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Drama
”Mother”
Regi: Teona Strugar Mitevska
Manus: Goce Smilevski, Teona Strugar Mitevska, Elma Tataragic
I rollerna: Noomi Rapace, Sylvia Hoeks, Nikola Ristanovski m fl.
Längd: 1 tim 43 min (från 11 år). Språk: engelska. Biopremiär
In a year already brimming with biopics, it was only a matter of time before the story of Mother Teresa arrived on the considerable screen. A Nobel Peace Prize laureate renowned for her empathy, she’s a name synonymous with historical goodness. But how do you make a film about a saint without falling to your knees?
The year is 1948, the location Calcutta. Mother Teresa is seeking to establish her own religious order, a more austere iteration of her current one. Asceticism, renunciation, absolution. But she needs the Pope’s approval, and as the film begins, she has just seven days to receive a response. This focused timeframe—a mere week in the life of an icon—proves to be a smart creative choice. Instead of attempting to cram a legendary existence into a standard runtime, the film offers a concentrated portrait of Mother Teresa.
North Macedonian filmmaker Teona Strugar Mitevska, best known in art-house circles for the feminist drama “God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya,” too explores a woman confined by a patriarchal system. The film subtly questions whether Mother Teresa accumulated “goodness points” – as some critics have suggested over the years – or if her actions stemmed from pure compassion.
Noomi Rapace delivers a stern and almost petty performance, taut as a guitar string – constantly on the verge of snapping.
Mitevska sides with Teresa, but the film isn’t a hagiography. At times, quite the opposite. Noomi Rapace delivers a stern and almost petty performance, taut as a guitar string – constantly on the verge of snapping. A character who, with a slight adjustment to the lighting, could easily step into any horror film about possessed Catholics.
Rapace delivers a Rapace performance, and with emphasis. She’s a master of playing steely and inaccessible (it would be shocking to see her smile), but here, her acting style unfortunately creates more distance than it invites—and the script doesn’t offer many inroads into the character. For viewers unfamiliar with the historical details, she remains an enigma from start to finish.
Instead, it’s her fellow nuns who provide the emotional core of the film, illuminating Teresa’s possible inner turmoil and her potential desire to be a mother rather than a Mother Superior. When Sister Agnieszka, whom Teresa has designated as her successor, becomes pregnant, Teresa is furious. Perhaps due to the fact that it complicates her exit. Mother Teresa is full of corrosive soda, eager to escape what she sees as a stagnant institution.
Teona Strugar Mitevska and her team approach the myth with admirable sobriety, and while “Mother” is a somewhat monotonous journey, Mitevska’s direction offers small, life-affirming moments. Like the teasing dream sequences, the frequently booming hard rock riffs—and nuns headbanging to Lordi’s “Hardrock Hallelujah.” A little forced, perhaps, but still irreverently refreshing. Completely without kneeling.
See more: Other standout performances from Noomi Rapace: “Tiny Killing” (2010), “Prometheus” (2012), “Lamb” (2021).
Noomi Rapace: “I was surprised by Mother Teresa’s inner struggle and darkness”
Noomi Rapace praised at film festival: “I was angry at the world – and at the men”
