Director: Margarethe von Trotta
Stars: Barbara Sukowa, Heino Ferch, Hannah Herzsprung
8/10
A biopic of the famed German abbess who lived 1098 – 1179, near Mainz. She is best known for her music, which caught on in New Age circles in the 80s and 90s. However, she also wrote on nature. The film depicts her as a renaissance woman of sorts and as a critic of male authority which is presented as oppressive and at times abusive.
The film depicts her as having been in love with a fellow nun and though we do not see any intimacy, the implication is that the relationship was quite personal. Not sure this is true and it’s objectionable to me to impose 21st century opinions onto unsuspecting people who’ve been dead for 900 years. Nonetheless the performances, sets, and cinematography are excellent.
The US trailer is especially heavy-handed on the presentism: