DVD: For Greater Glory

For Greater Glory is a film about the Cristeros War from 1926 to 1929 when the Mexican people rose up against the repressive government of President Plutarco Calles and his anti-Catholic laws.

The film opens in 1926, a few years after the Mexican Revolution. At this time, a precarious relationship between the atheist Mexican government and the Catholic church existed. President Plutarco Elias Calles begins strictly enforcing the anti-clerical laws written into the Mexican constitution of 1917. The movie opens with Calles giving a radio address in which he claims Mexico is under siege by outcasts from Rome and Europe who have come to the country to destabilize it. These fanatics, he claims will not be tolerated and he has instructed Congress to devise a set of laws to deal with this "national emergency". These laws require every foreign-born bishop, priest and minister to be deported immediately. Any priest who criticizes the government will automatically receive a five-year jail sentence. The wearing of religious vestments in public is also prohibited. Calles states that his government will do whatever is necessary to preserve the ideals of the Mexican revolution.

Twelve-year-old Jose Luis Sanchez throws food at Father Christopher and is brought to the priest by his godfather Mayor Picazo to work for him. Father Christopher refuses, considering Jose's actions a harmless prank but later on he encourages Jose, telling him he will train him to be an altar boy. Picazo warns the priest to be careful wearing his cassock in public, stating, "God save us from these heathens."

Father Vega tells Father Christopher that there are spontaneous protests all over the country and that soldiers are travelling to the towns to make sure that the laws are enforced. But Father Christopher states that he came to Mexico from Europe when he was just seven years old and he doubts that they would deport an old priest. As it turns out he is sadly mistaken. Father Vega believes that armed resistance is inevitable, stating,  "We cannot allow the Godless to take away our freedom." The elderly Father Christopher tells him he will not fight but he will feed and shelter those fighters in need.

Eugene and Tulita being turned away from the cathedral.

Rome does respond. Pope Pius XI condemns Calles actions and beginning midnight August 1, all holy services in Mexico are suspended. This directive results in people lining up for marriage, baptism and confessions. (It should be noted that the Mexican bishops requested the cessation of religious services so as to avoid confrontations with the Mexican government and the police.) Enrique Gorostieta and his wife, Tulita are turned away from the cathedral for their daughter's confirmation. Enrique believes this situation will be temporary, that Calles will be overthrown,but Tulita is upset.

Meanwhile, a young woman named Adriana is attempting to get signatures for a petition to repeal the Calles law. An older gentlemen suggests that while Calles can ignore a million signature petition, he cannot ignore an economic boycott. Adriana takes this idea to Anacleto Gonzalez Flores who believes it to be brilliant. The Catholics organize a widespread boycott and march in the street leading Calles to believe he has been too lenient and that the boycott is to wreck the economy and bring the government down. This leads Calles to send soldiers to the churches, resulting Catholics being murdered and beaten.After this, Anacleto insists that they continue to resist peacefully but Miguel Gomez Loza tells him the war is already upon them. Anacleto agrees they can support the rebellion with funds, communication and medicine but they will not fight.

From the church tower, Jose sees the federales (federal soldiers) rapidly approaching and warns everyone. He runs to warn Father Christopher to hide but the elderly priest tells him he's too old to hide. Jose begs him to hide at his home, but Father refuses. From his hiding place, Jose witnesses the execution of Father Christopher and returns to his home devastated. Meanwhile the Catholics in the villages begin to fight back, arming themselves and attacking the federales. They call themselves Cristeros.  In a small village church, Father Robles is confronted by federales and hanged, the church vandalized. A few Cristeros arrive too late to help Father Robles, however they kill all the federales and hang their leader.

As the crisis deepens, two lawyers, Anacleto Gonzalez Flores and Miguel Gomez Loza, who work for the National League for the Defense of Religious Freedom join with the Cristeros to help fund the rebellion. They realize they must organize the twenty-thousand Cristeros into an effective force to fight for the freedom to practice their Catholic faith. They decide to approach a retired general, Enrique Gorostieta, although Anacleto is doubtful because Gorostieta is an atheist. Miguel visits Gorostieta on behalf of the  League to implore him to help.  Gorostieta tells him all the Cristeros have is belief but Miguel reveals they have weapons and a vast secret network. Later that evening Gorostieta tells his wife, Tulita about being approached by the Cristeros. She is shocked because he is an atheist but he tells her despite this he believes in religious freedom. In the end, he decides to become involved and lead the Cristeros, with the blessing of Tulita.

One of the Cristeros, Victoriano Ramirez is ambushed by fourteen federales at his ranch. He kills all of them and earns the nickname "El Catorce" - the Fourteen. When he arrives at the Cristeros camp he learns that Father Vega is the "general" leading the Cristeros. Vega insists that they must work together; Ramirez's actions drove the federales into their camp, causing many casualties. Under the direction of Father Vega, the Cristeros attack a train to steal the gold shipment. They succeed but the attack goes terribly wrong when Brother Pablo is killed and against Vega's orders, many civilians are burned alive in the train. It is at this point that General Gorostieta finally joins the Cristeros, telling them they will fight honorably and with dignity and cunning. They will not fight for revenge because they are an army fighting for God and the church.

