beautiful recreation of 12th century---feminist take on famous nun
The movie follows the life of Hildegard Von Bingen a famous medieval nun/magistra/convent founder who had religious visions and was interested in science, music, medicine, and much more...
The cinematography was absolutely beautiful and the story captivated me even with its modern feminist sensibilities every where....from the suitably milque toast priest Volmar to her renaissance passion for all intellectual pursuits....The cliché over veneration of books learning etc comes off as nerdy and dumb when exaggerated too much as it was in this movie. That said I wish I had read up on Hildegard before watching; there was apparently much substance to the woman--the movie fails here..having her oohing and aawing over stacks of books or staging an avant garde (for the era) play doesn't do her credit.
The part of her that captivated me of course were the visions. Everyone hopes things like that are not mental illness. You grow to really like this woman and that is the key to good cinema no?
The character of Richardis is good too...more than a hint of female homosexuality that was sublimated by both parties.
This movie would have been a 10 if the visions had been shown better and the pseudo intellectual nerd and feminist stuff toned down.
RECOMMEND
The cinematography was absolutely beautiful and the story captivated me even with its modern feminist sensibilities every where....from the suitably milque toast priest Volmar to her renaissance passion for all intellectual pursuits....The cliché over veneration of books learning etc comes off as nerdy and dumb when exaggerated too much as it was in this movie. That said I wish I had read up on Hildegard before watching; there was apparently much substance to the woman--the movie fails here..having her oohing and aawing over stacks of books or staging an avant garde (for the era) play doesn't do her credit.
The part of her that captivated me of course were the visions. Everyone hopes things like that are not mental illness. You grow to really like this woman and that is the key to good cinema no?
The character of Richardis is good too...more than a hint of female homosexuality that was sublimated by both parties.
This movie would have been a 10 if the visions had been shown better and the pseudo intellectual nerd and feminist stuff toned down.
RECOMMEND
- filmalamosa
- Jul 24, 2012