This movie is set in 1947, just after the end of World War II and during the Chinese revolution where the Republicans and the Communists fought over the huge empire. This movie is set in the outer reaches of China in an area that is still controlled by a powerful warlord, Yang, and it opens with a priest, father O'Shea, arriving at a mission.
At the beginning we assume that he is a priest but soon come to suspect otherwise. He has a huge amount of rapour, yet seems reluctant to actually perform any of the duties that he does. Even then, he seems to awaken a spirit in everybody around, going out of his way to help. Things start to come to light when somebody walks into the mission, and he punches him.
O'Shea really isn't a priest but a pilot named James Carmody. He crashed over China and fell into the clutches of the Yang. He worked with him for a while as his second in command, but saw it little more than a prison, so when a priest was murdered, Carmody saw it as an excuse to escape, which indeed he did. Though he is hiding in the villages, he knows that he cannot hide from Yang forever, and even though the church offers sanctuary, he knows that Yang does not abide by those rules.
The title is interesting as it intones that it is different from the norm. The right hand is typically the one in which one's will is enforced. Carmody is not a priest, and doesn't even believe, yet he is able to touch the hearts of those around him. He is not exactly unorthodox, but rather somebody who is not a member of the clergy yet seems to do a far better job than the clergymen do. His different methods appear when Yang threatens the village and Carmody defeats him in a game of dice. The priests are horrified at this, but the truth is that Carmody succeeded, and whether they like it or not, they must admit that he has an ability that not many others have.
At the beginning we assume that he is a priest but soon come to suspect otherwise. He has a huge amount of rapour, yet seems reluctant to actually perform any of the duties that he does. Even then, he seems to awaken a spirit in everybody around, going out of his way to help. Things start to come to light when somebody walks into the mission, and he punches him.
O'Shea really isn't a priest but a pilot named James Carmody. He crashed over China and fell into the clutches of the Yang. He worked with him for a while as his second in command, but saw it little more than a prison, so when a priest was murdered, Carmody saw it as an excuse to escape, which indeed he did. Though he is hiding in the villages, he knows that he cannot hide from Yang forever, and even though the church offers sanctuary, he knows that Yang does not abide by those rules.
The title is interesting as it intones that it is different from the norm. The right hand is typically the one in which one's will is enforced. Carmody is not a priest, and doesn't even believe, yet he is able to touch the hearts of those around him. He is not exactly unorthodox, but rather somebody who is not a member of the clergy yet seems to do a far better job than the clergymen do. His different methods appear when Yang threatens the village and Carmody defeats him in a game of dice. The priests are horrified at this, but the truth is that Carmody succeeded, and whether they like it or not, they must admit that he has an ability that not many others have.