Should you watch Flying Padre?
Who it’s good for, who it isn’t, and what’s in it. No ratings, no scores.
Flying Padre
Documentary · 1951
Stanley Kubrick’s short documentary about Father Fred Stadtmueller, a Catholic priest serving a vast 4,000-square-mile parish in rural New Mexico. To reach his scattered congregation, he pilots his own Piper Cub aircraft, the Spirit of St. Joseph. Over two days, Kubrick follows the “flying padre” as he conducts Mass, mediates between quarreling children, attends a funeral, and airlifts a sick child to medical care—capturing both the challenges and quiet heroism of his daily mission.
The sides of Flying Padre
- A priest flying his own small plane
- A huge parish in rural New Mexico
- An early short by Stanley Kubrick
Flying Padre is good for you if…
- you like black and white films from the early fifties.
- you like a real priest's two days, from Mass to a funeral to a sick child.
- you like the wide, empty New Mexico landscape seen from a small plane.
Flying Padre is bad for you if…
- you need more happening than a quiet working routine.
- you want time to know someone, and this lasts nine minutes.
About: faith · duty · community
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