Conspiracy of Silence

Plot synopsis:
Father Sweeney (Patrick Casey), a gay Catholic priest living with HIV, commits suicide. His death leads local investigative journalist David Foley (Jason Barry) to write a story that publicly identifies Sweeney as having HIV.
At the local seminary, two students near ordination are expelled because one, Daniel (Jonathon Forbes) was seen leaving the room of the other, Niall (Paudge Behan). Niall is gay and Daniel is straight and they engaged in no sexual activity but were still expelled for the sake of appearances. Daniel returns home, where he is torn between his calling to the priesthood and his love for his ex-girlfriend Sinead (Catherine Walker).
Daniel meets with Foley, who writes a follow-up article exposing a covered-up AIDS protest that Sweeney had staged at the Vatican three years earlier and Daniel's dismissal. He also alleges that cardinals close to the Pope are engaged in sexual relationships and calls on the Church to re-examine its celibacy requirement for priests. The local bishop, Michael Quinn (Jim Norton), pressures the editor of the local paper not to run the second story. The editor acquiesces but after reading the story sends it to the Irish Times, which prints it.
The next day the bishop, his aide, Foley and Daniel appear together in a live television debate. Before the broadcast, agents of the Church threaten to harm Foley's family unless he retracts his story on the air. Bishop Quinn offers to reinstate Daniel if Daniel is willing to admit he has been wrong. On-air Foley capitulates but Daniel does not, asking the bishop if he himself practices celibacy. When the bishop refuses to answer, Father Sweeney's partner, former priest Matthew Francis (John Lynch) confronts Quinn with Sweeney's suicide note in which Sweeney discloses that Quinn and he had had an affair.
At film's end, Daniel is back at home with Sinead.

Tags: violence, murder

Review:
Excellent portrayal of prejudice against Indians..
Miniseries about the killing of an innocent Indian girl and the entire town that failed to bring the guilty to justice.
Set in The Pas, Manitoba, about as far north as civilization goes.
The girl leaves home to get an education, but on one night she gets picked up by a carload of rowdy white boys and gets killed and dumped out.
Originally shown on the CBC in Canada.
It has been shown on Lifetime in the U.S.A. Vintage cars and songs are featured in this.
Hypnosis is used to make a cab driver recall a license plate number.
Canadian Indians are typically called "wagon burners." Excellent study of crime and white narcissism.
You feel sad for the Indian mother who lost her daughter..
A very well made film that looks at the miscarriages of justice against North America's First Nations people.
I really liked this film because it focused on the wrongful injustices that have been committed against North America's First Nations people.
Helen Betty Osbourne along with Donald Marshall and JJ Harper are 3 examples of what they went through at the hands of Canada's so-called "justice system".
"Conspiracy of Silence" was well made because it accurately depicted what went on from that incident late that night in 1971 to the actual convictions that were FINALLY made in 1986 when all 4 men involved in the murder were brought to trial.
In the end, only 1 man (the guy who committed the actual murder) went to prison while the other 3 went free.
Now although justice finally seemed to be served, it literally took 15 YEARS for the 4 men to be brought to trial!!
That's what's so appalling about the whole situation!
Helen Betty Osbourne had something in common with Donald Marshall and JJ Harper.
All 3 victims were Native (Donald Marshall is the only one still alive).
Helen was a Cree First Nations woman who was never viewed as a human being by the Canadian laws and governments.
To them, she was only "an Indian" and because of that, it took a whopping 15 years for the offenders to brought to justice!
Of course the 4 men who committed the crime were white so it didn't matter to the "justice system" that they killed an innocent person (especially if the dead person was Native).
If I were the judge and jury of that case, ALL 4 men involved would have had a lengthy jail term because the law IS the law and it applies to EVERYONE in this country who commits a serious crime like that.
There's no room for racism and its bogus policies in this so- called "justice system" of ours.Well............
anyways...........
this is why I gave this film an 8 out of 10..
Anything but apathy.
