Priest is a powerful and, at times, highly moving British drama regarding a young Roman Catholic fighting with his faith and the hypocrisy of the church. The mid-'90s film was controversial upon release, due to touching on subjects such as child abuse and homosexuality.  Thirty-some years on, the film remains undated( aside from some of the soundtrack cues), retaining both its emotional effect and power regarding hypocrisy uncovered. Here from BFI is a new Blu-ray release of the film, taking in a new HD scan, and a selection of new and archive extras.

Priest is from the year 1994- it was filmed in several locations around Myreside, Manchester, and London. It was directed by London-born female director Antonia Bird, who has a total of twenty-seven credits- four are features, and the rest are TV show episodes/ TV films. Her other three features are romantic drama Mad Love (1995), well-acted/ gritty gangster film Face (1997), and cannibalistic horror /dark comedy  Ravenous (1999). The film was  scripted by Liverpool’s Jimmy McGovern( Brookside, Hillsborough, Cracker)

The film certainly opens with a bang, as we see a middle-aged priest taking the large statue of Christ on the cross from a church. He carries it through the streets and onto a crowded bus, ending up at the large house of the local bishops, running towards his leaded windows with the cross.

Next, we meet the middle-aged priest’s replacements- in his twenties/ early thirties, Father Greg Pilkington (Linus Roache). To begin with, he seems very set/ traditional in his faith, which sets him against the other priest in the church, Father Matthew Thomas(Tom Wilkinson), who weaves in staunch socialist/labour set views in everything he does.

Aside from the two priests bucking horns/ not getting on, Father  Pilkington is doing fine. But when fourteen-year-old Lisa( Christine Tremarco) comes into the confessional booth to reveal she has been abused by her father, things start to unfold. Oh, and the Father is a closeted homosexual who hooks up with Graham(Robert Carlyle) in a gay club.

Both Roache and Wilkinson are excellent in their roles, each having well-realised & perfectly executed character arcs. But there’s some great supporting acting, too- for example, we have Robert Pugh, who plays the father of the abused girl, and manages to portray real-life/ true evil very well.

Amongst the tense/ traumatic drama, there are some really funny/laugh-out-loud scenes, which give moments of rewarding levity, without ever cheapening the serious aspects/ themes looked at here.

Priest is a wonderfully written, impactful, and generally engaging drama, which makes for a highly enthralling and affecting watch.

This new Blu-ray features an HD scan- this looks nicely crisp and clean throughout, really enhancing the stark Englishness of the whole thing. We get a fair selection of both new and archive extras.

On the new side, we have I Miss Those Days: An Interview With Linus Roache (17.43), this is an interview with the lead actor, who  I didn’t realise was the son of William Roache, who is one of the longest-running soap stars- playing the role of Ken Barlow in Coronation Street since the 60’s. Linus moves from talking about what it was like coming from a family of actors, getting into acting school, and lots of roles in the theatre. He talks about how he got the role, which involved going to have a drink with McGovern. Working with Antonia Bird, they often run through scenes the night before. And the impact of the film, which received universal praise, he touches on when he went to the US with the picture, and he had to have a bodyguard due to death threats.  The other new extra here is Jimmy McGovern Remembers… Priest(14.23) interview with the film's writer.

On the archive side, we have the following: The Bafta & BFI Screenwriters’ Lecture Series: Jimmy McGovern (27.32) from 2016- a career-spanning interview with the writer. The Guardian Interview: Antonia Bird( 72.00) a 1995 interview with the director. The Take: Priest (3.39) from 1999,  Simon O’Brien considers how McGovern’s Catholic education and personal experiences influenced his writing on Priest. The Priest (22.05): a 1953 amateur documentary about the priesthood and Catholicism moving from the margins to the mainstream.

The finished release comes with an Illustrated booklet with new writing on the film by Lillian Crawford, a new essay on Antonia Bird by Rachel Pronger; new writing on Jimmy McGovern by Mark Duguid, notes on the special features and credits.

It’s wonderful to see the BFI reissuing Priest, as it’s a great and powerful drama, which largely remains undated/ relevant today. The new release takes in a good selection of worthy extras- both old and new, and a nice HD scan