Film: “Cabrini”featuring John Lithgow
Religion is a touchy subject. When people ask about mine, I’m likely to quip, “RC. As in Recovering Catholic.” Which is why I approached the prospect of watching Alejandro Monteverdi’s “Cabrini” (2024) with some reservations.
I shouldn’t have worried. Because this biopic of Mother Cabrini, an Italian immigrant who looked after fellow immigrants in late 19th century New York City, is not only smart and respectful but at time joyous.
The woman who was to become America’s first saint had far from a saintly start in life. Born in pre-risorgimento Italy, young Francesca (played by an iron-willed Crisitana dell’Anna) nearly drowns as a child, which damages her lungs and leads to a lifetime of ill health.
Undaunted in neither body nor spirit, Francesca establishes an orphanage in her small northern Italy town but sets her sights higher: helping impoverished children in China. Denied the opportunity to do so by Pope Leo XIII himself (Giancarlo Gianinni), she accepts his compromise: minister to poor Italian immigrants in the Five Points neighborhood of New York City, a densely populated, disease-ridden and crime-infested slum.
Despite a blessing from the pope, she faces unexpected headwinds there from Archbishop Michael Corrigan (David Morse) who while sympathetic to her intentions regards Francesca and her fellow “dagos” as troublemakers. She also threatens the inroads he’s made with the more “elite” elements of the city.
After finally getting the orphanage underway, Francesca turns her attention to building a first-rate hospital in Washington Heights. Again, she faces resistance: it’s soon burned down by nativist thugs. Forced by the American Catholic hierarchy to return to Italy, Francesca hectors the Italian legislature to get support for her US projects, and to the surprise of everyone (including me) succeeds.
The last speed bump Francesca faces is the fictitious New York City mayor Gould (a terrific John Lithgow), who is shocked by her nerve. “You should have been a man,” he tells Cabrini. She shakes her head no. “Women get things done.” she responds.
Filled in Italian and English subtitles, “Cabrini” is a surprise —lovely, unpretentious, and most of all timely in an era when “immigrant” has become a dirty word. It’s also a testament to women who just won’t quit.
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