In his village, Jose witnesses the brutal attack on a photographer and his son, Miguel who have been creating a photographic record of the war. Jose attempts to intervene but the soldier informs Jose that Mayor Picazo, who is Jose's godfather, ordered the murders. When confronted by Jose, Picazo tells him that Miguel is a well-known Cristero who killed a federale sergeant. He threatens Jose, warning him that he will not save his life again. This leads Jose and his friend Lalo to decide to join the Cristeros.

Jose and Lalo travel by horse to the Cristero camp where General Gorostieta accepts their help. As the days pass, Jose and Gorostieta form a father-son bond with Jose's example of a strong faith and deep peace beginning to tough the heart of Gorostieta. As the Cristeros organize, Calles intensifies his efforts to strangle both the Catholic church and those rebelling. Although some of the Cristeros raids are successful, many are not. Jose is captured, tortured and executed when he refuses to repudiate his faith. Gorostieta is devastated at the murder of Jose.

The United States through the efforts of Ambassador Dwight Morrow, becomes involved in attempting to broker a peace between the Cristeros and Calles. The US wants to end the fighting and save the US rights to Mexican oil fields. As a deal is reached, the fighting between Calles' troops and the Cristeros continues and many of the Cristeros, some, a martyrs death.

Discussion

For Greater Glory serves as an important piece of cinema in the effort to bring to light, both to the world and to the Mexican people whose government has suppressed it, the forgotten struggle for religious freedom - the Cristeros War. This war between the people and the government of President Calles lasted from 1926 to 1929 and cost an estimated ninety-thousand Mexicans their lives. 

To better understand the events For Greater Glory portrays, it helps to have some background knowledge of the relationship between the government of Mexico and the Catholic church. Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821.  In the 1850's the Mexican government under the leadership of Benito Juarez, who was backed by the United States, began confiscating land owned by the Catholic church. This was part of a land reform to reclaim land that was felt to belong to Mexicans. Eventually the government enacted laws that placed all church property under the ownership of the Mexican government and also forbade any public expression of religious belief. Mexican Catholics rebelled until Porfirio Diaz became Mexico's president in 1876. Diaz did not enforce the anti-clerical laws and so for many years the government and church co-existed.

However during his time as leader, Diaz continuing confiscating church land and redistributing it. The land of Mexico's indigenous peoples was also confiscated and eventually this led to much of Mexico's land being owned by a small percentage of very wealthy citizens. This led to the Mexican Revolution which had it's beginnings in 1910.

President Plutarco Elias Calles

In 1910, Porfirio Diaz was re-elected amid claims his win was rigged. He was ousted and Francisco Madero, a wealthy landowner who had the support of the Catholic clergy, won election in 1911. He reintroduced religious freedoms to Catholics that they had not experienced since the mid-1800's.  Although Madero won the election fairly, his presidency faced great opposition from both conservatives and revolutionaries. He was opposed by Victoriano Huerta, Venustiano Carranza, Pancho Villa, and Alvaro Obregon in the north and Emiliano Zapata in the south.  The period from 1913 to 1920 saw revolution and assassinations. Madero was forced to resign in 1913 and was later assassinated by one of his trusted military officers, General Victoriano Huerta. Huerta resigned in 1914 and fled to the United States. Carranza became President in 1915, defeating Villa and Zapata who held more lenient views towards the Catholic church.

In 1917 the Mexican Constitution was passed which raised to constitutional law the complete separation of church and state. To accomplish this, the old anti-Catholic laws from the previous century were enacted. These laws stated that all churches were the property of the Mexican government, clergy were banned from voting, from participating in political discourse and could not wear their religious garments, Local governments could also control the number of religious in their jurisdiction. Schools run by religious were banned and education was to have no religious content. The constitution was decidedly anti-Catholic and anti-religious. It is not surprising this occurred the same year the communist revolution overtook Russia.

Obregon handily won the presidential elections in 1920. He remained president for four years and in 1924, Calles became Mexico's 40th president. At first Calles presidency worked for positive change in Mexico, equality, land redistribution, better education and the rights of workers. But Calles was vehemently anti-Catholic and he soon re-enacted the anti-clerical laws embedded in the Mexican Constitution. His hardline stance led to direct conflict with the church and resulted in the Cristero War which began in 1926.

