Requiem is based on the real life incident of Anneliese Michel which also served as the basis for the Hollywood film 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose'. But while that was a standard Hollywood-ised commercial horror film, Requiem is a much more realistic, understated and sedate film that tries to examine the events leading up to the girl's supposed possession.
First of all, it will be very wrong to approach 'Requiem' as a horror film at least in the conventional sense. Directed by Hans- Christian Schmid, this is a film about faith and liberation. It's very Bergman-esque in the way it deals with the effect of religion on the society as a whole as well as individuals. Michaela and her family are devout Roman Catholics and they truly believe in their religion. They are good, mild mannered people who live decent lives. We are informed right at the beginning that Michaela has an epileptic condition which had forced her to drop a whole year of school. But then she gets accepted in University and becomes adamant to go even by going against her mother's strong apprehensions. What follows is a heartbreaking story of a sweet, adorable and smart, young girl completely falling apart.
The film beautifully tackles the concept of self-guilt. The mindsets of people around you and lack of liberty can have a very chaotic impact on an unstable and impressionable mind. Michaela was a devout Christian, but she also wanted to be a liberated young girl and study and see the world without being subjected to repression. But certain incidents and her family members' attitude towards her(although they only wanted her to stay safe) made her feel more and more guilty about herself and her actions. Once you reach a breaking point and start believing that what you're doing is morally wrong and God will not accept you for it, it can have a very negative impact especially in the case of Michaela who already was medically ill. Although the director clearly makes a case against the supposed possession of the girl, but never does he make the Church and the priests out to be villains. As a matter of fact everyone in the film other than Michaela loves her and only wants her to be happy, safe and healthy.
The central performance by Sandra Hüller is brilliant. She portrays a wide variety of emotions ranging from happiness, sweetness, love, anger and ending with utter madness. The scenes towards the end of the film are absolutely heartbreaking. The director has to be appreciated for dealing with this subject with such humanism without resorting to shoddy and mechanical alternatives. When the film ends, you can't help but feel a sense of melancholy and sorrow especially knowing what the consequences were in real life after the narrative in the film ends. Beautiful film.
First of all, it will be very wrong to approach 'Requiem' as a horror film at least in the conventional sense. Directed by Hans- Christian Schmid, this is a film about faith and liberation. It's very Bergman-esque in the way it deals with the effect of religion on the society as a whole as well as individuals. Michaela and her family are devout Roman Catholics and they truly believe in their religion. They are good, mild mannered people who live decent lives. We are informed right at the beginning that Michaela has an epileptic condition which had forced her to drop a whole year of school. But then she gets accepted in University and becomes adamant to go even by going against her mother's strong apprehensions. What follows is a heartbreaking story of a sweet, adorable and smart, young girl completely falling apart.
The film beautifully tackles the concept of self-guilt. The mindsets of people around you and lack of liberty can have a very chaotic impact on an unstable and impressionable mind. Michaela was a devout Christian, but she also wanted to be a liberated young girl and study and see the world without being subjected to repression. But certain incidents and her family members' attitude towards her(although they only wanted her to stay safe) made her feel more and more guilty about herself and her actions. Once you reach a breaking point and start believing that what you're doing is morally wrong and God will not accept you for it, it can have a very negative impact especially in the case of Michaela who already was medically ill. Although the director clearly makes a case against the supposed possession of the girl, but never does he make the Church and the priests out to be villains. As a matter of fact everyone in the film other than Michaela loves her and only wants her to be happy, safe and healthy.
The central performance by Sandra Hüller is brilliant. She portrays a wide variety of emotions ranging from happiness, sweetness, love, anger and ending with utter madness. The scenes towards the end of the film are absolutely heartbreaking. The director has to be appreciated for dealing with this subject with such humanism without resorting to shoddy and mechanical alternatives. When the film ends, you can't help but feel a sense of melancholy and sorrow especially knowing what the consequences were in real life after the narrative in the film ends. Beautiful film.