film inspired by the autobiography of St Ignatius Loyola was well received.
Its Glasgow premiere in the largest of the Vue cinema's screens was packed for a special showing which had the audience almost 100% appreciative at the end.
The film moves over Ignatius' life from a young boy to his setting off for Paris to study theology in his early 30's. As a serious attempt to explore the movements of Ignatius' passions and character the film does well. We get a feel for the womanising knight of his pre-conversion days, and the slow work of conversion after his injury in the battle of Pamplona. Certainly the film gets into discernment and what lay behind the newly converted saint's fervour.
The pacing of the first half of the film was excellent. The low budget showed itself somewhat in the battle scenes at Pamplona which had something of the computer war games about them.
For those who know Loyola there were some nice touches like the using of the original house of Ignatius for the indoor shots of his period of recuperation.
The film is ambitious in its attempt to show a story of 16th Century nobles complete with battle scenes on a limited budget. It gets away with it due to judicious selection of scenes and keeping the focus on the person of Ignatius and his development from knight to saint.
If you can catch the film, its well worth watching.
