Vision - Aus dem Leben der Hildegard von Bingen 2009

Tom Long, Detroit News: There was obviously much to this woman, yet somehow Visions feels curiously empty feeling. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: Sukowa makes Hildegard a likable and charismatic woman who risks a great deal to do good in an environment that leaves women little room for self-expression. Her intelligence and enthusiasm make her a proto-feminist force to be reckoned with. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: Von Trotta, an icon of the New German Cinema, doesn't have the technical chops for the fireworks you desire, so she settles for wan earnestness. Read more

Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: It's hard to muster more than curious indifference to Margarethe von Trotta's "Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen." Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: A gorgeously filmed, surprisingly tough-minded portrait of the 12th-century Benedictine nun, scholar, mystic, and composer. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Although von Trotta seems to regard von Bingen as some sort of medieval feminist precursor, there are enough fault lines in the portrayal to subvert hagiography. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Vision is shot through with issues of power - personal, political, spiritual. Which makes it a terrifically resonant work. Read more

Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times: [A] superbly rendered and deeply absorbing religious drama... Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Trotta ... makes a choice to view Hildegard's life in its externals and reveal few of the thoughts behind her sometimes forbidding facade. We never know what she's thinking. That's tantalizing. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: What we have here is the story of a very cool nun from a thousand years ago. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Here's a rarity: a reverent, respectful biography of a medieval Benedictine nun. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Although this true story offers numerous opportunities for skepticism and irony, director Margarethe von Trotta accords Hildegard the respect of a proto-feminist forebear and frames her in golden light like a Vermeer painting. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Barbara Sukowa brings her veteran presence to the role, and nicely fuses its dual nature, holy instrument and holy terror, the passive vessel of a higher power and the active force of the good mother. Read more

Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: Vision is more immediate and immersive when dealing in the jealous attachments among sisters; when circumstance and politics tear Richardis from Hildegard, Sukowa's performance rears to towering heights of abjection. Read more