I am no Catholic, but I keep running into Catholic priests who teach me wonderful things. I loved this movie. You have made me see more clearly and deeply. Thank you.

I love what you say about Rooster. He's characterized by a grace, a willingness to give even when the giving isn't owed. He values mercy over justice. That is true grit.

I remember seeing the true grit remake when I was about 11 or maybe younger with my Grandfather. Absolutely amazing film I need to go rewatch!

I'm so relieved that you saw and reviewed this film! I kept trying to explain the film's theme of Grace to my friends, but all I got was a bored stare in response, like "why are you talking to me about religion, dude?" Very frustrating!

What a great review, I absolutely love the remake of True Grit far, far better than the original. Your review is spot on and well thought out - I agree.

@acortes7771

9 жыл бұрын

Lemon Drops How can you like this stupid movie which is racist against Native Americans? What is wrong with you?

@sarcasticsugar4466

9 жыл бұрын

James Curtis Troll senses tingling ^

@acortes7771

9 жыл бұрын

Lemon Drops You haven't answered the question. The film supports racist behavior, and you enjoyed it, and you call yourself a Catholic Christian!

@sarcasticsugar4466

9 жыл бұрын

James Curtis I most certainly don't answer troll comments, so this is the last reply. G'day and happy trolling.

I love westerns and have both the original and re-make but I have to admit I never saw the re-make in the way the Bishop reflects on it. Doh I have to now go watch the whole movie again. Thank you Bishop Barron, it's because of your insightfulness that I disrupt my bible studies! God Bless you. 🙏🙏

I so much appreciate your special understanding of scenes, stories and films I have seen and heard, but not understood Your insights are a gift of G-d. Thank you.

The Bishop is a great story teller.

Wow. This is one of if not the best summary of the film I have seen.

You make me want to rewatch a lot of movies 🙏❤️

This was a very insightful take on True Grit. I hadn’t ever thought of it in these terms.

Bishop, l am only now following your reviews on KZread, especially your assessments of Flannery O’Connor and am getting that feeling that have known you for years. Someday l hope to sit down and have a cup of coffee with you and chat about Graham Greene and Rumer Godden.

Wow, True Grit (2010) is one of my favorite movies and have enjoyed watching it actually more than once. But never have I looked at it the way you have Fr. Robert. I think I'll go watch it again (hope netflix has it) and be more aware of the points you've highlighted. Thank you :-)

@acortes7771

9 жыл бұрын

Meus Kaveny The movie is racist against Native Americans, how can you possibly like it? Unless you think its perfectly ok to ridicule, belittle and make fun of Native Americans?

Very insightful. I too loved this movie, but your thoughts have given it a new depth for me. Thanks.

Awesomeness! It's amazing all these hidden details that go into movies that people don't catch or aren't made to exactly be known.

I disagree. She was not seeking justice, she was seeking revenge. And that is why she falls into the snake pit and is marked for life by it. And so many die for her lust for vengeance. If she knew the word as she mentioned Jeremiah and the dry boned shed also know... Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Romans 12:19 KJV

@jeffersondemott2125

7 жыл бұрын

rey ortiz vengeance is the corruption of justice. also get a better bible.

@jamesowen5702

4 жыл бұрын

Vengeance is also the reason she sees Chaney riding away in her delirious state after the snakebite and AFTER she's killed him. If you seek justice it's possible to attain it and find peace, but with revenge even after its been meted out you find the hatred - and for Mattie this amounted to her obsession with Chaney - remains.

@cobraferrariwars

3 жыл бұрын

"Do not return evil for evil but rather do what is noble in the sight of all. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all."

@MegaGo68

Жыл бұрын

@@jamesowen5702 excellent point -- you've explained that delirious line better than anybody I've seen.

@terrencedeagle4429

8 ай бұрын

Is it possible that she initially wanted justice but it becomes revenge in the spur of the moment to kill Chaney?

Father, you have absolutely outdone yourself Great job!

Loved it, and loved Fargo. Had not quite made the connection so will watch others by the Coen brothers.

Thank you. I fully agree. If you have not seen "Hail Caesar", I would highly suggest it too.

First Catholic I've encountered that saw that movie like I did... its a greats spiritual story.

Lonesome Dove is similar in a sense that Captain Call leads a group of his friends to drive cattle from Texas to Montana. When he arrives in Montana, all his friends have died during the trip. He takes his best friend's body back to Texas to be buried there. Another great story.

