Novitiate is a fascinating look at a milieu rarely seen on film,
certainly in a narrative film: the world inside a most insular Western
institution - a Roman Catholic convent. Focusing on one of the young female
novices, Sister Cathleen (Margaret Qualley), a seeker who entered the cloister
as a girl of just sixteen, the film is above all and most surprisingly a
romantic and deeply emotional love story - for Cathleen has fallen deeply and
passionately in love with Jesus. It’s as much an affair of the heart as of the
spirit, carrying with it most of the attendant features one might expect in
such a youthful romance: devotion, idealization, guilt, sexual passion,
disappointment, neediness, selflessness and obsession.
More generally, the film encompasses not just Sister
Cathleen’s story, but also the experiences of her fellow postulants and
novitiates - the young women who seek entry into this sisterhood, each hoping
to become a “Bride of Christ” - and also the perspective of some of the nuns
who are teaching and guiding them. Why would a girl choose to enter the
cloistered life? For some it’s a calling; for others it’s their family’s
expectation, or a commitment to service, a desire for community, or just escape
from oppressive social pressures. For one of Cathleen’s cohort, it was Audrey
Hepburn (see below)! Regardless of the initial motivation, in various ways most
of these women exemplify both the motivating power of faith and an ongoing
struggle to justify and maintain that faith.
Novitiate is also a tale of tumult and change. Set primarily in
the early 1960s, when the dramatic reforms of the Second Vatican Council (“Vatican
II”) upset centuries of Catholic custom and theology and rocked the world of
many Religious, such as the devout leader of this convent, known as Reverend
Mother (Melissa Leo). Reverend Mother is a traditionalist, a purist, a strict
disciplinarian and an authoritarian leader, even suggesting to her charges that
they should consider her instructions and admonitions as the voice of God. As
portrayed in a dazzling performance by Melissa Leo, she is a despicably harsh
and yet touchingly sympathetic character – a woman who has devoted herself to
her church and to her husband Jesus - who experiences Vatican II as an
abandonment.
Vatican II is commonly seen as ushering in long needed modernization
and liberalization to the Roman Catholic Church. For example, mass was no
longer to be conducted in latin, but in the common language of the congregants.
Most pertinent to Novitiate, nuns were no longer expected to live in relative
seclusion in convents, cloisters and the like, but could live anywhere, and in
fact were encouraged to engage more with the outside world; similarly, nuns no
longer had to dress in the traditional habit robes but could dress
(conservatively) in ordinary street clothes. Many sisters welcomed such
reforms, but some did not. Most heinous to the likes of Reverend Mother, the
edicts reduced the status of nuns from theologically exalted members of the
Catholic community to just like anyone else, calling into question the
desirability and unique benefits of taking vows at all. Although a causal
relationship is still debated, there is no question that following Vatican II,
there was a sharp decline in the number of American nuns. In 1965, about when Novitiate ends and a year
after the promulgation of the new Vatican rules, there were over 180,000
Catholic religious women in the United States.
A decade later, there were less than 70,000. It does not go unnoticed by Novitiate
that nuns and other women religious were
not consulted in the promulgation of the Vatican II changes; sexism and
oppression of women by the Church patriarchy is yet another theme the movie
touches.
The only other narrative film of note that I can recall with
a story about becoming a nun is the aptly named The Nun’s Story (1959) with
Audrey Hepburn in the lead. [Sorry, folks, Sister Act (1992) is not in this
category. And 2008’s Doubt, while excellent and serious,
had a very different focus.] Novitiate,
like The
Nuns Story, depicts a young woman’s struggle to live up to the
institutional goal and her own aspiration toward spiritual perfection, i.e. a
selfless love of and devotion to God as personified by Jesus. But the earlier
picture, made in and reflecting the prevailing culture of the 1950s, romanticizes
the process somewhat. And while initially
depicting the world of Sister Luke (Hepburn) as a novitiate in a 1930s French
abbey, the second half of the film moves well beyond her training period to
focus on her career expectations and hopes – first to work as a nurse in the
Congo, and later to help the French resisting the Nazis threatening her family
– and how she deals with the hierarchical constraints on these desires.
