WASHINGTON - Morgan Atkinson's new documentary on Thomas
Merton, the famed Trappist monk from the Cistercian abbey in
Gethsemani, Ky., was "40 years in the making," he joked.
Actually, it was closer to two, but it was Atkinson's own
pilgrimage to Gethsemani 40 years ago that not only broadened
his exposure to Merton, but led him to become a Catholic
himself.
Atkinson long had dreams of being a Hollywood filmmaker.
Living in his native Louisville, Ky., though, wasn't going to
cut it. "If I want to make films, I should go to Los
Angeles," he recalls thinking. "After a year, I was not
exactly tearing things up." So he headed back home.
"To say I was at loose ends was probably an understatement,"
he told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview from
Louisville. "I was aware of Merton growing up, but I wasn't
thinking about him, at least consciously. For some reason, I
thought it would be interesting to read his book, The
Seven Storey Mountain. I read it. A lot of it was
off-putting to me, frankly, but there was something about the
man that was interesting to me."
From there, "I went to the abbey of Gethsemani, which is
about 60 miles from Louisville. It had a profound impact on
me. From that, I became a Catholic, and have been practicing
for the last 40 years."
Atkinson also has been able to make a living as a filmmaker,
including two prior documentaries that have received national
airings on PBS.
"I would probably return once or twice, three times a year
for a retreat. As I was developing as a filmmaker, I thought,
'Gosh, there's some interesting stories here.' At that time,
the abbot wanted no part of anyone doing any film there. Then
in the 1990s, a new abbot came in and had a different
mindset. I had letters of recommendation, and so they let me
do a documentary in the monastery itself, Gethsemani, which
was well received by the monks and by viewers on PBS. I was
trusted." Eventually, he was asked by the abbey, "Why don't
you do one on Merton?"
He is hopeful the new documentary, The Many Storeys and Last
Days of Thomas Merton, will likewise get a PBS time slot
sometime this year, the centennial of the monk's birth.
Lacking that, Atkinson said, there is a PBS secondary channel
that transmits programming to affiliates. "But instead of
getting a uniform showing on Thursday, Sept. 15, at 9 o'clock
all over the country, they (affiliates) sort of plug it in
wherever they want to," he added.
Atkinson said he focused on 1968, the last year of Merton's
life, because in his first Merton documentary he felt he
"didn't do justice" to that year, which ended in Merton's
fateful sojourn to Asia during which he died of accidental
electrocution. Atkinson said that 1968 was "such a year in
American culture that it had a lot of richness to it as well.
So I thought, OK, I'll just do it on that last year."
He wanted to time his work on the documentary - while paying
the bills with other film work - so that it would be ready
for viewing in time for the centennial. "From my first two
films on Merton, you develop a network. You know where the
scholars are and where to access them," he said.
It's that network that Atkinson is working to get the film to
more people, regardless of PBS' ultimate decision. "I have
friends and associates across the country who will host
showings, not only in this country, but in other parts of the
world. In two weeks I'm going to Xavier (University) in
Cincinnati and doing a showing there," he said. "I've been
talking to a friend in Pepperdine (University) in Malibu
(California) and doing a showing there in September.
"It's the wanna-be rock star performance," he chuckled. "I
couldn't play rock guitar if I wanted to, but I'm setting up
a tour."
Atkinson added, "It's not something where you think I'm
making a ton of money doing this. It just feels good to show
the work. You hope the work will inspire people to read more
about Merton, to help them shape their lives in a way that
they'll feel better."