Molokai: The Story of Father Damien (1999)

Synopsis: Inspiring true story follows the epic life of Father Damien (Wenham), a legendary Belgian priest who dedicated his life (quite literally) to the care and spiritual guidance of a doomed Hawaiian leper colony during the late 1800s. Faced with appallingly daunting conditions--symptoms... Inspiring true story follows the epic life of Father Damien (Wenham), a legendary Belgian priest who dedicated his life (quite literally) to the care and spiritual guidance of a doomed Hawaiian leper colony during the late 1800s. Faced with appallingly daunting conditions--symptoms ignored, food stolen from the sick, the weak forced into slavery, diseased girls forced into prostitution--the priest supported himself through his sense of justice and his unwavering faith. A counterpart of other beneficent luminaries such as Mother Theresa and Gandhi, Damien's story speaks of the triumph of the human and the indomitable force of one man's will to do what is morally and spiritually right in a beautiful, alien world. Spectacular scenery and panoramic Hawaiian vistas add a particularly aesthetic pleasure to the story. Screenplay by John Briley, the scribe responsible for GANDHI. [More]