Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints

Martin Scorsese's idea behind The Saints is laudable. A series that looks into the lives of Christians who did extraordinary things in the name of God. We don't hear about them unless you go to the School of Theology. So putting some of these on the big screen was something I was excited about.

After watching the first 4 episodes however, I must say I am beyond disappointed. For a world class director like Martin Scorsese. The director who gave us classics like Goodfellas, The Wolf of Wall Street, Shuttle Island, Uncut Gem and Killers of the Flower Moon, I truly expected something outstanding. What we got however was more of a mini-documentary with narrations and a short discussion at the end with Martin's friends. Something I have my reservations about, but won't get into it.

The stories also were very bland. I don't know if it's due to lack of content, and not wanting to fabricate anything but then I watched the one with John the Baptist and there were several scenes not found in the Bible and what was found in the Bible was nicely omitted so I guess it wasn't about lack of content. With that being said, I think the first episode was the best so far. The rest, quite forgettable.

I guess not everyone can do it like Mel Gibson.

First, not withstanding his talents, Scorsese sadly seems intent on making The Saints about himself in title and his presence throughout. This during a time when the vast center and outspoken of his industry is clearly anti-Christianity.

Second, the screens seem poorly fabricated and labor-some throughout and more fitting to a 'B' grade movie even though the actress portraying Joan seemed quite good - not withstanding the fake french accents.

Third, I found the mostly pretentious panel discussion tedious and primarily useless other than the light explanation and timeline refererence of how Sainthood is determined by the Catholic Church today.

Note comments like "not even a person of letters" adds nothing but does show the bias of fools playing to the camera with nothing of value to add other than their token popularity restricted to their worldly pursuits. And, madam, giggling is never acceptable for any serious discussion.

Somehow these "experts?" provided nothing but seemed there only as attempt to gander credibility by their presence - which failed to my view.

Fourth, I must confess that I only watched the Joan of Arc episode as I judged the effort on this first episode as indicating the rest would not be worth my time or the fee to FOX. Plus there are much, much better source materials that can be studied which far surpass this attempt by(?) Scorsese.

Fifth, by stripping out the "panel" these episodes might be suitable for teens in a classroom setting to be shown prior to a discussion in general and on specific issues led by an informed teacher.

Not talking about the lead actress here... who is doing a fine job.

But the embarrassingly fake & forced "french accent" used by some of the actors, and in the ADR/dubbing, of the first episode ("Joan Of Arc") is absolutely terrible.

Everyone is now talking about (and aware of) cultural representation, but obviously FOXnation still seems to think that Pepe Le Pew is a truthful portrayal of the French heritage.

It is, however, the 21st century, therefore whoever directed the ADR/Dubbing, and/or let some actors do a parodic-sounding accent, should really get educated on proper cultural representation , or just let non-french actors speak in their real voice to avoid this absolute trainwreck. The work done here is neither truthful nor subtle (to say the very least!).

Other than that, the episode is actually pretty well filmed and edited. Scorsese is, of course, always enjoyable as a narrator, and the episode is well researched.

Unfortunately, the viewing is ruined by (and losing credibility from) the silly over-exaggerated phony "french" accent work (oscillating from comical to just degrading) and the subpar overdubbing which sounds like it was made in someone's living room by some random youtubers. For a show that is supposed to be high-quality television aiming at being both historically and culturally authentic, the team in charge of Voice direction should have tried harder than going for cheap & goofy stereotyping, because there is no other way to call this.... and when a show like "Emily In Paris" sounds less stereotypic than your historical documentary... it tells a lot on the quality and care that was put in your work.

Please, for the love of humanity, do better.

Martin Scorcese is the executive producer of this series and he introduces each episode with some historical context. He also narrates with more backgrounds of the characters. He later leads a panel of Catholics in a discussion after each episode. The Jesuit priest, James Martin is my favorite of the group.

Joan of Arc is the subject of the first episode and Liah O'Prey is the right choice for the role, although she is in her early twenties and Joan was between the ages of sixteen and nineteen. I knew of her plight as I attended Catholic school in my early years. Her treatment by the pompous inquisitors was disgusting and it ends, as expected, with fire and brimstone.

John the Baptist is next, and it is a beautifully filmed segment with a spectacular marble bath with King Herod bathing in splendor as he consults with his wife and Salome. John has made a few disparaging comments on the two women and later on after a sultry dance by Salome, Herod vows to carry out any of her requests. Meanwhile, John has baptized Jesus in the Jordan River and continues the practice with others. The king is indifferent but he fulfills his stepdaughter's wish and she receives John's head on a silver platter.

Saint Sebastian is next and I was not familiar with this man. Joan and John are well known but the saint from the fourth century did not have their PR agents. Sebastian was a high ranking officer of the Roman king and he participated in the torture and murders of Christians while secretly joining the flock. His sainthood was assured after he suffered and died for the One True Church.

Maximillian Kolbe was a Polish-German Franciscan priest who was at Auschwitz in 1941 when a prisoner escaped. The camp commander gave the order to starve ten prisoners to death as punishment. Kolbe took the place of a man who begged to be spared as he had a wife and children. After ten days, the future saint was near death when he was injected with carbolic acid and died like a dog. An unforgettable episode.

St. Francis is one of the most beloved of saints and those of us with an RC upbringing can recall seeing statues of the man surrounded by animals. He may have been the original bird whisperer. He was the son of a wealthy merchant who lived the life a a spoiled child until he had a vision from above requesting that he repair an abandoned church. Using stolen funds from his father, he rebuilt the church. His father disowned him and his friars are still a vital part of the modern day church.

Moses the Black was new to me, as it was to Scorcese. The Ethiopian man was the leader of a vicious criminal gang who pillaged and murdered in fourth century Egypt. While wandering in the desert he came upon a group of monks who owned nothing and prayed constantly. In time, Moses became the leader of the monks and he is the patron saint of nonviolence.

Mary Magdalene has been frequently portrayed as a prostitute but, as explained by Father James Martin, SJ. In the post episode discussion, this was a story spread by an early pope and is not true. She was a woman possessed by seven demons and she joined the twelve apostles and was the first to see the resurrected Christ. She went on to spread the the word of her Savior.

I started to watch the first episode, not knowing quite what to expect from a Scorsese produced show about the saints, but I was pleasantly surprised.

The series uses Scorsese's narration and dramatisations of key events in the saint's life to tell the viewer the background story of what they did and why they became saints.

The first saint, not surprisingly, is Joan of Arc. Now I, like many, I suspect, know the basics of Joan's story but little else about her. The show does a good job of filling in the background about their lives and what marked them out for sainthood.

I think it's worth watching, based on this first episode.