There is a scene in "Midnight Cowboy" in which the newly arrived John Voight is flowing along a New York street with the rest of the pedestrians when, to his awe, the stream bifurcates in order to flow more smoothly around the spread-eagled body of a well-dressed man who had been carrying an attache case.
This seems to be emblematic of our attitude toward the death of a stranger, or even an acquaintance, in our midst.
In "River's Edge," the teenagers look wonderingly at the naked dead body of a classmate, and then go about their business, other things, like making out, occupying their minds.
Nobody cares.
Nobody cares.
But the late Stanley Milgram's quasi-experiments at Yale suggest the real responses of witnesses are anything but apathetic.
They're emotionally aroused when a stranger is in a life-threatening situation; but they don't know what to do.
They feel that someone else, somewhere, must have the situation in hand.
In "Conspiracy of Silence," Milgram's findings are illustrated in the social dynamics of a small and snow-bound Canadian town.
The Cree belong to a different caste than the white people and move in slightly different circles, but everybody soon knows what happened, except the agents of social control whose job it is to see that justice is done.
In this superior TV miniseries we see just how things can go wrong.
I suspect that the racism may have been exaggerrated to provide an additional dimension to the story here, and that the murderers of a white girl might have taken almost as long to be brought to court.
Not sixteen years, maybe, as happened in this case, but probably not overnight either.
Canada has always had a pretty fair record with regard to its treatment of Indians.
Still, there are too many forces at work in small communities that are inimical to our acting like the upright citizens we like to think we are.
It would be relatively simple for the rest of us to make value judgments about the residents of this town, if the town were like the one Rod Steiger tries to ride herd on in "In The Heat of the Night."  Even today, in some of the smaller towns in Texas, when a murder is reported, the sheriff is liable to ask, "Did he NEED killin'?" But these Canadians are confused and distraught, not at all complacent.
This film is very well done for its kind.
The brutality is mostly offscreen or in shadows but is horrifying.
The performances are uniformly good.
It would have been easy to turn this into a shoddy narrative of prejudice, and of good vs.
evil.
But everyone concerned with this production avoided the easy way and the effort pays off..
Chilling & Mysterious.
I've seen Conspiracy Of Silence numerous times over the years and even today it's still a haunting story to watch it's so unbelievable that a murder case like this one took over 16 years to end.
What made me a bit angry was that the town Of Pas, Manitoba, Canada kept silent, they chose to protect the killers and not come forward because it was only a native woman that died and they didn't care.Gemini award winner Michael Mahonen delivered a knockout performance as Lee Colgan one of the four men involved with the murder who was just a kid who turned into a alcoholic because of the guilt he carried for years.
I read the book written by Lisa Priest and it gives accurate details from the murder in 1971 to 1987 when the man who killed Helen Betty Osborne was finally brought to justice.On November 12, 1971 Helen Betty Osborne, (St.John) was a nineteen year old Indian woman who was out for a walk when she was beaten and murdered by Dwayne Johnston (Tracey).
After her body was discovered the town was scared and shocked, one of the suspects Lee Colgan (Mahonen) couldn't stop talking about what happened at the pump house that night.
The police continued to question anyone who might know something about who killed the young woman and why.
However the town chose to keep quiet and all four boys including Jim Houghton (Potts) & Norm Manger (Chambers) went free.
11 years later, the boys have all moved on with their lives however Lee Colgan turned into an alcoholic and hasn't stopped talking about that gruesome murder as a result his wife Sandy (Kidney) left him and took their children.
When a new constable Steve Frishbilski (Ouimette) sees the case file he becomes fascinated by the case and decides to investigate, another add is put in the paper asking people who know anything about the 1971 murder of a 19 year old Indian woman to come forward and hopefully help to close this case.Two women Sherrie Linder(Disher) and Angie (Johnson) both tell the officer what they know Sherrie says that Lee confessed to his involvement she wrote an anonymous letter to the town paper detailing Colgan's story about the murder which lead to his arrest in 1986.
