By William Blick.
Made for about $200,000 through crowdfunding via way of Brooklyn, Revelations achieves the scope necessary for a fascinating, faithful telling of the spiritual and historic journey of Julian of Norwich.”
Different stories of religious faith and suffering have manifested themselves in one way or another in cinema since the invention of the media. Beginning as early as in masterpieces such as The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) by Carl Theodor Dreyer and currently in indie cinema today such as with the controversial Abel Ferrara film, Padre Pio (2022), the genre runs the gamut of the reverent to the unorthodox, exploring the sacred as well as the profane. It is interesting to note how the stories of religious faith have played out on screen as one can trace the shifting zeitgeists of history.
Caroline Golum’s new film, Revelations of Divine Love, stands as something of a wonder and a welcome gem. When one thinks of low budget indie cinema, one may reflect on the sheer volume of low budget horror films that have flooded streaming services- post-pandemic- and made on a shoestring. Nevertheless, made for about $200,000 through crowdfunding via way of Brooklyn, Revelations achieves the scope necessary for a fascinating, faithful telling of the spiritual and historic journey of Julian of Norwich.
Julian of Norwich’s story harkens back 650 years ago to the Middle Ages. Apparently, there is almost no information about Julian’s life history. She has often been attributed as being the first woman to author a manuscript, whose title the film takes on. As the ending notes reveal, there would be no record of Julian’s existence had she not authored this book of religious faith. Actor Tessa Strain as Julian commands the screen with an enthralling performance of a faithful and ascetic servant of her god. The look and feel of the film are aesthetically rich due in part to the cinematography of Gabe Elder.
Revelations of Divine Love, follows Julian as she becomes an “anchoress.” An “anchoress” was a medieval Christian woman who voluntarily withdrew from secular society, taking a vow of stability to live in permanent, consecrated seclusion within a small cell. As there is such limited information available about Julian’s story, Golum takes creative liberties and creates a hypothetical narrative about an act of divine love through suffering. Some may find this theme off-putting, while other audiences will appreciate the sincerity of the film’s depiction of this.
Some may take issue with a heavy-handed approach or historical inaccuracy, or what could be perceived as a less than pious irreverence, but that’s the point: the film somewhat challenges viewers’ comfort zones….”
Surprisingly enough, this austere medieval period film was filmed in Queens, New York. Golum magically transports the viewer back to the Middle Ages with ambient music, strong performances all around, and effective period set pieces. Using extremely limited sets and resources, Revelations demonstrates all the hypocrisy, corruption, and temptations surrounding faith in the Middle Ages and a miraculous spiritual mysticism that was imparted by Julian amid plague, famine, and oppression. Golum creates a heroine out of Julian, as she speaks her truths with defiance in a time where women were deeply constrained by male hierarchy.
The film is not only a historical tale of faith but serves in a somewhat didactic capacity, recreating a somewhat accurate depiction of elements of politics, gender oppression, and despair in the Middle Ages. Contrary to the belief that there was little creative output in the Middle Ages, Julian of Norwich’s achievement of Revelations of Divine Love is brought out in vivid colors under the direction of Golum and the performance of Strain.
In this current time of intolerance, Golum has created an inspiring tale of faith amidst darkness. The film leaves one with the feeling that in depths of despair there is always hope. In the film, the hope takes on a symbolic form of a hazelnut given as a gift to Julian apparently by Christ. Julian is not swayed by the gossiping nuns who feel she maintains a “holier-than-thou” attitude wise, and she forsakes worldly comforts afforded the male dominated clergy in the film such as warm ale and fine clothes. She refuses all worldly comforts in general. It is here that this reviewer was reminded of other cinematic tales of spiritual suffering such as Diary of Country Priest (1951) by Robert Bresson and the contemporarily made Paul Schrader film, First Reformed (2017). In each of these films, the protagonist was a male clergy member who was going through an existential crisis of sorts. Whereas, in Revelations, the protagonist is a woman, and the message is that the suffering leads Julian to a higher order of consciousness and religious ecstasy.
Some may take issue with a heavy-handed approach or historical inaccuracy, or what could be perceived as a less than pious irreverence, but that’s the point: the film somewhat challenges viewers’ comfort zones while adding new illumination to age-old tropes making the film somewhat couched in modernity. Additionally, the aesthetic in this work, as explained by the Golum, is not after verisimilitude, but rather one of “evocation.”
This tale of Julian of Norwich is extremely rare in the scope of the current indie film industry. Revelations of Divine Love takes its place as one of those rare indies that transcends the limitations of the medium. Golum can make many into believers.
William Blick is a literary/crime fiction and film critic, a librarian, and an academic scholar. He is contributing editor to Retreats from Oblivion: The Journal of Noircon and has published work in Senses of Cinema, Film Threat, Cinema Retro, Cineaction, and Film International Online, where he frequently contributes. He is also an Associate Professor/Librarian for Queensborough Community College of CUNY.