Vision - from the Life of Hildegard von Bingen

Directed by Margarethe von Trotta

Release Year: 2009
Running time: 111
Country: Germany
Language: German w English Subtitles
Subjects: Philosophy
$19.99 - Classroom Rights
MSRP: $29.99
$249.00 - With PPR (less than 50 people)
$349.00 - With PPR
$499.00 - With DSL
$499.00 - With DSL and PPR
MSRP: $599.00
Screening Request
Directed by: Margarethe von Trotta

Hildegard von Bingen was truly a woman ahead of her time. A visionary in every sense of the word, this famed 12th-century Benedictine nun was a Christian mystic, composer, philosopher, playwright, poet, naturalist, scientist, physician, herbalist and ecological activist.

In Vision - from the Life of Hildegard von Bingen, New German Cinema auteur Margarethe von Trotta (Marianne and Juliane, Rosa Luxemburg, Rosenstrasse) reunites with recurrent star Barbara Sukowa (Zentropa, Berlin Alexanderplatz) to bring the story of this extraordinary woman to life. In a staggering performance, Sukowa portrays von Bingen’s fierce determination to expand the responsibilities of women within the order, even as she fends off outrage from some in the Church over the visions she claims to receive from God. Lushly shot in the original medieval cloisters of the fairytale-like German countryside,Vision is a profoundly inspirational portrait of a woman who has emerged from the shadows of history as a forward-thinking and iconoclastic pioneer of faith, change and enlightenment.

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Reviews

Ms. Sukowa’s passionate performance brings this multi-faceted character to incandescent life.

- Steve Dollar - The Wall Street Journal
 

A memorable, beautiful film! ...The look of the film is extraordinary. Shot in widescreen format, but set almost exclusively inside the two monasteries where the story unfolds, the film possesses a natural visual tension created by its intimacy and broad scope. The compositions of cinematographer Axel Block suggest Jan van Eyck, his lighting Vermeer.

- John Anderson - America magazine
 

In VISION, von Trotta achieves a non-preachy coolness that suggests wisdom. Her politics are clear, but they submerge in fascination for von Bingen’s rule-breaking, pioneering faithfulness.

- Armond White - The New York Press
 

Intense. Barbara Sukowa delivers a subdued but powerful performance as Hildegard.

- V.A. Musetto - The New York Post
 

Barbara Sukowa, the radiant actress who portrays Hildegard as a mixture of canny politician and fervent mystic who claims to receive messages directly from God, makes Hildegard a likeable and charismatic woman who risks a great deal to do good in an environment that leaves women little room for self-expression. Her intelligence and enthusiasm make her a proto-feminist force to be reckoned with.

- Stephen Holden - The New York Times
 

CRITICS’ PICK! Dares to portray the spiritual life as something worth aspiring to, even as it makes a case for the revolutionary achievements of its remarkable subject.

- New York Magazine
 

As depicted in VISION, Hildegard was creative, passionate, fierce, dogged, manipulative, holy, learned, loyal—and obedient to her ideal of faith. She supported education and independence for women at a time when most women had neither. Being female, the story of Hildegard shows, often means fighting for parity against men in charge.

- Lisa Miller - Newsweek
 

Transporting. Casts convent life as a kind of fever dream. Von Trotta’s canvas of medieval faith impresses in its detail.

- Benjamin Mercer - The L Magazine
 

Fans of medieval multi-hypenate Hildegard von Bingen can at last burst into plainsong: Margarethe von Trotta herself has brought the abbess’s remarkable life and times to the screen. Von Trotta is crafting something more complex and layered than the life of a saint.

- Nicolas Rapold - Film Comment
 

Soul-stirring and daring. Admirably carried by the immensely gifted actress Barbara Sukowa in the role of Hildegard.

- Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat - Spirituality & Practice
 

A magnetic performance... a surprisingly persuasive addition to von Trotta’s gallery of potent female protagonists.... photography takes maximum advantage of the film’s pastoral cloister settings, evoking eloquent contrasts between candlelit stone interiors and foresty exteriors.

- Jan Stuart - Screen Daily
 

Sukowa’s fierce performance helps to make the character’s mystical yearning credible.

- Stephen Farber - The Hollywood Reporter
 

The film exalts in the diverse accomplishments of the 12th century Benedictine nun. Sukowa embodies her character’s imposition of will with complete conviction, just as she does Hildegard’s imposing intellect and bottomless devotion.

- Todd McCarthy - Variety
 

A great performance at once tender and mystic.... Margarethe von Trotta’s film...seems to be exploring the nuances of love on this earth.

- Daniel Kasman - Mubi
 

October is bursting with great movies, but the most mesmerizing might just be VISION, a haunting biodrama based on the life of Hildegard von Bingen, a 12th century nun... The movie is dark, fascinating and a reminder of the deep roots of religious women’s tough and ongoing power struggle.

- Jennifer Merin - WeNews
 

A timeless, powerful film... Takes you into a world seldom seen or heard, with piercing intelligence, and a wonderful central performance by Barbara Sukowa. The audience gets to experience what it means to lose oneself in faith, from a female point of view, struggling against the hierarchy of the church. The sparse sound scape and delicate performances draw you into a world long ago, before the cacophony of modernity, and remind you that there’s still silence in the world to embrace.

- John Turturro