Amazon Prime film humanizes the lives of priests

By Kim Roberts
Clarion Herald

Father Stephen Fichter hopes to humanize the priesthood and seminarians through his new film, “Trinity’s Triumph,” now available on Amazon Prime and other streaming platforms.

“We (priests) are happy and funny, but we are also sinful and weak,” he said. “We are just human beings like everyone else. I want everyone to see the human side of the church. The original intent of the movie was to let people see the three young men who are entering the seminary as an inspiration and watch the paths they choose to follow.”

According to the movie’s website (trinitystriumph.com), Monsignor Heck, played by Joe Morton, sets the three seminarians on their true “callings” for the rest of their lives.

Joe Finnerty, played by Joshua Wills, struggles with loneliness, but loves his parish work.

Tom Kim, played by Young Mazino, is a brilliant student who sets his sights on becoming a religious scholar. He begins to question the church’s rule on celibacy and whether it may have deviated from Christ’s original intention regarding married priests.

Mike Martinez, played by Adriel Irizarry, is a fun-loving seminarian who is brilliant at Bible trivia.

Based on real life
“Every character in the movie, every one of them, was based on the life of one of my friends or my own life,” Father Fichter said. “Everything you see in the movie is pretty true. Characters are not based on one person, but a combination of different parts of people’s stories. For example, there is a prank that is played at the beginning of the movie – I actually played that prank in New Orleans.”

Father Fichter, the pastor of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in Wyckoff, New Jersey, has deep ties to New Orleans. His great uncle was Jesuit Father Joseph Fichter, a sociologist who taught at Loyola University for 50 years. Father Stephen has also visited New Orleans many times over the years at Archbishop Gregory Aymond’s request to speak at convocations and give presentations to priests.

He first put pen to paper and began the scriptwriting process 20 years ago while studying in Rome. Father Fichter said he noticed a change in Hollywood in how priests were perceived.

New view of priests
“In the 1950s, in movies like ‘The Bells of St. Mary’s,’ priests were the hero figures,” he said. “Then, in the 1980s, priests were depicted more as a caricature and in a negative light. I wanted to make a movie that would be appealing to the younger generation, that would present priests positively and encourage young people to join the priesthood and show us in a real light, not idealized or vilified.”

Father Fichter’s original script, entitled “Daring to be Different,” was about one young man called to the priesthood and his struggle to answer the call from God. But, by divine providence, a friend of a friend was able to get the script to famed Italian filmmaker Franco Zeffirelli.

“I was not even sure if Mr. Zeffirelli would look at my script. After all, he produced the films ‘The Champ’ and ‘Jesus of Nazareth,’” Father Fichter said. “But, this amazing man called me, and I sat down with him at his villa. He said I had a great idea, and he encouraged me to make the film about three young men, instead of just one, and their individual journeys.”

A team effort
In 2004, six years after meeting Zeffirelli, Father Fichter met a woman in his parish, Kathe Carson, who was involved in movie production.

“I showed her what I wrote and what Zeffirelli had said, and asked her to help me rewrite a new script,” Father Fichter said. “She agreed, and we worked hard over the course of a year – back and forth – to develop characters.”

One of his parishioners was the famous suspense author, Mary Higgins Clark. Father Fichter had no idea who she was when he enlisted her help.

“I asked Mary to read our script, and I wanted her to be honest,” he said. “She said, ‘This is really nice’ and ‘a good story.’ She helped us retool it with a character arc. She was encouraging and helpful and a great mentor.”

When the script was done, he had to find a director, actors and a production company – it was a rough road with a lot of years in between. But, he knew that eventually he would be able to put together a team to get the movie done.

“I found guys from high school, other friends, and I had a lot of encouragement,” Father Fichter said. “I also raised money so I could finish the project. We found a production company in Hollywood and selected a director and started casting calls and lined up actors. Then, in July 2019, we started to film and filmed all around north New Jersey and New York. It was a fun and amazing experience. It was three intense weeks of working with crew and actors, and I was even able to film at my home parish.”

Father Fichter said the message of the movie is to try to follow the path set out for you, and ultimately, there is a lesson.

“The elderly monsignor gives a lesson at the beginning of the movie,” he said. “Live a life of truthfulness, integrity, endurance and friendship. That lesson is talking about more than just seminarians; the lesson is for everyone. We can all live the good life that Jesus wants us to live.”

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