Saw this at IDFA, the International Documentary Festival 2018 in Amsterdam. To prevent misunderstandings upfront, there is no sex involved anywhere in the movie. Everything we had thought to read between the lines in the synopsis on the IDFA website, about the relationship of Tatiana and Gerondas, is an assumption that is completely wrong. Rather, Gerondas is more like a guru, a confessor (Dutch: biechtvader), with whom Tatiana says to share everything. It includes things she cannot share with even her sister or mother.
We enter a world very different from ours, despite the apparent openness of the monastery. The interior appears very modern and visitors are not kept out. Yet prevalent existential principles are very different. For example: one of Tatiana's fellow-sisters states that Marina has not achieved anything, being divorced twice from people she had pledged to share her life with. That is precisely along the line of an interesting and relevant quote (I forgot by whom): "There are two pathways to heaven, one is to marry and start a family, the other one is to devote your life to God." (loosely quoted).
Apart from sister Marina, their mother has also an important role, which becomes apparent later in the story. Until now she had only spurious contacts with Tatiana. The last one was over a year ago. She is still annoyed about what happened many years past, when Tatiana made some drastic changes in her life. For example, Tatiana threw away all her clothes, to wear only black from that moment on. It pained her mother that there was no way to reason with Tatiana after she decided to follow Gerondas, though their contacts were confined to only a few moments. A difficult thing to accept for a mother who had raised her and cared for her all her life. Such a drastic switch away from a mother who loved you for many years, is bound to cause pain forever, especially when there is no clear explanation given for this move.
Dialogs are important in this movie. The camera is usually close to the face trying to find an answer for the question raised at that moment. Consequently, we see that the answers are not easy and hence do not come quick. It thus gives us time to ponder what answer we can expect, and/or what the most desirable answer would be. The time devoted to these dialogs is very appropriate for this movie, where such deep delving existential issues are brought forward. I was relieved that no simplistic answers were offered.
