John Wycliffe: The Morning Star

A beautiful portrait of last part of life and posterity of a great man, one of fundamental figures of early Reform for educational purposes. And as good remind of a page of Christianity history ignored, for different reasons, by the large public.

As low budget film, it can be criticized with generosity.

But, in some measure, this is the basic virtue of it - to be a correct, fair, inspired adaptation of a biography , defining its major traits , proposing fair form of message of John Wycliffe. And, sure, giving the opportunity to. Peter Howell to create a touching, sensitive and wise crafted image of his character.

It's almost cliché today to regard Martin Luther as the father of what would come to be known as the Protestant Reformation of the church. That description may well be accurate, but it should be noted that the Reformation had some grandfathers as well, one of whom was John Wycliffe.

Wycliffe was a giant of his day - a renowned scholar and theologian and a very brave man who stood against the powerful religious and civil authorities of the day to proclaim what he perceived to be a true gospel - a gospel of God's grace offered to all without the intervention of the church being necessary. A giant though Wycliffe may have been, this movie that bears his name doesn't measure up to that standard. It's certainly not a lavish production. It's a wee bit grainy and the production values aren't noteworthy. The dialogue at times is a bit stilted, and it's quite slow moving at times, seeming much longer than its 75 minute run time to be honest. Historically, though, it's reasonably accurate in its portrayal of Wycliffe's life from his days as a teacher at Oxford, through to his condemnation as a heretic, his death and then the desecration of his body years later. The "hot button" theological issues of the days are all brought out - from indulgences to the fate of babies who die without being baptized to the doctrine of transubstantiation. There's a brief look at Wycliffe as a social reformer, sympathizing with the plight of oppressed English peasants but refusing to support violent revolution. There's also the account of the act for which he's probably most famous: the decision to make the Scriptures accessible to the "common man" by translating them into English.

No one will mistake this for a masterpiece. It does, however, feature a good performance from Peter Howell as Wycliffe. Howell came across as believable and earnest in the part. For those with an interest in the pre-Reformation reformation, this will be a very interesting watch.

Even having completed my regular studies on school, I never heard about this fabulous English character, maybe suppressed by catholic church which has a strong control over a country that had almost 80% of all Brazilian population, Wycliffe starts a battle against the "Status Quo" of the Rome and Avignon at France, perhaps by nationalism at first sight and uprising against the corrupted church, becoming a true reformist, at first moment was supported by British Crow, later forgotten, he was the first man who dare translate the Holy Bible to English language in small parts firstly, removed by the clerics he influenced so many as John Hus and others, his life is covered of mystery ever since, he was the starting point of all reformers who came next!!

Resume:

First watch: 2012 / How many: 2 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.5

I cannot understand why Hollywood has not produced epic films about the lives of the English Reformers. In so many cases, you have a single man standing against the world, willing to take a stand against corruption. In the case of Wycliff, it did not cost him his life, but it came close several times. This lower-budget, but still outstanding portrayal of Wycliff is worth a careful watch to get acquainted with his life and work and his stand for Christ and the Bible, during an age of corruption. There are several poignant moments where Wycliff answers problems in the world around him with skillful application of Scripture. I watch this movie at least once a year, along with "God's Outlaw" (about William Tyndale) and introduce others to it often.

Credit for the Protestant Reformation is often accredited to Luther, Hus, Zwingli, Calvin and Knox but a few hundred years before them, John Wycliffe bravely stood against the theology and corruption of the Catholic Church and provided the common person the Word of God to read for themselves.

I believe Gateway Films meant this to be an educational film more than a mainstream drama release. The film is accurate historically but the dialogue and production quality is on the low budget side. Peter Howell who was a long-time stage and screen actor provided a great portrayal of Wycliffe. Robert James and Patrick Gorman gave great performances as well but the script and the flow of the film was subpar, not allowing them to utilize their full performance ability.

A few attempts have been made to portray Luther on film but I believe Wycliffe's life is just as important to the reformation movement and a quality film is in order.

Over all it is enjoyable but educational more than dramatic.