Movies |
Sister Rose’s Passion
directed by Oren Jacoby
By
Published: Jan 01, 2006
Category:
Documentary
Sister Rose’s Passion
directed by Oren Jacoby
“Why did the Jews want to put the Son of God to death?”
That’s the question some very pleasant people — Christians, all — ask at the start of “Sister Rose’s Passion.” And the answer is not a brainbuster. They all seem to know it: The Jews are Satanic creatures. Killing Jesus was their destiny — and, now, their mark of shame.
“Sister Rose’s Passion” was released in 2003, the year that — not coincidentally — saw the release of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.” One film is notorious: It made a fortune and got reams of press. The other is little known: It was shown on HBO and at film festivals, it was nominated for (but did not win) an Academy Award in the Best Documentary category.
But size isn’t everything. Authenticity matters. Courage matters. The truth, odd as it seems, also matters. And so, although Gibson’s admirers might not like it, these films are linked. How? Because Oren Jacoby and his subject, Sister Rose Thering, rudely jumped the large zone of politeness around Gibson’s movie and tied it to the long, nasty history of blaming the Jews for the murder of the King of the Jews. Sister Rose’s review of “The Passion of the Christ” is blunt: “There’s no scholarship. It’s shocking.”
What’s much more shocking is Sister Rose, who was, at the time of filming, an 84-year-old Dominican nun. For there is nothing in her background that suggests she would dedicate her life to educating the elders of her church about its corrosive, historically incorrect anti-Semitism. She was a farmer’s daughter. Grew up in aptly named Plain, Wisconsin. Became a nun in 1938.
In years to come, she would travel to Auschwitz. Her report: “The guide told me you could smell the burning flesh for miles.” She did her homework, got anti-Semitic textbooks removed from Catholic schools. She was a key player in the Church’s 1962 reversal of opinion about the role of the Jews in the Crucifixion. In 1986, when she was in her late ’60s, she traveled to Austria to protest the inauguration of Kurt Waldheim, who had recently been exposed for committing atrocities as a German soldier in World War II; in the melee, the crowd pushed Sister Rose around and tore a yellow star from her coat.
The heart of the film is Sister Rose telling her story. But Jacoby, a consummate documentarian, has looked far and wide for footage never seen before. I thought I’d seen every frame taken in World War II Germany; I blinked here. And, a universe away, Jacoby found footage of Catholic rituals that will be stunning to almost anyone — especially the scene when two dozen nuns-to-be walk down the stairs in wedding dresses, prostrate themselves at the altar and are married to Jesus Christ.
There’s a nice surprise at the end of the film. It’s sweet. You may find yourself smiling. Go ahead. Sister Rose would understand. But then, this mild-mannered, seemingly innocuous child of the farm understands much more than a lot of so-called smarter folks.
To buy “Sister Rose’s Passion” from Amazon.com, click here.