I watched the original as a kid and it made me want to be a Deputy U S Marshal. I watched the remake for the first time after I retired from the Marshals Service in 2017. Both outstanding films. At the end of the day I prefer the remake, truly a piece of art.

I have not heard of this film, once again very insightful Father Barron.

I would enjoy it if Bishop Barron ever spoke about one of my other favourite films, which just so happens to feature that same hymn, The Night of the Hunter.

The gospel song at the end of the movie is an awesome way to close this great movie

Well-done. The Kabbalists say evil arises out of an excess of the attribute of Justice. Humans have both, must do a balancing act.

I'm so glad this movie has your stamp of approval, where would we be without the church to guide our steps?

Thanks for the explanation. I think the hymn (sung by Iris Dement) is the most powerful ending to a film that I know.

So good. Thank you.

Bishop Baron. I know I listened to your review before, but somehow didn't catch your take on the "arms" theme. Brilliant. When I watched this great movie, I thought: Cogburn has grit, LeBoef has grit, but Mattie Ross had the true grit. Maybe one of the best movies of all time. God bless.

I'd love to hear Bishop Barron review the movies of John Ford: Stagecoach, Yellow Ribbon, Searchers, Liberty Valance, Clementine, Young Mr. Lincoln, and, of course, Quiet Man. There is a lot of material there for deep analysis.

Some additional thoughts: Did she loose her shooting arm, "justice"? now without her ability to execute justice she for the rest of her life is dependent upon mercy... both her other arm and the mercy of others. Beginning with the ranger to save her on.

GK Chersterton wrote that the insane are not those who lack rationality, it is that the only thing they have left is rationality.

@twoplugs Thanks for this! I appreciate Aquinas's distinction between God and humans. We shouldn't talk about God in the same way we talk about creation. (Shouldn't speak univocally of God and creation.) Only God is absolute being, while creation participates in being. I suspect this is partly the case b/c the human experience is full of contradictions, whereas there are no contradictions in God. The warning, possibly, is to not project our experience of contradiction onto the Oneness of God.

Great commentary!

I appreciate how, in this version, Mattie loses the arm. Everything must be paid for. Her blind vengeance, although just, extracts a price. It costs her her prized horse, it costs her the arm and it forever changes her life.

I love John Wayne's characterization better but I love the Coen brother's ending more. BTW, one of my favorite Coen Brothers movie is Raising Arizona.

Father Barron, this was the best review of True Grit I've seen or read. I love the film and have seen it several times and find it repays repeated viewing. One line that fascinates me and I think has great meaning to spiritual message of the film is when Maddie says to Cogburn, "He's getting away," and when Rooster asks who she means, she replies "Chaney." I wonder in what sense she thought he was "getting away"? Did she think he was heading for the "streets of glory"? Have you any thoughts?

Awesome! Love the Cohen Brothers films. After I saw your review of A Serious Man I had to see this film, and loved it. And just this past weekend saw the John Wayne version of True Grit, and though meh. But after this review -- spoilers and all -- I so want to see this new True Grit all the more. Love your film critiques Father.

I love it. Thank you Father. It begs the question about God's justice and mercy. Do they contradict? Does God hold them in tension? If so, how can we hold to monotheism? It seems we would then have either two gods or a schizophrenic god. Or, might God, ultimately thru Jesus, transform the human understanding of justice based on retribution (powerfully revealed in True Grit) to a justice that is based on reconciliation and healing? Oh-True Grit might be a prophetic warning about the former.

@ezemdi Well, unless there is something objective to what I'm saying here, it's not really a great critique.

I do have to take some exception with the conflation of justice and revenge. They are almost universally exclusive concepts.

@wiffybiffy Well he looks after you too, friend.

Matt 5:30, if your arm causes you to sin throw it away. Maddie literally does this in the snake pit. She goes into the pit of death and sin and faces the serpent, which bites her gun hand. Then with Rooster she is drawn back into the light. She rides out of the shadow of the valley of death (4 bodies) into the light. Later we see she visits Roosters grave and dressed in black she travels over the horizon.

