(English & French subtitles)
Three
Catholic priests meet to celebrate the anniversary of an event which
could have taken their lives. Their experiences and motivations to serve
as priests are extremely different, and soon each of them will have to
face new challenges.
A
film depicting Polish clerics as corrupt, drunken fornicators and
paedophiles is smashing box office records in Poland, sparking
controversy and encouraging hundreds of people to come forward with
allegations of recent and historical abuse.
Based on real events,
Kler (The Clergy), by the director Wojciech Smarzowski, which includes
testimonies of survivors, features an alcoholic priest who encourages
his lover to have an abortion, a priest accused of abusing a young boy, a
senior cleric engaged in corruption and blackmail, and a grotesque,
foul-mouthed archbishop cutting deals with politicians and mobsters, all
operating with impunity against the backdrop of a passive and credulous
society portrayed as complicit in the crimes being committed.
The
film broke Polish box officer records on its opening weekend , and has
been seen by almost 3 million people since its release at the end of
September 2018.