The Legend of the Holy Drinker

Trailer—The Legend of the Holy Drinker

source: The Legend of the Holy Drinker

La leggenda del santo bevitore

A great tale with a brillant Rutger Hauer and fatastic music by Igor Stravinsky!

This tale of a tramp who is the recipient of the milk of human kindness but who finds it difficult to repay the goodness shown to him is typical of its director, Ermanno Olmi, but whereas other Olmi films deal with the common-place with an uncommon beauty this tale of the mystical is overtly simplistic. "The Legend of the Holy Drinker" is visually superb and we should expect nothing less from an Olmi picture but it is also very dry, very dull and very unevenly acted, (the partial dubbing of its international cast certainly doesn't help). As the tramp Rutger Hauer staggers around looking a little too bewildered at what's happening to him and the supporting cast are fundamentally just bit players in his far from interesting story. The Stravinsky score also sits somewhat uneasily on proceedings. Some people think this is a masterpiece while others have simply dismissed it. Personally I found it a crashing bore.

This simple tale is told at a pace which allows the audience time to reflect within the context of the moral challenges it presents. The result is a level of engagement far superior to the gamut of empty sophistication in the movie world. One is able to explore the implications of the actions and decisions of Hauer's character without leaving the narrative - there is no pressure for post viewing reflection when the spell of the film is broken and thought is coloured by a context inappropriate to the narrative. Here is a complete experience - moving, profound and visually beautiful - if only Hollywood could produce cinema of this standard.

The basic story line is a simple one, a street drinker (played by Hauer) is given $200 which he must repay to the saint chosen by the charitable old man who loaned him the money, as soon as he's able to do so, at his local church. At every opportunity Hauer gets to repay his debt, something unforeseen occurs and prevents him from paying his debt. Although the movie doesn't have wide spread appeal, its worth watching, if only for the superb direction and Hauers haunting performance, which may well be the finest of his career to date. The period of the films setting is uncertain, lending it a strange atmosphere, adding to Hauers hypnotic portrayal. Its charm and fine acting make 'Legend of the holy drinker' well worth seeking out.

This film embraces everything that contemporary Hollywood cinema is so afraid of - intelligence, moral complexity, and rich characterisation. It is a simple tale really - an alcoholic vagrant in Paris is lent 200 francs by a stranger, on condition that he repays it to a local chapel when he can afford it. But what makes this an extraordinary film is the manner in which we are drawn so completely into this seemingly trivial and futile quest. This is principally down to Rutger Hauer's towering performance as the haunted, suffering tramp, who has to battle both ill-fortune and his own past to repay the debt and find peace. There is little in the way of either dialogue or action, yet Ermanno Olmi's vision of a timeless, enchanted Paris is dazzling. A lesson to others in how to tell a story on film.