In exchange for immunity he has to testify against Dwayne Jonhston & Jim Houghton his best friend.
Finally in 1987 the case was officially closed when Johnston was arrested and convicted of first degree murder .
After seeing this chilling tale I hated that the town was so racist against Indian people and how they kept quiet all those years it shouldn't have taken all those years to solve a murder.
amazing!!.
Saw this while on vacation.
I was amazed as well as saddened by the story.To try to imagine such hate and disregard for this young girl, simply because of her culture, is appalling to me.But, the fact that some people just did not give up until just was served, is gratifying.I hope that it will, at least be re-aired, here in the states, especially here in Boston, so that many others will see it, and perhaps LEARN from Helen Betty Osborne's story.Would LOVE to be able to locate a copy of the movie.Anyone out there know?Thanks!JQ.
A story that cuts to the heart.
I have seen this movie many times over the years, and it is no less gut-wrenching today.
Michael Mahonen won a Gemini award for his portrayal of Lee Colgan, a teenager who went out for a good time one night and ended up as an unwitting accomplice to a murder.
The story is a complex tale in which the high school students who know what happened are threatened with violence if they go to the police and the older citizens don't want to see whites go prison over the death of a Cree.The first half of the film takes place at the time of the murder, and the second half takes places roughly fifteen years later.
Lee Colgan has become an alcoholic, while the other three boys who were in the car have gone on with their lives.
Some of the young women who heard about the murder after the fact are still haunted by guilt at not having spoken up.
There is also a sense of frustration on the part of the Mounties at knowing they're surrounded by people who know something but refuse to tell.
I would like to add a personal observation here.
Michael Mahonen's transformation from a carefree teenager to an alcoholic who is far older than his years was impressive to me when I first saw it.
The performance became absolutely astounding to me when I learned that he made the film while he was working on the "Road to Avonlea" series.
In the mornings, he was playing a teenager in the early 1900's with an Irish accent.
In the afternoons, he was portraying a thirty-something alcoholic in the 1980's with a Canadian accent..
a Gemini Award winning performance in 'Conspiracy of Silence'.
Michael Mahonen is both sympathetic and chilling in his portrayal of 'Lee Colgan' in this acclaimed Canadian mini-series, based on a the true crime novel of the same name, by Lisa Priest.
This film is thought provoking, as the crime committed was motivated by racial prejudice in a small Canadian town, The Pas, Manitoba.
Mr. Mahonen won the Gemini Award for his role, and it was well deserved.
I recommend watching this film, which currently enjoys re-run status, on the U.S. cable networks Lifetime Television for Women & its 'sister network' Lifetime Movie Network (aka LMN)...Mr. Mahonen is truly an actor to watch out for in the near future!.
A Shocking Movie of Racism against Natives.
The true story of a Native Canadian girl who was brutally murdered in November 1972 by four white Canadian teenagers.
the four hour mini series is long enough to explain the town of The Pas' racism and reactions to the crime.
One murderer even confesses to the crime.
The character of Lee Colgan can become sympathetic to the audience.
Since that night, he has become the second victim in a psychological sense.
He himself has become unemployed, chronic alcoholic whose wife left him with their only son.
In the small town, it becomes a well-known fact of Lee's repetitious confessions on his drinking binges.
For fear of being killed, some girls remain silent but the town itself is fully haunted by the whole murder.
They themselves become an ignorant accomplices to the crime with their silence.
By protecting their own, they have cursed themselves into an real ugly image of racism.
Still, the racism exists between the white Canadians and their Native Canadians.
May Helen Betty Osburne rest in peace now.
One painful scene in the movie is the last moment between Betty and her mother before Betty departs on a small plane to The Pas. While justice went undone for many years, it still haunts Manitoba..
This is a very well done movie with an great job of acting by the lead characters and the setting and cinematography were absolutely dynamite..
