Cast overview: | |||
Julie Sokolowski | ... | Céline vel Hadewijch | |
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Karl Sarafidis | ... | Nassir Chikh |
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Yassine Salime | ... | Yassine Chikh |
David Dewaele | ... | David | |
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Brigitte Mayeux-Clerget | ... | La mère supérieure |
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Michelle Ardenne | ... | La prieure |
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Sabrina Lechêne | ... | La novice |
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Marie Castelain | ... | La mère de Céline |
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Luc-François Bouyssonie | ... | Le père de Céline |
The aspirant nun Céline van Hadewijch is invited to leave the convent where she studies and she returns to the house of her parents in Paris. Céline meets her outcast Muslim teenage friend Yassine Chikh in a café and they hang around together. Céline tells that he is only her friend since she is committed with God and will stay virgin since her body belongs to God. Yassine introduces Céline to his older brother and religious leader Nassir Chikh and he invites the teenage girl to participate in his religious seminars. However, Nassir is actually a terrorist and the confused Céline is the perfect tool for his cell. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Dumont explores the fine line between martyrdom, fanaticism, faith, and delusion in this meditative (some will call slow paced) look at a young Christian fanatic who befriends a group of 'terrorist' Muslims. Throughout there's a degree of sexual threat and violence so present in his films, as well as the very physical presence of nature, of weather, of the elements. It's an edgy mix, yet most of the time we're looking at the world through the vulnerable searching eyes and face of Julie Sokolowski as Céline/Hadewijch, the latter being a 13th century mystic who also sublimated courtship for a love to God, and who also took no vows as a nun. As Celine, the girl is sent from the convent for being too extreme in her devotion. She begins to naively explore the real world. Like the earlier poet and mystic Hadewijch – into whom she slowly seems to be transforming – Celine is also from a very wealthy family, a fact that sets up another set of questions and contrasts in this contemporary context. I love looking at the faces director Dumont offers up, and as always he sets up situations that call out for argument and conversation. The ending is sudden and unexpected, and you are left to question not only what might happen next, but to where exactly has the director led us.
timjacksonweb.com