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For Love's Sake

Based on a true story. After the tragic death of her husband, Mary Walker falls into a spiral of suicidal depression and subsequently loses custody of her two boys. Through the intervention of a caring Christian therapist (played by Bruce Marchiano), Mary regains her faith, experiences emotional healing, and finds the strength to fight a skeptical bureaucracy for custody of her children.

  • Item 501508D
  • Region: US and Canada
  • Media Type: DVD
  • Running Time: 93 min

Alternate formats: Digital Video - $3.99

Retail: $19.99
Price: $5.00
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Awards

  • Best British Film

    UK Christian Film Festival, 2013

  • Best Feature Film Under £250,000

    UK Christian Film Festival, 2013

  • Bronze Crown Award - Best Drama Under $250,000

    Won at the 2014 International Christian Visual Media

Description

"Whether in the UK or in the States or wherever people see this film, they'll definitely be drawn to it and will walk away with new hope for their lives and new excitement about the Lord.”
-Actor, Bruce Marchiano (The Encounter, For Love’s Sake)

The film has received the Dove Foundation's "Faith Friendly" Seal and is the kind of film that could be the absolutely perfect gift for that Christian you know who is on a healing journey.
-Richard Propes, The Independent Critic

Days before Christmas 1978, Peter Walker, a young English lay preacher, is killed in a motorcycle accident. His wife Mary, already emotionally fragile, falls into the depths of suicidal depression. As a result she loses custody of her two young boys, Paul and James. The boys are further traumatized as they are taken under the care of the county authorities and placed in a series of children’s homes and in a temporary foster placement with their grandparents. While James clings desperately to his Christian faith and the hope of being reunited with his mother, Paul rebels by fighting and committing petty crimes. Through the intervention of her church community, a dedicated social worker, and a caring Christian therapist (played by Bruce Marchiano), Mary uncovers a flicker of faith, still burning beneath the darkness. As she heals emotionally, hope returns, along with the strength to fight a skeptical bureaucracy for custody of her children.
For Love’s Sake offers an honest and emotional glimpse inside a broken family. In their frailty courage comes only through a power beyond themselves. The story powerfully demonstrates that through the healing power of Jesus Christ, no family is beyond hope! Widescreen.

Click <a class="content" href=Bruce_Marchiano.tml>here </a>for interview with Bruce Marchiano.

DVD Extras:
-Interview with the Director, Andrew Walkington
-The Real Mary
-Interview with Bruce Marchiano
-Deleted Scenes

Customers in Australia or New Zealand, please visit www.christianmultimedia.org.au/.

Editorial Reviews

This is a dreadfully sad movie, yet it was full of hope, had a great ending and it was based on a true story. If you want to see a film showing you some real life, true struggles that a person with depression really goes through, I would encourage you to watch this film. It will pull at your heart strings, and make you cry, but that’s a good thing. I believe we all know someone who struggles with depression. Co-dependency is also brought out and how dangerous and serious this is. This was something I used to really struggle with and it was eye opening watching the decisions that are made when co-dependency is a problem. I really believe anyone that struggles with depression or is struggling over addictions, this is a film full of hope. Don’t miss the hope part of this film. This is one that can make a difference in someone’s life.

"For Love's Sake" opens with a tragedy involving a father's death as a result of a motorcycle accident and continues with the mother and children coping afterward. At one point the mother takes pills in an attempt to commit suicide. She seems unable to care for the children and in fact they are removed from the home by Social Services. There is a message for those who want to see a decision for Christ by a child, and a family moving forward in His love. We award this movie with a hopeful ending the Dove "Faith Friendly" Seal for ages 12 and over .

Based on a true story, and featuring a special appearance by Bruce Marchiano, For Love's Sake is a profound DVD about the power of family bonds. When Mary Walker's husband dies, she struggles with suicidal depression, and loses custody of her two boys, James and Paul. Her children live in a succession of institutions and foster care families, and fear that they will never see their mother again. Fortunately, a compassionate and principled Christian therapist teaches Mary how to reconnect with her faith, heal her wounded soul, and confront an obstinate bureaucracy in order to earn the right and the joy to reunite her shattered family. Highly recommended for both personal and church DVD collections. DVD extras include interviews with director Andrew Walkington and actor Bruce Marchiano, deleted scenes, and more about "the real Mary," whose life story inspired For Love's Sake.

