Cabrini – REVIEW

This biographical drama is set in the late 19^th Century and explores the remarkable endeavours of a Catholic missionary named Frances Xavier Cabrini.

Cabrini is sent on a mission to the impoverished Five Points Lower Manhattan, New York City, a notoriously overcrowded, dangerous and disease-ridden slum, by the Pope to aid the homeless and illiterate immigrants.

It was a time when over 2 million Italians immigrated to New York and were considered to be of low intelligence and only fit for unskilled labour. In the process she decides to concentrate on the abandoned Italian children, quickly setting up an orphanage.

She is warned, “Be careful this place will eat you up alive” and later remarks, “This world is too small for what I want to accomplish”. Cabrini encounters racism and sexism, stating that without the aid of men she is expected to fail.

Cabrini realizes that rats have it better living in Five Points than Italians. People of an Italian persuasion won’t receive any aid, even if they require hospitalization. She created an empire of hope and had to show America that Italians should not be voiceless; they are human beings and deserve dignity and respect as all other ethnicities.

At a running time of just over 140 minutes this dramatization highlights the courage and resilience of an inspirational survivor, who was the first woman to lead an international mission and who also refused to back down.

The movie also touches on the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church, where women were deemed to be inferior.

Cabrini and her sisters founded hundreds of hospitals, schools, and orphanages all over the world creating the largest charitable empire globally. She was the first US citizen to be canonized a Saint by the Catholic Church in 1946.

Cabrini is an emotional cinematic experience, heart wrenching at times compounded by the entrancing musical score. Italian actress, Cristiana Dell’Anna, who started out on an Italian soap, delivers such a powerful and astonishing performance that audiences won’t be blamed for believing that she actually is Cabrini.

The cinematography in this ambitious production, which borders on masterpiece status, is mesmerizing, especially in the sequences filmed in the churches. The period has been flawlessly recreated, an incredible feat considering the mammoth nature of this production.

Cabrini serves as a cautionary tale. Racism and poverty are still rampart today and if this movie makes people stand up and try to make a difference then it has accomplished what it set out to do.

★★★★1/2

In Cinemas March 8