Brides of Christ

Brides of Christ was a six part mini-series made by the ABC in the early nineties concerning the lives of a small group of nuns and their students in a time of upheaval both within society and the church. It was critically acclaimed and launched the careers of two of Australia's 'hottest Hollywood celebrities', Russell Crowe and Naomi Watts. Controversial because of its content in a Predominantly Christian Australia, it was never the less> critically acclaimed and highly memorable (being nine at the time of release I can still remember watching it). It is extremely small in focus as each of the 50 minute long six parts is named after the character it features. Diane looks at the calling of a young academic to the church, causing her to turn away from her mother and fiance, only to discover that church doctrine does not live up to her logical mind and questioning it only leads to punishment. Frances looks at a young girl trying to deal with her parents divorce and mothers remarrying in a time when it was considered a mortal sin. Ambrose examines the trials of being the Mother of a convent reluctantly being modernised, while also dealing with the death of her father, and an attraction to a divorced man. Rosemary deals with the lack of information about sex in society and the 'sexual blossoming' of a young girl. Paul follows a young nun who decides to leave the order in aid of love, only to discover that the convent was where she wanted to be. Finally Catherine returns to Diane, who fed up with the churches inactivity over the ban of the use of contraception decides to leave the order to write a novel about her life. All parts combine to tell the story of devote catholic life in Australia in the 60's. It deals with the sensitive issues of Divorce, Abortion, Promiscuousness, Teen Pregnancy, Love, and dares to suggest that perhaps catholic doctrine is not always right.

I loved this series although I'm not a Catholic, not Australian, not a woman. Extremely good exploration of conservative institution beset by a plateful of changes in turbulent times. Depicts how different woman struggle to find the path forward using their different talents and faculties to arrive at their own approach to challenges.

In my opinion, very well cast. I found the characters for the most part very involving. This mini series is a good example of how the Australian movie- and television-making industry outperformed the entire rest of the English-speaking world on any kind of per capita measure in producing wonderful projects in the last two decades of the 20th century.

I really enjoyed 'Brides of Christ'. I first saw it a few years ago when I had to study it at school, and even though you are not really supposed to enjoy school texts I liked it. I have since watched it several times. The film which is really a short series gives you an insight into the director's version of how nuns and Catholics lived in the 60s. I actually liked nuns for nearly the first time (I liked them in Sound of Music).

The actors are excellent, and the movie gives you a wonderful cross-section of styles of people that are portrayed. I understand that this film caused a bit of trouble because of its views, and the fact that it deals with some sensitive issues, but it is well worth watching. It deals with 'ordinary person' issues as well as Catholic ones. I would recommend it to just about anyone.

IMO one of the best mini series ever produced (not that I'm an authoritative source mind you), Brides of Christ ranks up there with the British production Edge of Darkness with a similar high level of the quality and intelligence in the writing, acting and general execution. (The subject matter and treatment could not be more different though.)

Each of the six episodes deals with a different aspect of Catholic life in 1960s Australia as viewed through the nuns and students of an Australian convent/school. While the setting and recurring characters remain constant, each episode concentrates on a different character (well, one character gets two episodes). There is also a subtle arc which spans the entire mini series.

The performances are uniformly excellent - to single anyone in the recurring or guest cast out would be to slight the others who haven't been mentioned. As a piece of casting trivia however, fans of the Australian production of the stage musical Les Misérables will be pleased that no less than four members of the original Australian cast appear in Brides of Christ in guest roles. One episode also features an early performance by Russell Crowe.

This series, dealing with issues such as loyalty, integrity, faith and change makes you feel and it makes you think. You don't have to be Catholic to appreciate this series (I'm not and loved it), just a fan of high quality television.

This mini series was shown in the U.S. on the A&E Television network and it was landmark miniseries that correctly showed the turmoil effecting the catholic church after Vatican II. The story is a very Australian one in terms of how the changes going on in the church effected Catholics in Australia in the 1960s. This miniseries launched the careers of many young actors such as Naomi Watts and Russell Crowe. There is a huge amount of acting talent in Australia and they shine in this production. BOC was the performance of Brenda Flicker's career and is the one actress that stands out in the miniseries. The irony is almost half a century after Vatican II real reform seems to elude so much of the catholic church but it has reversed it's positions on so many issues since the 1960s.