For Greater Glory (2012) is a feature film chronicling the Cristero War, a conflict that took place in Mexico in the 1920s. It depicts Mexicans in a popular uprising against anti-clerical laws enforced by President Calles, which they viewed as a persecution of the Catholic Church in Mexico. These policies, called “Calles Law,” arose from a fear that Catholic and foreign interests in Mexico would destabilize the young, atheistic government. The film primarily gives the perspective of Mexican Catholics and rebel fighters, following several characters in the struggle who eventually come together under the banner of the Cristeros. These include the retired military strategist, Gorostieta, who would become the general of the rebel army; a young boy, José, who runs off to join the fight after his local priest is executed; two rebel leaders – the priest, Father Vega, and the outlaw, Victoriano – that would unite under Gorostieta; and a group of women who operate an underground network to supply the rebels with arms and medicine.
As the various forces become united, the rebels are able to mount a strong resistance to the Mexican Federales. Under Gorostieta, they adopt guerilla tactics to disrupt trade and governance and inflict the most damage. The agreement between the Catholic Church and Mexican government – brokered by the American ambassador – that would ultimately end the war is only hinted at in the film, which represents the Cristeros as fighting to the bitter end.
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While the film is technically a Mexican production and is filmed in Mexico, it is in English and features American or British cast and crew in many key roles. This includes the screenwriter, director, editors, composer, and the principal stars Andy Garcia, Eva Longoria, and Peter O’Toole. The script is based on a translation of the 1976 account of the conflict, The Cristero Rebellion: The Mexican People between Church and State 1926-1929, by the French historian Jean A. Meyer. Given the choice of language, cast, and principal crew, it seems clear that this film was directed at a principally American audience. The purpose of the film is to educate audiences on the Cristero War. It is far from a purely factual account, however, with a clear bias for the catholic and rebel perspective.
The full title of the film is For Greater Glory: The True Story of Cristiada, and this choice of title is significant for two rhetorical devices it uses. First, there is an implication that the Cristeros rebels were achieving glory in the conflict, and thus in the right. Second, the use of “true” in the subtitle is persuasive, attempting to convince audiences that this account of events is factual. Among the characters, there is a clear division between heroes and villains, with Calles and his forces being portrayed in the latter role. Calles’ appearances are accompanied by dark, ominous music, and his speech and bearing is that of a ruthless dictator. The Federales are cruel, cowardly, and incompetent, while the rebels fighters are brave and merciful, their action often backed by romantic, uplifting music. When the character José is captured, he becomes a martyr, and is marched Christ-like through the streets of his town before being dramatically executed by the merciless Federales.
Ideologically, For Greater Glory clearly sides with the Cristeros. A number of historical realities and complexities, however, are glossed over in the film. The operations of the Catholic Church and the interests of the American petroleum industry, for example, are not given the depth required for the viewer to grasp the significance of events. Because the film is so vague in terms of time and place, it is difficult to situate events within a coherent timeline. In addition, some characters are clearly composites representing a group of people and others are tinkered with to portray them more favorably than history might. Victoriano, for example, dies courageously in a battle against the Federales, while, in fact, he was killed later by his own side, after refusing to cooperate with the other generals. The priest, Father Vega, who was responsible for burning fifty innocent people alive in a train, is conveniently absolved of this in the film. Both Vega and Gorostieta also die heroically, while the facts of their deaths are more mundane.
In contrast to the rhetoric, ideology, and grand, epic scale of For Greater Glory, Los Olvidados (1950) – which also claims to be a factual account – is a distinctly unromantic work of social realism. It works on a much smaller scale, concerning poverty in Mexico City, and follows a group of young, petty criminals trying to survive on the streets. When one of them, Jaibo, kills a young man whom he believed was responsible for ratting him out to the authorities, he and his younger friend, Pedro, are forced to hide and to deal with their guilt over the act. The latter, remorseful for his involvement in the crime and having sworn not to betray Jaibo’s guilt, finds a job and attempts to help provide for his family (he had earlier told the gang that “Only morons work”). Again, however, his friend gets him in trouble and Pedro is accused of a crime Jaibo committed and sent to a reform school. After leaving the school, Pedro confronts Jaibo and announces his responsibility for the murder. Jaibo kills Pedro and then is chased and killed by the police.
While For Greater Glory features an ending very much in the Hollywood tradition, with a combination of tragedy and celebration of the human spirit that is ultimately intended to be uplifting and an affirmation of the catholic faith, Los Olvidados ends with no glory or resolution. As the opening narrator states, “This film shows the real life. It is not optimistic. The solution to this problem is left to the forces of progress.” It is ironic that For Greater Glory, which claims to be about a rebellion supported by “the people,” hardly shows us any average Mexican people – certainly nobody from the lower classes. Los Olvidados gives the viewer a more accurate picture of urban poverty in the mid-twentieth century. In the opening montage and voiceover, it is implied that what we see in Mexico City is representative of the desperation many live under in cities across the world. The title translates as “The Forgotten” (though it has been released under the English title The Young and the Damned) and represents people living outside “the system,” without anyone looking out for them. Unlike the implied “people” in For Greater Glory, nobody is fighting for the freedom of the forgotten ones. In fact, an abstraction like freedom of belief or religion would mean little to these people, who are more concerned with putting food on the table for their family.
For Greater Glory features a plot showing how absolute faith can conquer all and that religious freedom is worth any sacrifice. One of the principal story arcs is of the boy, José, and the general, Gorostieta, both moving from agnosticism to fervent belief. Interestingly, it was made at a time when religious extremism – primarily in the form of Islamic terrorism – was being condemned and fought by America and its allies. One could probably make an ideological film like For Greater Glory which glorifies not catholic faith and resistance to persecution in Mexico, but that of Muslims in the Middle East. The film was also made during a time of unprecedented violence between the Mexican state and the drug cartels. It seems like a strangely distant and irrelevant topic given the local and global socio-political environment. Los Olvidados, on the other hand, was made during a time when poverty was very real in Mexico City, and thus is a much more contemporary film, in terms of the issues it addresses.
- Buñuel, Luis, Luis Alcoriza, Gabriel Figueroa, Rodolfo Halffter, Gustavo Pittaluga, Alfonso Mejía, Delgado M. Inclan, Roberto Cobo, Alma D. Fuentes, and Stella Inda. Los Olvidados: The Young and the Damned. Mexico City: Televisa, 2004.
- Wright, Dean, Michael Love, Pablo J. Barroso, Andy Garcia, Oscar Isaac, Moreno C. Sandino, Peter O’Toole, Eva Longoria, Santiago Cabrera, and Mauricio Kuri. For Greater Glory: The True Story of Cristiada. Santa Monica, CA: ARC Entertainment, 2012.
