Hadewijch
Director: Bruno Dumont
Year Released: 2009
Rating: 3.0
A teen (Julie Sokolowski) is asked to leave a convent for refusing to eat (and follow orders) so she drifts back to her upscale parents and puppy; soon, she wanders free in the world, befriends some Muslims and becomes a (very unlikely) terrorist. Normally, Dumont's enigmatic style enthralls me, but this picture - with its supremely muddled narrative - is only a minor work: I like it not so much as a movie (because I'm not sure it 'works') but in the effort and ideas put forth in it. Dumont claims he's not spiritual, but like many artists he's a skilled liar: this picture is about a crisis of faith, of trying to find your place, and his lead is in love with Christ but unsure of the world. He takes some short cuts with this - the notion that some random Muslim in a coffee shop is a terrorist - and the psychology doesn't quite hold up, but as he shows with the final shot, it's more about feeling (and salvation) than logic.
