Cabrini

Mother Francesca Cabrini in 1889 set out to New York to help the Italian migrants’ community, in the face of grinding poverty and racism. She then went on to establish institutions across America, then the world, then canonised after her death.

That, in a nutshell, is the story that director Alejandro Monteverde and co-writer Rod Barr tell. Cabrini (Cristiana Dell’Anna) is requested by the pope to go to New York and assist the growing Italian population, in particular the situation with orphaned children. With some trepidation she and her sisters travel by boat and almost immediately confronted by prejudice and unguarded racism.

When they arrive at the Five Points district, they are overwhelmed by the grime, poverty and criminality. With little help from Archbishop Corrigan (David Morse) - who is looking for an easy life and certainly not going to get on the wrong side the corrupt Mayor Gould (John Lithgow) - Mother Cabrini sets about finding premises from where she can work.

But problems with money, regulation and prejudice intertwine to hamper them at almost every stage. However the various institutions hadn’t reckoned on Cabrini’s strength of character and resolve. Herself seriously ill and given short time to live appears to have steeled her for the mission. Using guile and cool financial acumen Cabrini gets things done.

All told the story is fairly linear with only few flashbacks to Cabrini’s childhood and the accident that resulted in her chronic condition. Then there are a couple of characters attached to Cabrini; former prostitute Vittoria (Romana Maggiora Vergano) and orphan Paolo (Federico Ielapi) that help provide a little more insight into her character.

Dell’Anna as Cabrini is excellent, nuancing the hard-nosed attitude with her more reflective moments. There’s never a question of her devotion to the church, though the film is light on explicit religious doctrine, it has a suitably reverential air throughout.

The look is sumptuous though the filmmakers haven’t deodorised the squalor. But they placed it in the context of an economically powerful nation that is struggling with the reasons why it is attractive to immigrants looking for a new life, with a place and say in society. The latter point is skilfully articulated when Cabrini finally meets Mayor Gould.

For a film of this length Monteverde and Barr keep it tight and don’t let things meander. The pace is brisk, the dialogue uncomplicated, each event leading to another moving slickly to conclude this segment of Cabrini’s life.

Cabrini is out on digital, DVD and Blu-ray from 27 May 2024.