Novitiate, however, stays focused throughout on Sister
Cathleen’s experiences within the walls of her convent, and how she and the
other young postulants and novitiates are tried and tested in their quest to be
worthy of and accepted by the Catholic sisterhood. They are required to reconcile their spiritual
and emotional ardor with the self-abnegation demanded by the Church, as
represented by Reverend Mother – a regime, moreover, increasingly at odds with
the rapidly changing mores of the secular world outside. In some respects, this
movie too romanticizes Sister Cathleen’s journey: she is made to look not only
soulful, but beautiful too – one could even say sensual. But then, this is in
keeping with the love story theme and is more than counterbalanced by the
several depictions of Reverend Mother’s severe disciplinary requirements.
Among its other merits, Novitiate, a film all about women,
is also a film made largely by women: written and directed by Maggie Betts;
photographed by Kat Westergaard; produced by Celine Rattray, Trudie Styler and
their production company, Maven Pictures; and with a cast made up almost
entirely of women (with the notable exception of Denis O’Hare as the
Archbishop). Its point of view, thus untainted by male bias or chauvinism, is
refreshingly feminine. This is not to
suggest the movie is preachy or polemical; it’s not that at all. Also of note:
although the filmmakers are neither Catholic nor particularly religious, the
film is not at all disparaging of the faith of its characters. Rather, it is respectful of their beliefs and
empathizes with their aspirations and struggles.
Ultimately, though, what makes this picture worth seeing is
the quality of the work. Although this is Betts’ first narrative feature, her
screenplay is tight and believable, her direction quite assured. She is aided
by the experience of cinematographer Westergaard, whose beautiful photography
is intimate and immediate, perfectly highlighting the fine performances of a
talented ensemble. Novitiate’s leisurely pace is a big plus, as we get to know and
appreciate each of the multiple characters a little bit, allowing a complex of
different perspectives to come forward.
Even so, our protagonist Sister Cathleen remains somewhat of
a mystery. What, ultimately, is drivingthis young woman to withdraw from the
world and devote the rest of her life to God? I’ve listed many of her apparent
motivations elsewhere, and yet it’s still a conundrum for me. Perhaps it’s nothing
more than the mystery of faith, which I’ll never fully understand. As the movie
progresses, one senses that Cathleen doesn’t fully understand either. Still, she
presents a very intriguing enigma. That she is so watchable has more than a
little to do with Qualley’s fine performance.
Cathleen’s mother Nora, memorably played by Julianne
Nicholson [August: Osage County (2013)], doesn’t understand her daughter either. A single mother – Cathleen’s father having abandoned them years earlier – Nora makes no secret of her secularism and her dislike of organized religion, even as she takes advantage of a proffered scholarship to allow Cathleen to attend Catholic high school.She is
similarly frank about matters relating to sex and her relationships with a
series of men. So Cathleen’s decision to pursue a completely different life, a
life of devotion, floors her; and when Cathleen steadfastly pushes Nora away on
her rarely permitted visits to the convent, she is deeply hurt. “What have you
done to my daughter?” she demands of Reverend Mother.
Reverend Mother is, in some ways, the most interesting character
in Novitiate.
She should be an out and out villainess. She’s cruel, autocratic – tyrannical even.
She rages one minute and coldly slides in the icy psychological knife in the
next. Yet Melissa Leo somehow makes us understand that this woman has a heart
and a soul; that she means to do right by her God; that she deeply believes it’s
her duty to guide these young women with tough love. Most remarkably, Leo is
able to convey the Reverend Mother’s anguish when confronted with Vatican II so
well that it’s heartbreaking. Remarkably, we empathize. I would not be
surprised if, come January, this performance earns Leo an award or two.
Novitiate has little outright action, but it is fascinating - lovely,
thought-provoking and beautifully acted - an emotional, but not melodramatic
character study, a fascinating historical narrative. I think you’ll find it time
well spent.
123 minutes Rated R
Grade: A
Update: now available on most streaming services [but as of 3/14/2018, not Netflix].
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