ANCHORESS
A film review by Gareth Rees
Copyright 1993 Gareth Rees
Director: Chris Newby Starring: Natalie Morse, Eugene Bervoets, Toyah Wilcox Producer: Paul Brels Script: Judith Stanley-Smith, Christine Watkins Release: UK/Belgium 1993 Length: 106 mins
Christine Carpenter sees a statue of the Virgin Mary being brought to the church in her village and it is the most beautiful thing she has ever seen. She asks the priest if she can become an anchoress, and be sealed up in the walls of the church for the remainder of her life, to intercede with the Virgin on behalf of the village. The priest offers her a choice: "You must choose between the rotten meat of this world and the milk and honey of paradise."
Chris Newby's film of this true story very adeptly demonstrates how Christine's naive and sensuous spirituality becomes the battleground for the contention between the priest (who gets status from having an anchoress in the walls of his church), the reeve of the local manor (who wishes to marry her) and her midwife mother (who wants her to be happy).
The film is shot in monochrome and the bleak medieval landscapes have the apocalyptic feel of Bergman's SEVENTH SEAL. The atmosphere is one of a God-forsaken, poverty-stricken subsistence community but the camera superbly conveys Christine's unique vision of the world by concentrating on the textures of her world: skin, stone, mud, water, hair - in all of these Christine sees her vision of the Virgin. There is a scene in which she has escaped from her confinement and is standing in the sand with her arms outstretched as if embracing the sky, and the camera whirls and tilts as it follows her, perfectly conveying her joy at being able to commune with the world again.
--- Gareth Rees
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