I watched this movie when it first came out on CBC in Canada where I was born and raised.I grew up in The Pas (pronounced "the paw")....the town was about 7,000 in population, very rough and tumble place.I was 15 years old in 1971 when this horrible crime took place.Helen Betty Osborne was in my grade 10 home room class at Margret Barbor Collegiate that fall and early winter when she was murdered.She was extremely shy and was hardly noticed by the rest of us until (of course)she was found murdered.She had only been in town for the preceding few months since school started in September.The acting in this show is for the most part very good and quite realistic to the way I remember my youth there.with some notable exceptions...some of the supporting roles that were played to show the racism were sort of over the top and a little too cliché but all in all the movie portrayed things quite well.Some scenes left me physically shaking as I watched.The winter scenes were brilliantly done and outstripped anything Hollywood has ever tried in that regard.....they put me right back there ,to the point where I could feel the frost in my nose hairs.Most of the reviews i've read praise the lead role acting of the "Lee Colgan " character and rightly so....a fine performance.But, for me,the actor that played the convicted murderer,Dwayne Johnston was brilliant.Most of us teenagers partied together many times over those growing up years ....although we all didn't "hang out" together,if there was a house party on a Friday or Saturday night many of us would wind up at the same place so there where many times I was at the same party with Dwayne Johnston...and knew him as a casual acquaintance.The job Ian Tracey did in portraying him was very good.Although they don't really look alike,the clothing and make up and general swagger was spot on!The movie ,I think, was filmed in Kenora,Ontario but definitely had the look and feel of The Pas.Seeing "that car" and hearing the tires spinning on the icy roads...the way the characters foggy breath and car exhaust comes out into the frigid air was nothing short of brilliant cinematography....absolutely stellar.It put me right back there...I can't overstate that fact!All that being said , I would like to try (probably very clumsily)to give a little insight into the issue of racism and how this murder affected the town and those of us who lived there at the time.There was definitely racism but it was complicated and included paradoxes's like;if an Indian guy or girl lived in town as opposed to out of town on one of the three or four "Indian Reserves" that were just across the North Saskatchewan River then they most likely hung out with the white kids too.some of the white kids in town had native girl or boyfriends on "the reserve".There were quite a few mixed race families that lived in town and as I recall some of these mixed race kids hung out in the same group as Dwayne Johnstone did.My feeling is the movie (I also read the original book)oversimplified that whole issue and made it seem as though there was a clear line of separation between the races and that's not the way it was.It was much,much more complicated than that but I am doing a poor job of explaining just what it was like....the "whole town" did not know who the killer/s were....though a number of leading people did as the movie shows.Many of us teenagers also heard the strongly believed rum ours and didn't doubt them (I'm talking here about the first year or so after the murder).I'm not trying to absolve anyone of the collective guilt of "knowing and not saying anything" but.....I'm not really sure what I'm trying to say.....I definitely highly recommend this show but caution the viewer to take with a grain of salt , the idea that this was some sort of "Stephen Kingesque" type of town where everybody knew and creepily said nothing so as to protect these "home town white boy killers"........anyhow .....go and rent the movie..
a must-see miniseries.
I am compelled to say that this movie is awesome.
The plot makes you feel suspicious.
It's kind of dark, but you'll get to see some light at the end.
Michael Mahonen was just as brilliant as the movie itself.
He did a very great job.
I have no doubts whatsoever why he got the Gemini acting award.
Yes, I have seen him in the "Road to Avonlea" series as the lovable Gus Pike.
And I happened to observe a great contrast in the characters(Lee Colgan and Gus Pike) he had played.
This just means he is a very versatile actor.
You should see this movie yourself.
It's very telling and worthwhile..
Great movie ..if your a "Michael Mohonen or Gus Pike Fan..
This movie was awesome.
Michael Mahonen was great.
I'm a "Gus Pike" fan and when I saw this movie he was just as good as he was as gus pike in "Avonlea".
He kept me on the edge of my seat.
He was brillant in this movie.
I strongly recomend this movie if your a MM fan.