{"id":2601,"date":"2012-08-28T11:16:52","date_gmt":"2012-08-28T15:16:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/faithmediaandculture\/?p=2601"},"modified":"2012-08-28T12:31:50","modified_gmt":"2012-08-28T16:31:50","slug":"ripped-from-the-headlines-st-augustine-biopic-tells-gripping-story-of-church-state-conflict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/08\/ripped-from-the-headlines-st-augustine-biopic-tells-gripping-story-of-church-state-conflict.html","title":{"rendered":"Ripped from the headlines: St. Augustine biopic tells gripping story of church-state conflict"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s today&#8217;s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture.<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><\/em>Church vs. State.<\/strong> <em>RESTLESS HEART: The Confessions of Augustine,\u00a0<\/em>based on St. Augustine\u2019s autobiography <em>The Confessions<\/em>, premieres tomorrow (9\/29) at the CMN Trade Show in Dallas. And, despite its ancient Rome setting, its central conflict pitting an authoritarian secular government against\u00a0 people of faith couldn&#8217;t be more contemporary.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong> A young Augustine leaves modest beginnings in Roman North Africa for Carthage\u00a0 to study under the great orator and lawyer Macrobius from whom he learns all too well the art of utilizing words to twist the truth.\u00a0 His natural oratorical talent leads to an invitation to Milan where he becomes the emperor\u2019s orator.<\/p>\n<p>His new position leads to a clash with Bishop Ambrose whose own oratorical abilities are seen as the threat to the emperor. The pair engage in a historic battle of truth versus distortion that has all the drama of Rocky film with words substituting for fists.\u00a0 Augustine goes on to use the bishop&#8217;s own words\u00a0 &#8212; and the words of scripture &#8212; to justify a\u00a0 violent attack on a Catholic basilica. \u00a0 Several innocent Catholics are murdered in the siege that follows, a siege that results in Augustine&#8217;s own conversion.\u00a0 When Augustine speaks out against the injustice he witnessed he is removed from his position of power and willingly becomes a pariah of the state.\u00a0 He goes on to become a Catholic bishop himself &#8212; and one of the most respected saints in church history.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Directed by:<\/strong> Christian Duguay (<em>Joan of Arc, Pius XII<\/em>); <strong>Starring:<\/strong> Alessandro Preziosi (Young Augustine), Franco Nero (Elder Augustine), Andrea Giordana (Bishop Ambrose), Monica Guerritore (Monica, Augustine&#8217;s mother), Cosimo Fusco (Patricius, Augustine&#8217;s father), <strong><\/strong>Dietrich Hollinderb\u00e4umer (Macrobius)<\/p>\n<iframe title=\"Restless Heart: The Confessions of Augustine | Trailer\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yAWJFbUYT_w?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p><strong>IMHO:<\/strong> The direction, production\u00a0 and performances here are all first rate. Preziosi, particularly, stands out in the lead role. While, toward the end, I did have a question about the fate of Augustine&#8217;s son (perhaps I missed something), overall the script was strong and held my attention<\/p>\n<div><strong><\/strong><em>RESTLESS HEART: The Confessions of Augustine<\/em> is a fascinating study of how words and dramatic presentation can be used for good or evil purposes. As such, it provides a valuable lesson to our contemporary media-driven society. Today&#8217;s media are the orators of our age but, speaking through movie screens, TV shows and YouTube, they reach far more people in far less time. It&#8217;s a power, as Augustine learned in his day, which must be wielded wisely.\u00a0 Of course, not everyone necessarily has the wisdom or will to do so. That&#8217;s why we the people must also be vigilant in discerning the difference between truth and mere argument.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><strong>The Bottom Line:<\/strong> <strong>Highly Recommended.<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>For more info about the movie go to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.RestlessHeartFilm.com\" target=\"_blank\">www.RestlessHeartFilm.com<\/a>. To bring <em>RESTLESS HEART<\/em>to a theater in your area with a hosted screening, contact Victor Pap of\u00a0 The Maximus Group at 678-990-9032 or email VPap@MaximusMG.com.