A touching drama with a Christian theme, For Love's Sake also tells a cautionary story about falling down the rabbit hole in children's custody cases where single parents are unable to care for their kids. The story follows the aftermath of a minister's death one Christmas Eve in England, which leaves the man's clinically-depressed wife, Mary (Claire Walkington), incapable of handling their two young sons, James (William Wenlock) and Paul (Luke Foxall). Placed by the family's parish in a children's home, the boys eventually come to live with their athiest grandparents who own a bed-and-breakfast, a bad choice for all concerned, despite good intentions. With the boys' well-being on the line, Mary makes a heroic effort to pull herself together with the help of a church psychologist (Bruce Marchiano). While the story benefits from several strong performances (among them those of young Wenlock and Foxall), director Andrew Walkington has trouble keeping a lid on the bathos here. Still, For Love's Sake is a film that boasts many powerful scenes and will appeal to Christian viewers. A strong optional purchase.

No family is beyond hope ... Do you believe that? Really believe that? Based on a true story about a family shattered by tragedy and their struggle to be united, For Love's Sake is a refreshingly honest and heartfelt film that is at times incredibly bleak yet it never loses sight of how faith, community, and choice can overcoming even the most seemingly hopeless situations in life. Mary (Claire Walkington) is an already fragile married mother of two when her husband Peter (Richard Brimblecombe) is tragically killed. With her already vulnerable emotional state now more fractured than ever, Mary spirals into a suicidal depression and subsequently loses custody of her two sons, James (William Wenlock) and Paul (Luke Foxall). The already traumatized boys are further traumatized by a system that keeps handing them off from institution to institution and foster care placements. They begin to lose hope that they will ever be reunited with their mother again, but just when things seem the bleakest her mother finds a sliver of hope through the intervention of a compassionate Christian therapist (Bruce Marchiano) and a faith community that helps to love her back to life. As she regains her faith and experiences her own emotional healing, Mary finds the strength she needs to fight a skeptical bureaucracy for custody of her children. Co-written and directed by Andrew Walkington, For Love's Sake is a bit of a rarity among faith-based films because it is willing to tell a harsh truth without the usual sugarcoating that one often finds in faith-based cinema. Mary's struggles are genuine and brought poignantly to life by newcomer Claire Walkington, a drama graduate and high school teacher with primarily a stage background prior to her appearance here. The film ultimately soars on the strength of the performances of young newcomers William Wenlock and Luke Foxall. As young James, Wenlock offers just the right amount of vulnerability infused with a strength and faith of a boy wise beyond his years. In contrast, Luke Foxall pulls off the challenge of playing an elder brother whose response to all the trauma is to act out aggressively while still being a sympathetic character. Foxall accomplishes his mission quite nicely. Among the supporting players, Robert J. Purdy and Bruce Marchiano leave the strongest impression by infusing their characters with a rich humanity that resonates nicely amidst the jarring authenticity of the bureaucracy that unfolds. Picked up by Vision Video for a DVD release, For Love's Sake will be a valued addition to the DVD collection of any family of faith but may resonate most deeply with those families who have experienced a trauma in their lives. The film has received the Dove Foundation's "Faith Friendly" Seal and is the kind of film that could be the absolutely perfect gift for that Christian you know who is on a healing journey. © Written by Richard Propes - The Independent Critic www.theindependentcritic.com

It’s the late 1970's in Britain, and the Walker family are getting ready for Christmas. The tree is decorated, and the presents are all wrapped. Everything is looking good like they are going to have a great Christmas. That is until a tragic event threatens to tear the Walker family apart.

