La notte oscura

A riveting study of the poet Saint John of the Cross, regarding his imprisonment, writings, torture, death and recognition. On the night of 2 December 1577, a group of Carmelites opposed to reform broke into John's dwelling in Ávila and took him prisoner. The Carmelites therefore took John captive. John was taken from Ávila to the Carmelite monastery in Toledo, at that time the Order's most important monastery in Castile, where perhaps 40 friars lived. John was brought before a court of friars, accused of disobeying the ordinances of Piacenza. Despite John's argument that he had not disobeyed the ordinances, he received a punishment of imprisonment. He was jailed in the monastery, where he was kept under a brutal regimen that included public lashing before the community at least weekly, and severe isolation in a tiny stifling cell measuring ten feet by six feet, barely large enough for his body. Except when rarely permitted an oil lamp, he had to stand on a bench to read his breviary by the light through the hole into the adjoining room. He had no change of clothing and a penitential diet of water, bread and scraps of salt fish. The paper was passed to him by the friar who guarded his cell.He managed to escape nine months later, on 15 August 1578, through a small window in a room adjoining his cell.

A thought-provoking and slightly boring picture about the great Saint and his spell in solitary confinement . Being a prison drama based on the life of Spain's mystic San Juan De La Cruz , set in the Catholic Castilla , in the middle of the Sixteenth Century . Regarding his self-punishments , mortification , pains and raptures . This film explores the temptations that surrounded him , set in the convent of Toledo, concerning about the dreams that afflicted him, his craziness ,his sanctity and his sanity. Juan Diego gives good interpretation , but overacting , at times . Support cast provides brief but nice performances , such as : Fernando Guillén, Manuel de Blas , Francisco Casares , and the beautiful and young French Julie Delpy . Evocative and luxurious cinematography by Teo Escamilla .



He was a major figure of the Counter-Reformation, a Spanish mystic, a Roman Catholic saint, a Carmelite friar and a priest, who was born at Fontiveros, Old Castile.John of the Cross is known for his writings. Both his poetry and his studies on the growth of the soul are considered the summit of mystical Spanish literature and one of the peaks of all Spanish literature. He was canonized as a saint in 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII. He is one of the thirty-six Doctors of the Church . After being nursed back to health, first with Teresa's nuns in Toledo, and then during six weeks at the Hospital of Santa Cruz, John continued with reform. in June 1570, the friars found the house at Duruelo too small, and so moved to the nearby town of Mancera de Abajo. After moving on from this community, John set up a new community at Pastrana and a community at Alcalá de Henares, which was to be a house of studies for the academic training of the friars. In 1572 he arrived in Ávila, at the invitation of Teresa, who had been appointed prioress of the Monastery of the Incarnation there in 1571. John became the spiritual director and confessor for Teresa and the other 130 nuns there, as well as for a wide range of laypeople in the city.In 1574, John accompanied Teresa in the foundation of a new monastery in Segovia, returning to Avila after staying there a week. Beyond this, though, John seems to have remained in Ávila between 1572 and 1577 . In October 1578 he joined a meeting at Almodóvar del Campo of the supporters of reform, increasingly known as the Discalced Carmelites. Although his complete poems add up to fewer than 2500 verses, two of them-the Spiritual Canticle and the Dark Night of the Soul-are widely considered masterpieces of Spanish poetry, both for their formal stylistic point of view and their rich symbolism and imagery. His theological works often consist of commentaries on these poems.

We have a physical media group on Skype that we've been conversing with for years, and this film has been on our list for a long time, but since almost everyone on the list is an atheist, we involuntarily shied away from a film that deals so intensely with the theme of religion... We have made a grave error.

I have a few anecdotes compiled from the group conversation, which I will include in my review that I will write for IMDb...

First of all, I must state that the film's cinematographer, Teo Escamilla, has reflected that era and all the inner turmoil to the viewer with his framing, and has done an extraordinary job.

The film has a very heavy Christian theme, in fact, the script has a substructure directly filled with historical details from the Old/New Testament... The film was entered into the Berlin International Film Festival but did not win any awards, I am not surprised, for as the 90s beckoned, this kind of film must have been a bit too much for the selection committee... The most popular film of that year was Tim Burton's Batman, just imagine.

The film presents us with true events to give context to Juan's life. At the beginning of the film, a priest from the monastery reads historical facts about the life of John, who is the first to enter the room for the trial. It also introduces the connection between Juan and Teresa de Jesús at this time. He represents Teresa in a negative light because the priest says that she created a conspiracy; that is, it represents the tensions between different Carmelites from the beginning. The priest also gives a realistic account of the differences between his order and the Discalced Carmelites. Juan's escape from the monastery by dangling the rope of his robe from the window also follows existing historical data.