I don't know if it is a remake at all. Even though the dialogue is the same it is because the dialogue is in the book. I'm also thinking the Cohen's watched the 1969 version more than once if at all. BTW your speaking of the Biblical references is spot on.

consider the man she makes the cutting remark to is the other featured player in the Wild West show, Frank James - BTW I recommend biography of Jesse by TJ Stiles - "keep your seat, trash" - that's what I say to my dog with the old, tired hips when she doesn't rise to meet me@!

@leonarddobens6070

3 жыл бұрын

what a great analysis - I paused it to write the above comment and just got to the end - thanks for this!!

I believe you will find some spirituality in the Coen brothers' The Big Lebowski.

the "cutting remark" Mattie makes as an older woman, "keep your seat, trash", was directed to a character who I believe was identified as Frank James, brother of Jesse a now retired bandit and Confederate guerilla. He failed to rise for a lady (Mattie) and deserved the rebuke.

I am reminded of the Hermeneutic of Rupture.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on tron.

This is a great take, but there’s one detail that the good Bishop forgot to mention that heightens Rooster’s act of grace and love, and seals it as transcendent - Namely, by contract he was owed $50 for helping her bring Tom Chaney down, when the deed was done not only did he risk his life to save hers, but he never accepted payment. The eternal debt that she was bound by her own transactional one dimensional view to owe, that he would never accept and now, in his own death, abolished.

@jazamaraz8029

3 жыл бұрын

Excellent point.

@danielyoung5137

Жыл бұрын

Actually Mattie insists on repaying the money owed at the end of the book - 75 dollars - and asks lawyer Dagget to deliver the check. Dagget objects, explaining he felt Rooster had treated her badly, but when Mattie explains the plain truth of the matter he personally rides to Fort Smith and pays Rooster the check, adding 200 dollars of his own to apologize for his previous outlook to Rooster. How can you resist a story like this?😊

@Jugglable You're assuming that God's justice is immediate and total. Were this the case, we'd all be in big trouble. I can't give a complete answer in such a short space, but please consider: * Very often the consequences of sin (e.g. adultery) lead to their own punishment (broken homes etc) * If God's justice was immediate and total - how could anyone ever repent? Delayed judgement is a sign of mercy. * In a sense death has been rendered to us since we don't enjoy perfect communion with God.

Does Maddie only believe in the old testament? I thought that for most of the film that rooster was only a mescenary, a hired gun. I changed my mind when he saved Maddie. He went way beyond the call of duty to save her

Off topic question: will you be making a commentary on Sam Harris' new book "The Moral Landscape"? It seems to be something you would have something to say about.

@DarthMambo Bravo on your explanation. Let me to expound on one point: * The justice is coming, be patient. AKA Judgement Day

I find that I end up enjoying most cowboy music

@ConservativeDC I don't think Xian history has always seen them in conflict. Cappadocians in the 5th c. first formulated the Trinitarian doctrine-perichoresis. They were careful to say that the persons did not have conflicting wills; rather emphasized their Oness. Docrtine of appropriation doesn't claim contradiction, but ascribes particularity to the persons. There have always been "lax" Christians-as John's letter Revelation says. I don't thnk we can blame modern emphasis on mercy for that.

Since God is just and merciful, mercy is justice and vice versa. There can not be contradictions within God. I think there is a terminology issue here. Vengeance and justice are two different things. Only someone who is truly just can be merciful.

@raventelevision - The definitions of justice and mercy in Thomistic theology sees no contradiction in God. Wikipedia has a nicely concise summery of the misunderstanding here in there article on the ontological argument, in the section entitled 'problem of incoherence'. (Sorry, youtube wouldn't let me post the address).

LOL. Father Barron and the atheist heckler have something in common; I began my John Wayne imitation from Rooster Kogburn too.

If your reading of the movie is that Rooster Cogburn is supposed to represent mercy, I think you're really need to watch this movie again. We're introduced to the character in a court room where it becomes obvious that on his most recent mission he ambushed a group of fugitives around a campfire and murdered them without warning because it was easier than attempting to take them alive and is in the process of committing perjury to cover up this fact. Furthermore, we learn over the course of the movie that he was one of Quantrill's Raiders, which means that he spent the Civil War essentially as a terrorist, attacking civilian settlements and murdering settlers.

@MegaGo68

Жыл бұрын

Right? He also shows no mercy to the kid who has been killed in the cabin, promising to give the boy a proper burial but then reneging after the death, saying "he should have died in summer, when the ground is softer."