Based on a true story, For Love’s Sake is one of only a handful of Christian films I have watched to have come from England. Typically films made in the UK are not feel good or happy affairs where everything comes together in the end and everyone lives happily ever after. British drama films tend to be more realistic, sometimes brutally so, and although there is a sense at the film’s climax that things will indeed work out for the Walker’s, there is still a feeling that they have long, maybe even hard road ahead of them.

In short, For Love’s Sake is quite a bleak film. But it’s not so bleak as to hinder the powerful message of faith, hope, and love contained in the film.

There are several themes to be found in this film including family, faith, and loss. However, the main theme running throughout For Love’s Sake is mental illness (depression). This is the second faith based film from the UK I have seen this year to deal with mental illness, the other is The Fighter’s Ballad. Like The Fighter’s Ballad this film features some brief disturbing imagery and content, as well as some very deep drama. However, unlike The Fighter’s Ballad, For Love’s Sake features very little violence, no bad language, and no crass or sexual talk. There are a few brief fight scenes involving children, and a couple of scenes involving suicide – in one, we briefly see a teenage girl hanging from a tree – this could be disturbing to some viewers. There is also a scene which hints at abuse in children’s home – a boy is forced into a filled bathtub fully clothed. The good news is that any negative content in For Love’s Sake is kept very brief. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a family friendly film or a date night movie, but at least you won’t have to sit through extended scenes of violence and sexuality, and listen to copious amounts of foul language.

Although For Love’s Sake was clearly produced on a low budget, the film-making quality is excellent and is proficiently handled. The picture is sharp and looks good, and sound is crystal clear. The music is also very good; it’s quite simple and somewhat haunting, and as such added so much to to the finished film. The screenplay by Richard Brimblecombe (who also stars in the film) and the film’s director Andrew Walkington is superbly written, giving the actors much to work with. Although the film deals with some very hard issues, there is a surprising amount of heart and feeling that comes through in the writing, not to mention faith.

As for the acting, although some of the supporting actors are a little shaky, the majority of the cast do a great job in this department. Claire Walkington does a fine job and is very believable as the fragile Mary Walker, a mother who is faced with the possibility of losing her children as she struggles to overcome severe depression. Robert Purdy is very good as John Dunkhill, a social worker with a heart of gold who has to walk a fine line between pencil pusher and friend as he tries desperately to help Mary through her ordeal.

The only familiar face in the cast is Bruce Marchiano (Matthew, The Encounter 1 & 2,) who plays Mary’s psychiatrist. Mr. Machiano was a great choice for this role as he exudes compassion and humility, qualities he has bought to the screen in many of his other onscreen roles.

As the film revolves around Mary Walker and her sons, Paul and James, it would be a crime not to mention the two brilliant young actors who play these young lads who find their lives forever changed due to a freak accident. William Wenlock plays the quiet and soulful James Walker, a boy who has recently found faith in Jesus Christ; a faith that will sustain him through the ordeal he and his brother have to face. However, his older brother Paul is a bitter and angry young man, played brilliantly by Luke Foxall. These two young actors really bring their characters to life on the screen, making it easy for the viewer to feel for them and the predicaments they find themselves in. Pushed from pillar to post, the onscreen brothers have little choice in what is happening to them, forcing Paul to become even more angry and bitter, and James deeper into the hands of God. And director Andrew Walkington really shows his stuff in his ability to pull out and capture the talent of these young lads as they endure what is happening to them.

To be honest, For Love’s Sake plays out like a modern Dickensian tale, i.e. a series of tragic and life altering events followed by profound yet gentle triumph. It’s worth noting that this film raises some important issues that many of us don’t often think about, such as they fact that there are people all around us struggling with real issues of mental illness, and the fact that healing can be found in Jesus Christ, and often through His people.

I am glad I watched this film. It may be bleak and at times very dark, but as I like to say, the light shines the brightest in the darkness. And shine the light does! There can be no denying that God works mightily and powerfully in the lives of the Walker’s, uniting them as a family in ways that no man could (not to ruin the ending, but the power of prayer is beautifully shown to be the answer to many of life’s problems). As I watched I was more than reminded that believers need to be more mindful of God’s healing and restorative power in the lives of people. We simply cannot write anyone off… no matter what! God loves everyone. You, me, and everyone around us. And no matter what they, or we, might be going through, He is so much bigger than any of it, something For Love’s Sake exemplifies very well indeed!

