Film on Mother Teresa worthwhile

Shortly before the death of Mother Teresa, members of her order, the Missionaries of Charity, protested the production of a TV movie about her life and asked that it not be shown. She had never profited from her fame, they argued; neither should a TV network or movie company.

But there are other kinds of profit, and "Mother Teresa: In the Name of God's Poor," to be shown on The Family Channel, has significant values to share with families. It will profit parents in non-monetary but very real ways to sit down with their children to watch the two-hour movie.

The most startling aspect of the movie is the performance by Geraldine Chaplin as Mother Teresa. If you had asked me to name actresses who could have displayed Mother Teresa's deep spirituality and force of personality, it would have taken me 40 years to come up with the name of Geraldine Chaplin, perhaps best known for her role in "Dr. Zhivago." But she is magnificent in the part.

Early years

The made-for-TV film covers the beginnings of Mother Teresa's ministry among the poor in India. Although it briefly leaps forward to her winning the Nobel Peace Prize, the emphasis is on her initial steps to serve the poorest of the poor.

As the movie begins, she exits her cloistered life, having heard God's call. It's difficult to portray on film something as personal and abstract as a call from God, but "Mother Teresa: In the Name of God's Poor" does it very effectively -- and hauntingly. Then she goes about trying to find what God has called her to, battling her own hesitations, the Church's questions and some people's suspicions about her motivations.

Throughout the movie, Mother Teresa's grounding in faith is emphasized, with scenes of her at Mass, saying the Rosary, making the Sign of the Cross, calling on God for assistance, and seeking both strength and solace in prayer. Miss Chaplin manages to make all these actions seem as natural as breathing to Mother Teresa, which, of course, they were.

Filmed in Sri Lanka, with a cast of mostly unknown actors, the movie inserts a fictional newsman (played by William Katt) to represent the media that found Mother Teresa both fascinating and puzzling. He challenges her actions, as some critics did; and she resists the criticism as she did in real life by inviting them to do as she did: serve the needy.

Good for children

"Mother Teresa: In the Name of God's Poor" is excellent not only for home viewing with children but also for religious education classes, Catholic schools and parish study clubs. It provides an introduction to the saint-to-be's early life, a part of her biography that is less known to Catholics who have concentrated on her later life.

Duplicating the original's accent and looking very much like early photos of her, Miss Chaplin is effective in portraying Mother Teresa -- not as a saint-in-the-making but as a real-life human being who wanted to do something beautiful for God.

Scheduled to run before Mother Teresa's death, the movie now takes on added meaning as a tribute to her life and a reminder of her achievements. Yes, it will profit those who appeared in it and who made it. But it has more value in a non-economic sense as a testimony to a woman who changed her corner of the world.

("Mother Teresa: In the Name of God's Poor" will debut on The Family Channel, a cable outlet, on Oct. 5 at 7 p.m.)