However, the film is not meant to be a narrative; it is an inquiry. El País continues, the film explores the fundamental question of Juan's famous life: "In fact, how did Juan de la Cruz, in such terrible distress, manage to compose such elegant, such delicate music?" The fact that the film is shot in such a way as to represent Juan Diego in very intense moments helps us understand how the poet was able to write something so important for Spanish literature in such abysmal conditions. In an interview, Saura says that the film is not about religion; instead, the film focuses on Juan's inner process and "secular mysticism" in particular. So it is a film that tells the talents of this very important lyric poet of Spanish literature.

John of the Cross was a member of the Carmelite Order and a follower of the teachings of Saint Teresa of Jesus. Teresa of Jesus wanted to reform the Carmelite Order to emphasize poverty, austerity, and cloister. She also wanted to re-instill in the Carmelites adherence to the primitive rule that Pope Eugene IV had relaxed in 1432. The primitive rule meant more time for prayer, work, and penance, and was more focused on evangelizing the population. The observant were not allowed to eat meat and had to fast a lot between the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in September and Easter. Saint Teresa, together with Saint John of the Cross, founded the Order of Discalced Carmelites. The adjective "discalced" came from the custom of this branch of the Carmelites to dress more simply and without shoes.

The reforms were quite controversial among the Carmelites in the 1570s. A group of Carmelites captured Saint John at his home in Ávila on December 2, 1576, and took him to the monastery in Toledo; there they imprisoned him for nine months in a tiny cell, with very little light, food, and contact with others, in terrible conditions. He suffered greatly during his time at the monastery. The film tells the story of the nine months he spent in solitary confinement in the monastery between December 1576 and July 1577.

Saint John of the Cross was a famous Spanish poet known for works such as Spiritual Canticle and Dark Night of the Soul. In fact, the title of the film comes from the latter. His mystical works are about the development of the soul and the relationship between the soul and God. During his time at the monastery, he memorized thirty-one verses from his work entitled Spiritual Canticle. Years later he completed his work. He wrote all his works from 1577 until his death in 1591.

In 1726, Pope Benedict XIII canonized Saint John of the Cross, and today he is one of the thirty-six Doctors of the Church.

There are some moments when St. John breaks the fourth wall. The first is when he speaks to God but his eyes look at the camera: This is a moment in which the viewer identifies with God. Saura presents us with the power of the Church's readings and development; Juan follows this as we connect directly with the stage. Keep talking to God all the time. He begins to create his poems and read them to the camera. The effect of these moments is for the audience to feel his pain. The contact between the viewer's eyes and Juan creates a real human connection; this is exactly what Juan misses during his time at the Toledo monastery.

The music reflects the emotional pain Juan feels and highlights the important contrasts in the film. In the first scene, the director uses ominous music to foreshadow the pain he will suffer as Juan travels as a prisoner to the monastery. The music in the scene changes when the nun appears in Juan's room. This music is taken from the opera with the voice of a counting woman. It emphasizes the contrast between passionate and sexual womanhood and the strict and pious life of nuns in the church. The music in the scene where the hands attack Juan in his bed increases the feeling of trauma and pain as well as tension.

Most of the film is very dark because it represents Juan's experience in his lightless, lonely room. He only has a small window and has very little contact with the sun when he goes to the dining room. When you first enter the lonely room, the light only illuminates your head. The rest of his body and the room are dark. We can see a light illuminating his bed. We hear a strong wind outside his room. It looks like a hostile and harsh place. The walls, blanket and pillow of the room are of poor quality.

According to John, darkness represents the devil and light represents God. He describes light as a very beautiful thing. His time in the room represents his struggle against the devil to find a better life by following God. Juan and the guard visit an elderly priest on his deathbed. In this scene, Juan associates light with the beloved (the name he calls God), and then confirms the symbolism of light. John says that the old priest is beginning his journey towards the light because he is close to death. Apparently the old priest can see this light at the beginning of his conversation with John, but just before his death the priest says he cannot see anything. This scene is a concrete example of the struggle between the ideas of the two groups of Carmelites.

An important note; The music of the film belongs to J. S. Bach and literally sounds as if it was composed for this film.

By the way; It is very difficult for people living in different cultures to talk about history because we all know each character by different names...

Even though cinema is a common language, it is not.