The Scarlet and the Black (1983)

I had to think a bit about whether to review a TV movie on this blog. After all, I leave off the TV series I watch. But apart from the occasional fade to black, presumably for commercial breaks, it feels much like a film that debuted on the silver screen. Why make the distinction on DVD? Netflix doesn't.

Be careful not to mix this up with other works by the same or similar titles; they have completely different stories and origins. This TSatB, based on J.P. Gallagher's book The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican, concerns the real-life Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty (Gregory Peck post-The Omen), who not so secretly defied the Vatican's official neutrality during World War II to help people hide where they could in the vicinity of Rome. Colonel Herbert Kappler (Christopher Plummer post-The Sound of Music), who all but runs occupied Rome, finds O'Flaherty a thorn in his side.

This does not make for casual viewing, and not just because of some Nazi atrocities, which will never cease to disturb me. Commercial-less runtime exceeds 2 hours and 20 minutes, though thankfully not as long as Netflix claimed. Many scenes are rather slow, for the sake of intensity if not realism, as when O'Flaherty walks very close to the painted white line that he cannot openly cross without getting shot. No wonder they selected Ennio Morricone to write the score.

Catholic or not -- heck, religious or not -- you should take interest in the question of whether Pope Pius XII (John Gielgud) did right to express neutrality. Sure, things would go hard on the Vatican if he didn't, but might it have been able to accomplish more good? O'Flaherty thought so, but I suspect that he himself would be hard pressed to aid about 4,000 refugees without recognized sanctuary. And lest you think O'Flaherty is always saintly, he judges the entire Kappler family before ever meeting them and is quite willing to let the kids face big trouble. Oh, and he puts his boxing skills to use against would-be assassins.

I don't know how much of the story is true. IMDb mentions one character based on someone with a different name; it also lists very few errors, none of them important to the plot. I did notice a few moments that don't normally happen in fiction, particularly when the resistance's attempts at stealth fail. There are no hints of divine intervention, although a scene where many soldiers can't bring themselves to shoot a good priest is pretty bittersweet.

This is the sort of movie I just knew I'd like and respect going in, the downside being a shortage of pleasant surprises. You should know already whether you're ever in the mood for something like it.