@bradleytrainor7856

6 ай бұрын

Rooster told the boy he would bury him when he was still alive. That was merciful. Once he had passed on, what happened to the boy's body was beside the point. Words are for the living not the dead. Funerals are held for those left alive not for the lifeless body. Besides, Rooster was a middle-aged man and the ground was rock hard. @@MegaGo68

@DarthMambo I don't think the good Father meant that since the justice in the movie was immediate that it is always the case with our heavenly Father. A two hour film cannot contain all the complexities or the depth and nuance of life.

Roman Catholic.

Excellent commentary. Made me see a few things differently, but I was pretty much on the same page spiritually with the story depicted. I'm spiritual but not religious, and I no longer dismiss the lessons within the stories, true or false, as I once did as a youth. I'd like to point out a line where Maddie tells Rooster, after the cabin shootout and interrogation I think, that he is "a man of great poise" and he shrugs it off dismissively. He is a reluctant hero, I believe, but he is aware enough to set his own well being aside for the sake of what is the true "good" and honorable action. Actions make a man; words are free and can mean nothing. To quote another good movie (imo), Sin City: "Old man dies, little girl lives. Fair trade." We have a greater obligation to those around us than we do ourselves at times, and to be willing to make that sacrifice (sacrificial=sacred=holy) is shown in Rooster's actions at that point in the movie. Thank Jordan Peterson in part for my newfound appreciation of the Bible. Whatever you've heard about him probably isn't true if it's negative.

Good commentary -- but how can a virtue like justice lead to sin?

@SubtleStair

9 жыл бұрын

+Walter Peretiatko Because we are never immune to sin.

I liked the commentary though, like all the other commentaries (except ones degrading the Holy Inquisition or Crusades:) )

maybe this brings up an issue with colleges disproportionately promoting "social justice" and the cost of not teaching absolute wrongs.

not once did he mention the good old texas ranger. well, no one really cared for him until the ending anyways.

I am struck by the fact that not only does the Bishop speak, he spills the banks of English.

@CenturianCornelious

Жыл бұрын

lol

I'm not a man of God, but I do see alot of your points, except a couple of things 1. she was rude to the man sitting down BECAUSE he didn't even bother to stand up in the initial presence of a lady (prolly cuz she was handicapped or not pretty enough, god knows how superficial men can be back then) in addition to disrespect by showing little care for breaking out the news of rewsters death. it was just a character moment for Maddie to show she still has that fiery personality. I WELCOME IT, it's what I loved about her character in the first place. in her mind "show a little decency will you?" 2. her character is indeed tragic but I refuse to believe she should be pitied for her journey to capture chaney. while I do agree she initially loved the idea of killing him just by hiring someone like cogburn, she was still willing to talk to chaney into giving himself up in the name of justice. I care very little whether she married or not, it doesn't matter unless you're religious of course. I saw the ending as a person finally trying to reach out to the men who made an impact on her life, not just the journey for revenge/justice. I feel she didn't regret anything in the end, AND THAT'S OKAY. it's life, people arnt as simple and saint-like as you think. what the coen brothers were trying to mostly show in this film is the fact that life isn't as black and white like the old days. Ned was actually likable once you meet him, he kept his word for the most part (leaving her with chaney was a stupid fucking idea) and it was cogburn who broke his word multiple times, yet we accept it cuz he's the "hero". you see religious themes, I see a grim reality, goes to show how different other people will see the film lol you remember that hanging scene? that Indian was clearly not a man of God, so immediately he didn't even get to say his last words.. totally ignored. it was pretty funny yet pretty upsetting, cuz back then Indians were pretty much treated like that cuz of their skin color and religion. to me Maddie didn't die alone, she was buried alongside a man whom she finally realized ever cared for her.

@thiccviener825

6 жыл бұрын

Pickles Mcgee well you should be a man of god, because if you are not then you are not a real man at all

@Rabbithole8

5 жыл бұрын

@@thiccviener825 That's a meaningless statement. I'll try the reverse: THICC VIENER, well you should not be a man of god, because if you are then you are not a real man at all.

@jazamaraz8029

3 жыл бұрын

You make some compelling points. Thanks.

