Downtown Springfield Association
Hail Mary (1985)

Hail Mary (1985)

April, 10 2023 | 7:00 pm

305 S Campbell Springfield, Missouri 65806
https://mail.moxiecinema.com/films/hail-mary-1985


HAIL MARY (April series) is an exploration of christian allegory in arthouse cinema.
Hail Mary is Free for Members. Click here for info on the full series lineup.
*The Book of Mary (1985) will precede the feature.

THE BOOK OF MARY (NR, 28 min.)
Marie, eleven years old, is experiencing difficult times. Her parents will separate. The perception of her universe is profoundly disturbed. This exacting portrait of a child immerses in her books, her music, and her dancing casts a dispassionate yet ultimately touching eye on the girl’s reaction to the new upheaval in her life.
Starring: Bruno Cremer, Aurore Clément, Rebecca Hampton
Director: Anne-Marie Miéville
Language: French
Genre(s): Short, Drama


HAIL MARY
 (NR, 67 min.)
Denounced by the Pope and banned and boycotted worldwide, this surprisingly serene and lyrical work translates the Virgin Birth into tangible contemporary terms, with Mary as a teenage basketball-playing gas-station attendant who receives the Annunciation by jetliner. Mary is a beautiful yet ordinary teenager who vows to maintain her chastity. Following a warning from an angel, a confused and innocent Mary unexpectedly falls pregnant and is forced to wed her taxi-driving boyfriend Joseph. He, in turn, must love his virgin bride from a distance, revering her without touching her. Forced to face a shocking reality, Mary and Joseph along with their family and friends must struggle to cope as the provocative theme unfolds. Hail Mary is a sensational and bold work from French master director Jean-Luc Godard which touched off an uproar of protest heard around the world.
[Cohen Film Group]

Godard’s ‘60s films are legend, but his career went far beyond the French New Wave. Roundly condemned by the Vatican for its risky retelling of the Virgin Mary’s story, this is a highlight of his under-rated ‘80s period, as cinema’s great experimenter refused to soften his provocative edge.
[Mubi]

Starring: Starring: Myriem Roussel, Thierry Rode, Philippe Lacoste, Manon Andersen, Malachi, Jara Kohan, Juliette Binoche
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Language: French
Genre: Drama

The film was first released in France on 23 January 1985. It was entered into the 35th Berlin International Film Festival. All screenings in its initial theatrical distribution were accompanied by the short film The Book of Mary (French: Le livre de Marie) by Godard’s longtime companion and collaborator Anne-Marie Miéville. The film receives home media release from the Cohen Media. The blu-ray package follows this tradition and places The Book of Mary right before Hail Mary.