The Garden of Redemption

Set in WWII Italy just before the Fascists got booted, this leisurely romance centers on the unconsummated yearning between a feisty partisan (Schindler's List's Embeth Davidtz) and a determinedly apolitical priest (Murder One's Anthony LaPaglia). Despite the film's sometimes numbing slowness and inescapable religious symbolism, the actors' restrained yet intense performances and Thomas Michael Donnelly's less-is-more script present the complexities of love, patriotism, and courage with comparative subtlety — which makes The Garden of Redemption a refreshing change from the average Blockbuster blockbuster. B-