@peteg475

8 ай бұрын

"she was rude to the man sitting down BECAUSE he didn't even bother to stand up in the initial presence of a lady (prolly cuz she was handicapped or not pretty enough, god knows how superficial men can be back then)" Correct. It's also worth mentioning that the rude man was Frank James, Jesse's brother, probably not a nice fellow to begin with.

Mattie is the character with true grit.

@jazamaraz8029

3 жыл бұрын

I watched the John Wayne movie a few times as a kid and always thought Rooster Colburn was the character with true grit. The title of that movie always referred to him in my mind. The book of course is different. It leads you to belief RC is the one with TG in the beginning. But step by step and day by day, Mattie displays unrelenting determination wheras RC is even willing to give up at one point. The last scene in the book has Mattie kicking grit at two low life losers. She was true all the way through.

4:23

tron soon?

Fr. B. With all due respect you seem confused God's Justice is not exceeded by His Mercy they are perfectly equal. This is what makes Him God, it's his utter Perfection. Richard of Danbury

Love this commentary but the underlying strength of both film versions rests on the wonderful novel by Charles Portis. Well worth reading. In my opinion, Portis and Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men) are both deeply Catholic writers (even though they are not Catholic men) because they are about the real.

Father, I u cant say you r coen brothers fan without being a fan ofthe film Big Lebowski lol. I'd love to hear your comment on tat movie someday; it'll b nice if u could dig out any biblical connection in the film, Im pretty sure there is more meaning in the movie than just a slacker who likes bowling and getting high.

To what church do you belong?

@csapienza001

5 жыл бұрын

Bishop Barron is Catholic

Fr. Barron, something that doesn't make sense to me about God: How is he just? I heard justice defined as "rendering to each his due." God doesn't do this. Supposedly the wages of sin = death, but God didn't render death to us, but life.

Her obsession with Justice led her to sin of wroth.

Matties mission was to see Chaney tried and hanged, and she's not a city slicker, she's a smart country girl that lived on a ranch,

Come on, Padre! You begin by noting your precocious ability to imitate John Wayne, and then you fail to give us a sample? I'm reminded of Chekhov: "If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there."

@jazamaraz8029

3 жыл бұрын

I thought the same thing. Me guess is as a kid, Bishop Barron recited the following lines: Ned Pepper: That's bold talk for a one-eyed fat man. Rooster Cogburn: Fill you're hands you son of a bitch.T That would likely generate laughter and applause from adults. If I'm right it also suggests the reason why BB left it out of this video because it would look inappropriate coming from a bishop.

Get well soon Padre! you sound like you have a cold

Rooster doesn't give a whit about,mercy or forgiveness. That comparison is ridiculous.

do you have a cold here father?

A nice reading but rather forced. Hard to see vengeance and justice and law as equivalent, and I don't see much mercy in Cogburn -- the movie goes to great lengths to show us his lazy, reckless abandon and the lives lost because of it.

If anyone told Mattie before the movie that she would lose her arm but would get to be the person who killed her father's killer, she would have accepted that bargain at the drop of a hat. This movie is not about any portrait of God (in the opening scene with Rooster Cogburn, we learn that he is literally a murderer hiding behind a law enforcement position). It is, however, a portrait of the US, driven ALWAYS by a satanic need for vengeance that it sometimes pretends ( as does this Catholic priest) is "justice". If the Coen brothers ever cast Black people, everyone would clearly have seen the Lynching allegory...

This movie has nothing to to with God. Nothing has anything to do with God. But I'm glad you liked the movie.

But Rooster was in no way a good man alcoholic, murderous, a warrior, pragmatic fatherly motivated maybe but not a good representation of God the Father, by no means. The movie is not spiritual and it breaks at many points when the meaning is stretched to fit a spiritual paradigm, finding nemo, however is a good movie to fit such a template, the spiritual significance is not stretched too far neither does it really break and fracture at many points unlike this one.

@danbuter

6 жыл бұрын

Many of the "heroes" of the Bible are also not good men. God uses them anyway.

Fr. Robert Barron how can you possibly endorse a movie which is racist against Native Americans? Unless you think its perfectly ok to belittle, ridicule, and treat Native Americans as if they were garbage.

@jazamaraz8029

3 жыл бұрын

Was the movie celebrating racism? Or was it giving us an accurate portrailof what racism looked like back then? Obviously, racism is wrong. But so is the effort to expunge it from history (or in this case, a historical novel).