''Vision'' (; English: ''Vision – From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen'') is a 2009 German film directed by

Margarethe von Trotta Margarethe von Trotta (; born 21 February 1942)Hans Helmut Prinzler, ''Chronik des deutschen Films, 1895–1994'' (Stuttgart and Weimar: Verlag J. B. Metzler, 1995), p. 149. is a German film director, screenwriter, and actress. She has been ref ...

Plot

In ''Vision'', New German Cinema auteur

(''Marianne and Julianne'', ''Rosa Luxemburg'' and ''Rosentrasse'') tells the story of

Hildegard of Bingen Hildegard of Bingen Benedictines, OSB (, ; ; 17 September 1179), also known as the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German Benedictines, Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mysticism, mystic, visiona ...

, the famed 12th century Benedictine nun, Christian mystic, composer, philosopher, playwright, physician, poet, naturalist, scientist and ecological activist. Hildegard was a multi-talented, highly intelligent woman who had to work within the narrow social roles allowed for women at the time.

Cast

* Barbara Sukowa as

** Stella Holzapfel as Hildegard as a Child *

Heino Ferch Heino Ferch (born 18 August 1963) is a German film, theatre and television actor. His notable film roles include Albert Speer in '' Downfall'' (2004) and Harry Melchior in ''The Tunnel'' (2001). Biography The son of a merchant sea captain, Hei ...

as Brother Volmar * Hannah Herzsprung as Sister Richardis * Mareile Blendi as Countess

Jutta von Sponheim Countess Jutta von Sponheim (22 December 1091 – 1136) was the youngest of four noblewomen who were born into affluent surroundings in what is currently the Rhineland-Palatinate. She was the daughter of Count Stephen of Spanheim. Jutta, inste ...

* Sunnyi Melles as Marchioness Richardis von Stade *

Alexander Held Gerald Alexander Held (born 19 October 1958) is a German actor. He is internationally best known for his historical depictions, as Walther Hewel in the 2004 film '' Der Untergang'', Robert Mohr in the 2005 film '' Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Ta ...

as Abbot Kuno * Lena Stolze as Sister Jutta * Paula Kalenberg as Sister Clara * Annemarie Düringer as Abbess Tengwich *

Devid Striesow Devid Striesow (born 1 October 1973 in Bergen auf Rügen, East Germany) is a German actor. After his school education, he moved to Berlin to start an apprenticeship as a goldsmith but the goldsmith's business went bankrupt before Striesow cou ...

as Emperor Frederick Barbarossa

Production

Integrally involved with the 1970s Women’s Movement, filmmaker

has always been drawn to women whose story has been marginalized over time. Von Trotta and others re-found Hildegard von Bingen in their search for historically forgotten (or misremembered) women. While writing the screenplay for her 1983 film ''Rosa Luxemburg'', von Trotta’s interest in Hildegard re-emerged and she wondered whether Hildegard’s life would be good material for a movie. After writing a few scenes, von Trotta felt the film had a powerful message and potential resonance but didn’t feel she could find a producer ready to make the movie. Thus, von Trotta shelved the idea until it came to cinematic fruition recently. The film reunites von Trotta with Barbara Sukowa (''Zentropa'', ''Berlin Alexanderplatz''). Sukowa portrays Hildegard’s fierce determination to expand the responsibilities of women within the Benedictine order, as she fends off outrage from the Church over the visions she claims to receive from God. Shot in the original medieval cloisters in the German countryside, in ''Vision'', von Trotta and Sukowa create a portrait of a woman who has emerged from the shadows of history as a forward-thinking pioneer of faith, change and enlightenment. The film depicts Hildegard's diplomatic (sometime manipulative) skills to understand men and their vanities in order to found her own convent. It captures Hildegard’s love of happiness, mankind and their connectedness to faith. ''Vision'' made its European debut in 2009 and is being distributed in the U.S. by

Zeitgeist Films Zeitgeist Films is a New York, New York, New York-based distribution company founded in 1988 which acquires and distributes films from the U.S. and around the world. In 2017, Zeitgeist entered into a multi-year strategic alliance with film distr ...

starting October 13, 2010.

Accolades

*Official Selection -

Telluride Film Festival The Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is a film festival held annually in Telluride, Colorado, during Labor Day, Labor Day weekend (the first Monday in September). The 51st Telluride Film Festival, 51st edition took place on August 30–September ...

2009 *Official Selection -

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

2009

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vision - From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen Films directed by Margarethe von Trotta 2009 films 2000s biographical films 2000s historical films German biographical films German historical films 2000s German-language films Films set in 12th-century Holy Roman Empire Films about classical music and musicians Hildegard of Bingen 2000s German films Films set in convents