Verdict: Based on a true story, this Dickensian type story depicts a gentle triumph of faith over seemingly impossible odds. For Love’s Sake is a bitter sweet film that proclaims loud and proud that God is bigger than anything any one of us may face.

This is a rare modern-day Christian feature film set in the UK. The story revolves around a family which includes a preacher father, a depressive mother, and two lively young boys. Dad dies in a motorcycle accident the day after the youngest son tells him he wants to be a Christian, and Mum descends into a depressive state. Enter friendly social worker who seems to really care about this family, ultimately putting his own job at risk. Kids get sent to non-believing paternal grandparents—who then find they can't cope. With the help of a friendly Christian psychiatrist Mum begins to get it together, but not before kids are sent to a children's home. The story contains many strands coming together, including a problematic social services operation, abusive children's home and how the kids deal with all that is thrown at them—both badly and positively. A good home group discussion starter, well told. But why does it always snow in films at Christmas?

Customer Reviews

- Beautifully Written Film About Hope!

For Love's Sake is a semi-autobiographical story from writer/director Andrew Walkington. It takes a look at the effects that severe depression can have on a family, when the mother of two young boys is unable to cope, after the sudden and tragic death of her husband. The hope for the family comes from their strengthening faith in Jesus over the course of the movie as the mother, Mary Walker, fights to gain back the custody of her children from social services.?? First of all, it needs to be said that this film was made on a very small budget, and most of the actors are amateurs, which sometimes cannot help but show through in some of the performances. That being said, the actors playing the two young boys are excellent in their roles, perfectly cast as brothers who seem to sit on opposite sides of the fence. James is quiet and soulful, struggling internally with the weight of so many questions about his emerging faith, particularly given his last words to his father shortly before his death. Paul on the other hand is angry, and destructive, doing all manner of things that might draw attention to the pain he is feeling over his loss. Newcomers William Wenlock and Luke Foxall are perfectly cast, and it is a testament to Walkington's skill as a director for spotting their talent, and drawing performances out of them that sit just on the right side of sentiment. It's also Walkington's skill as a writer here that ensures that the actors all have great material to work with, although there is a slightly misjudged 'comedy' sequence half way through, that doesn't quite sit well with the tone of the rest of the film. However, given that that tone is quite a somber one, it's understandable that the filmmakers wanted to inject some lighter moments into the narrative. Other standout performances come from Claire Walkington as the clinically depressed mother, Christopher Lee Power as the rather demonic head of social services, and Robert Purdy as John Dunkhill who brings a lot of warmth to proceedings. It's also nice to see Bruce Marchiano in a role other than Jesus, although he brings that same level of charisma that so engenders trust from those who are watching. The only gripe with casting him in the role is that his American accent instantly seems out of place among the otherwise all British cast. Still, it is good to see him involved, and his name in the credits would certainly help draw some much deserved attention. The strength of the film is that you never feel like you are being preached to, except for a couple of scenes set in a church, when characters literally are preaching. This is something that a few American faith-based movies could learn from. Instead, we get a movie that is rich in character development, relying on the strength of the story at its heart. That story is ultimately one of hope; a hope that we can all find when we learn to stop relying upon ourselves and instead put our trust in God. One final point that is worth noting is that some of the things that happen, particularly the way that social services act and the way that Mary's depression is viewed, might seem unbelievable in this day and age. But the movie is set nearly 35 years ago, and things were so very different back then. For Love's Sake is a beautifully written film about the hope that can be found from trusting in Jesus. I would highly recommend it to anyone who would like to see something different, from the mainstream images of sex and violence, which is usually crammed down our throats.

- AMAZING

This film is amazing, William Wenlock goes to the same school I do and this film is just amazing.

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