Stations of the Cross

Filmmaker Dietrich Brüggemann's modern-day religious tragedy is shot in 14 long and largely stationary continuous takes, each corresponding to a different step in Christ's Passion. Maria (Lea van Acken) is a pretty 14-year-old whose family belongs to an ultra-conservative Catholic church that rejects the changes of Vatican II. Indoctrinated in ideals of sacrifice, suffering, and rejecting worldly things for God, Maria begins to languish, especially as seemingly innocent classroom flirtations and daily pleasures begin to loom as life-or-death temptations in her cosmology. The viewer is left to interpret whether the heroine's tribulations lead to a path of saintly miracle or dysfunctional, fanatical self-crucifixion. A powerful, thought-provoking film, this is highly recommended. (C. Cassady)