Mother Johanna of the Angels (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Mother Johanna of the Angels |
| Original title | Matka Joanna od Aniołów |
| Country of production | Poland |
| original language | Polish |
| Publishing year | 1961 |
| length | 108 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 18 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jerzy Kawalerowicz |
| script | Jerzy Kawalerowicz Tadeusz Konwicki |
| production | ZRF Kadr , Warsaw |
| music | Adam Walaciński |
| camera | Jerzy Wójcik |
| occupation | |
| |
Mother Johanna von den Engeln is a Polish feature film made in 1960 in the form of a faith and religion drama by Jerzy Kawalerowicz . The film is based on the story of the same name by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz , written during the German occupation and published in 1946 .
action
In a 17th century Polish monastery near Smolensk . The Jesuit priest Józef Suryn is sent to a women's convent by his superiors because their nuns are supposedly in league with Satan. He should shed light on the situation there and initiate exorcistic countermeasures. The last event that took things to extremes was when a local clergyman, Father Garniec, was burned at a stake, allegedly for having shown sexual desire towards the nuns. The church leadership assumes that the nuns and especially the Mother Superior Joanna are possessed by the angels, the devil. It is said that the head of the convent is a particularly difficult case. Four priests before Father Józef had already failed to cast out the devil for her.
Only Sister Margarete vom Kreuz is not yet possessed, but she shows a rather secular behavior, as the people from the inn know to report. One night she came in here and clearly had it with the rich landowner Chrząszczewski. Soon Józef is also exposed to a worldly temptation, because he cannot prevent falling in love with Mother Johanna von der Engel. With a number of fellow priests he wants to "heal" Johanna, who, the men of God believe, is possessed by eight demons. But then he succumbs to their sensual temptations. His tormented conscience at having committed a “sin”, that of earthly love, and his longing for Johanna begin to enter into a fierce competition that almost threatens to tear Józef apart.
In the meantime, Sister Margaret of the Cross has left the convent to begin a new, common and above all worldly life with her lover Chrząszczewski. Józef's love and desire for Johana has grown so strong that he returns to the monastery one last time to attract the demons remaining in Johanna after a murderous act of madness - he kills the two stable boys Kaziuk and Juraj. So he puts an end to his earthly, carnal desires, at the same time accepts sin and finally enables Johanna's inner cleansing. Sister Margarete, who has already been abandoned by her lover, sees the bloody act. Józef sends her to Mother Johanna to inform her that he has made this sacrifice in the name of his love for her and that she is now free from all sin (and thus from her demons).
Production notes
Mother Johanna von den Engeln was created in 1960 and was premiered in Poland on February 6, 1961. The film was shown there on May 4, 1961 as part of the Cannes Film Festival . In the Federal Republic of Germany it ran on April 10, 1961, seven days after it opened in theaters in the GDR.
Reviews
The lexicon of international films found: “Using historical material from the 17th century as an example, the film deals with current problems and fundamental issues in his country: the self-destructive features of a rigid orthodoxy, the internalization of power and rule relationships, the deformation of morality and the Reason under pressure from institutional control. Although dialectical in its argumentation, astute in its psychological analysis and demanding in its artistic design, the heavily controversial film was widely interpreted in western countries as an anti-Catholic polemic. "
In Reclam's film guide it says about Mother Johanna von den Engeln : "The film tells its story on three levels, whereby it never rises above the time in which it is set and the level of consciousness of her people".
The following can be read in Jerzy Kawalerowicz's biography in Kay Weniger's large personal dictionary of the film : “Above all, the films 'Night Train' and 'Mother Johanna von der Engeln', which were made in quick succession, cemented Kawalerowicz's reputation as one of the most interesting, innovative and formally most individual Polish directors be."
Movie book
- Jerzy Kawalerowicz: Mother Johanna von der Engeln. Night Train. 2 film texts . Translation by Peter Lachmann . Epilogue, Notes Theodor Kotulla . Munich: DTV, 1963
Web links
- Mother Joan of the Angels in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mother Johanna of the Angels. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed August 27, 2017 .
- ↑ Reclams Filmführer, by Dieter Krusche, collaboration: Jürgen Labenski. P. 408. Stuttgart 1973.
- ↑ Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 4: H - L. Botho Höfer - Richard Lester. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 325.