Hadewijch

An impressionist piece about faith and martyrdom, where nothing much happens and nothing terribly new is presented. Don't come to this expecting a conventional narrative. There is one, but it spends all its time sitting in the corner and whimpering. Director Bruno Dumont wants to make you think and/or feel, and by God, you will think and/or feel, although not necessarily things related to the film. Long, meditative, slow sequences. Bring a date.

Brings up several intriguing statements about religious fanaticism and misguided personal morality but is altogether too vague and unconvincing. What little dialogue the film has is frustratingly stilted and offers little insight into the situation.

Maybe I don't get it, right.

Very interesting exploration of the visible and the invisible, that seems to gesture towards what Bernard Stiegler calls the a-transcendental.

Star Rating: ★★★★1/2

"Ultimately seems just as calculated and mechanical a pose as Dumont's previous efforts." - Nick Schager

Hadewijch goes from austere images of a wintry world to remarkably beautiful images of post-rainfall lushness. From desolation to revelation, humanism becomes visible in every living thing.