For Greater Glory attempts to portray the complex events of the Cristero War but doesn't fully succeed. For one thing viewers with little previous knowledge of Mexican history will struggle to understand the significance of the main characters and their relationship to one another, if any. The film attempts to follow a few significant players involved in the war; lawyer and pacifist Anacleto Gonzalez Flores, twelve-year old Jose Luis Sanchez del Rio, Miguel Gomez Loza, General Enrique Gorostieta, Father Jose Reyes Vega,  Victoriano Ramirez and the women of the Cristiada as exemplified by Adriana. Anacleto Gonzalez Flores was probably one of the most important figures in the Cristiada but the film never manages to convey this to the viewer. Gonzalez Flores was a charismatic leader who organized passive resistance and who only reluctantly became connected to armed resistance. He was faithful to Christ under torture until the very end. Sadly these qualities were never fully presented in For Greater Glory. Instead the relationship that dominates the movie is that between Jose and General Gorostieta, both of whose characters are the best developed in the movie. It is Gorostieta's journey from atheist and reluctant Cristeros to a convert to Catholicism that dominates the latter half of the movie.

The movie also chronicles several characters spiritual journeys including those of Jose, Mayor Picazo and Victoriano. Jose begins the film a mischievous boy who pranks the parish priest but transforms to a boy who develops a more mature and serious outlook on life after witnessing the murders of Father Christopher and others. Soon his life belongs to Christ and his faith is something to be preserved at all cost. In contrast, his godfather, Mayor Picazo begins as a seemingly devout Catholic concerned for the welfare of the parish priest but loses his soul as he attempts to get his beloved godson to apostatize so he can save him.

Where the movie succeeds is that it offers viewers some sense of the horrific oppression of Catholics by the Calles regime and the determination and grit of the Cristeros to defend the right to practice their faith. However, it's almost impossible to fully portray the brutality of the Calles regime. The rabid anti-Catholic policies of Calles resulted in the martyrdom of many innocents some of whom are portrayed in the movie; the attack on Catholics at Mass, the brutal hanging of Father Jose Maria Robles Hurtado, the Cristeros riding through entire villages massacred by the federales, corpses hanging from the telephone posts along the railway, the summary execution of the elderly Father Christopher and the torture and execution of a young boy, Jose Luis Sanchez del Rio. The film does not show the effects of the closure of churches and Catholic schools on the people except at the very beginning when the Gorostieta family is turned away from the cathedral. Nor is it really possible to show how the loss of most of Mexico's Catholic priests affected the sacramental life of Catholics. The movie is also chock full of wonderful scenes of the Latin Mass, Catholics receiving the sacraments, and scenes in beautiful churches with statues and paintings.

Blessed Miguel Pro moments before his death.

One of the most moving scenes in the movie occurs early on when Jose races to Father Christopher who is in the church praying. Jose begs him to flee or at the very least to hide at his home. But Father Christopher knows that he is too old to flee and that by hiding he may gravely endanger Jose's family. He tells Jose,  "Who are you if you don't stand up for what you believe? There is no greater glory than to give your life for Christ." Father Christopher tenderly embraces Jose attempting to comfort the distraught boy. The elderly priest does not resist as he is led outside the church and executed as a tearful Jose watches from the tower. The character of Father Christopher is based on the real life priest, Cristobal Magallanes Jara.

Viewers will be deeply touched by the martyrdom of Jose Luis Sanchez. Unable to break the young boy's determination not to reveal critical information and to remain faithful to Christ, he was cruelly tortured. As shown in the movie, the bottom of his feet were cut and he suffered many other wounds. Jose was forced to walk through the town to his grave in the cemetery where he was stabbed. He died reiterating the battle cry of the Cristeros, Viva Cristo Rey!

For Greater Glory was directed by Dean Wright known for his work on two of the Lord of the Rings movies (The Two Towers and The Return of the King) and featured a strong cast that included Andy Garcia as General Gorostieta, Eva Longoria as his wife Tulita, Oscar Isaac as Victoriano Ramirez, Ruben Blades as President Calles, Eduardo Verastegui as Anacleto, Bruce Greenwood as Ambassador Dwight Morrow and featuring Mauricio Kuri as Jose. Peter O'Toole played Father Christopher. Movie goers may remember the devout Catholic Verastegui from the movie, Bella. All give believable, solid performances in this movie.

During the rolling movie credits, viewers will see film footage of the execution of Blessed Miguel Pro, a Mexican priest. It is likely the first time the martyrdom of a Catholic saint has ever been filmed. Calles had Pro's execution filmed in the hopes that he would disgrace the Catholic faith. But Pro went to his death forgiving his executioners and faithful to Christ his king.

Perhaps the most important message of For Greater Glory is that the one, apostolic, holy church founded by Jesus Christ will never be overcome by worldly powers. Throughout the last 2000 years, countless governments from the Roman Empire to the communist regimes of Stalin and Castro, from Robspierre to Calles have tried to suppress the Catholic faith. But people like those who were part of the Cristiada will remain faithful to their beliefs. For there IS no greater glory than to give your life for Christ. Viva Cristo Rey!