Medieval life happened so long ago that our natural inclination is to view it from an alien remove and marvel at how someone actually lived like that. This is silly, of course: human nature stays fairly consistent throughout history, as do plagues, unrest, or the preparations needed for a holiday. Caroline Golum’s Revelations of Divine Love brings this dichotomy to the forefront, not just in recounting the historical events written down by Julian of Norwich, but by pointedly setting anachronistic characters and dialogue against such plainly artificial, Brechtian sets. Accuracy is not exactly what it’s going for. Rather, it’s charmingly evocative, sure to resonate with anyone mildly familiar with the era.
Julian was an anchoress: a woman who, for various reasons, chose to be barricaded inside a cell to live out her life in service to God (players of the game Pentiment will be familiar with the concept). In her seclusion, this meant prayer as well as the writings that formed what many consider the first English-language text written by a woman. Without that text, as the closing titles state, there would be no other record of her life—an intriguing idea in itself. Golum’s film is nominally a biopic, but it also functions as an adaptation of the text: it begins with Julian in the midst of a sickness, during which she experiences the frightening visions that compel her to enter the church walls.
The thin line between madness and religion has been tackled since the silent era, but Golum approaches Julian with utter sincerity. That extends to the visual style of the film itself: it’s brazenly artificial, at times theatrical in a way that’s immensely charming. Note the small model of the church in which Julian is sequestered, used as a means of creating establishing shots and showing the passing of time via snow falling or hazy red lighting during strife. “Handcrafted” springs to mind; one can see the care put into every part of this production, down to the impressive, period-accurate costumes.
Golum mixes this seeming authenticity with anachronistic signifiers, such as a synth-heavy score that approximates medieval instruments, or modern habits of speech and mannerisms. At its best, this method successfully bridges the past and present. How could it not when the story takes us through a plague, widespread dissatisfaction with taxes, and a near uprising? Like the best historical fiction, Revelations of Divine Love reminds us that our modern problems would be deeply relatable to a medieval peasant.
As novel as Golum’s method is, she is perhaps a bit too effective at creating distance. The performers all acquit themselves well in that no one ever feels like a community-theater performer, but there is still a nagging sense that we are, in effect, watching a play. Golum doesn’t quite manage to create an emotional connection to Julian or her circumstances. It would be unfair to blame the characterization alone; after all, there is very little historical information on Julian’s personal life from which to draw. Yet the film never provides a deep sense of religious fulfillment or enlightenment, either. Julian’s faith is never in question, and only a few characters ever interrogate the concept of the anchoress itself. By the end, Golum questions whether seclusion from life is fulfilling at all, an intriguing idea that does more to suggest an intellectual exercise than a central thesis.
If it doesn’t provide a big revelation itself, Revelations of Divine Love is, at minimum, a feast for the eyes and ears. It’s wholly unique in style and tone, familiar perhaps to fans of The Love Witch and tied to enough medieval accuracy to appeal to those versed in the era or who’ve spent too long in Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. Golum’s film is ambitious in scope, and if she never quite manages to reveal the person at the center, the life of this woman being recorded feels like a fulfillment in itself. At 73 minutes it doesn’t overstay its welcome, either, with lead actress Tessa Strain’s magnetic face as the guide in successfully connecting us to a past that finds plenty of parallels with modern life.
Revelations of Divine Love opens in theaters on Friday, March 27.