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><em>Encourage one another and build each other up \u2013 <\/em>1 Thessalonians 5:11<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s today&#8217;s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. Church vs. State. RESTLESS HEART: The Confessions of Augustine,\u00a0based on St. Augustine\u2019s autobiography The Confessions, premieres tomorrow (9\/29) at the CMN Trade Show in Dallas. And, despite its ancient Rome setting, its central conflict pitting an authoritarian secular government against\u00a0 people of faith couldn&#8217;t&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9,15,22,24,1],"tags":[3310,3314,3312,3306,3307,3313,3315,3309,3280,3311,3308,2734,3304,3305,3316],"class_list":["post-2601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholic-church","category-christianity","category-history","category-media","category-movies","category-uncategorized","tag-andrea-giordana-bishop-ambrose","tag-augustines-father","tag-augustines-mother","tag-catholic-charities-of-central-colorado","tag-christian-duguay-joan-of-arc","tag-cosimo-fusco-patricius","tag-dietrich-hollinderbaumer-macrobius","tag-franco-nero-elder-augustine","tag-lon-chaney-theater","tag-monica-guerritore-monica","tag-pius-xii-starring-alessandro-preziosi-young-augustine","tag-restless-heart-the-confessions-of-augustine","tag-st-augustine-biopic","tag-st-augustines-autobiography-the-confessions","tag-victor-pap-of-the-maximus-group"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ripped from the headlines: St. Augustine biopic tells gripping story of church-state conflict<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/08\/ripped-from-the-headlines-st-augustine-biopic-tells-gripping-story-of-church-state-conflict.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ripped from the headlines: St. Augustine biopic tells gripping story of church-state conflict\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here\u2019s today&#8217;s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. Church vs. State. RESTLESS HEART: The Confessions of Augustine,\u00a0based on St. Augustine\u2019s autobiography The Confessions, premieres tomorrow (9\/29) at the CMN Trade Show in Dallas. And, despite its ancient Rome setting, its central conflict pitting an authoritarian secular government against\u00a0 people of faith couldn&#8217;t&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/08\/ripped-from-the-headlines-st-augustine-biopic-tells-gripping-story-of-church-state-conflict.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-08-28T15:16:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-08-28T16:31:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John W. Kennedy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ripped from the headlines: St. Augustine biopic tells gripping story of church-state conflict","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/08\/ripped-from-the-headlines-st-augustine-biopic-tells-gripping-story-of-church-state-conflict.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ripped from the headlines: St. Augustine biopic tells gripping story of church-state conflict","og_description":"Here\u2019s today&#8217;s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. Church vs. State. RESTLESS HEART: The Confessions of Augustine,\u00a0based on St. Augustine\u2019s autobiography The Confessions, premieres tomorrow (9\/29) at the CMN Trade Show in Dallas. And, despite its ancient Rome setting, its central conflict pitting an authoritarian secular government against\u00a0 people of faith couldn&#8217;t&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/08\/ripped-from-the-headlines-st-augustine-biopic-tells-gripping-story-of-church-state-conflict.html","og_site_name":"Faith, Media &amp; Culture","article_published_time":"2012-08-28T15:16:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-08-28T16:31:50+00:00","author":"John W. Kennedy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/08\/ripped-from-the-headlines-st-augustine-biopic-tells-gripping-story-of-church-state-conflict.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/08\/ripped-from-the-headlines-st-augustine-biopic-tells-gripping-story-of-church-state-conflict.html","name":"Ripped from the headlines: St. Augustine biopic tells gripping story of church-state conflict","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-08-28T15:16:52+00:00","dateModified":"2012-08-28T16:31:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/08\/ripped-from-the-headlines-st-augustine-biopic-tells-gripping-story-of-church-state-conflict.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/08\/ripped-from-the-headlines-st-augustine-biopic-tells-gripping-story-of-church-state-conflict.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/08\/ripped-from-the-headlines-st-augustine-biopic-tells-gripping-story-of-church-state-conflict.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ripped from the headlines: St. Augustine biopic tells gripping story of church-state conflict"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/","name":"Faith, Media &amp; Culture","description":"Beliefnet Voices - John W. Kennedy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2","name":"John W. Kennedy","description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations &amp; Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. He can be reached for writing, producing and consulting services at 516-640-1182.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/author\/jkennedy"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2601"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2604,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2601\/revisions\/2604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}