Spanish sequence “La Mesías” on Arte: Singing towards the top of the world | EUROtoday

Filmleute in den spanischen Bergen: Sie interessieren sich für die „Schwarze Madonna“, Kataloniens Schutzheilige „La Moreneta“. Und vermutlich kommen auch Andersgläubige im Drehbuch vor. Montserrat – der „gesägte Berg“ – zieht ja nicht nur Pilger an, die eine Marien­figur anbeten wollen, sondern auch neureligiöse Gruppen ohne Verbindung zum Christentum. Sie halten den Berg für ein Portal, seit hier in den Siebzigerjahren ein Ufo gesehen worden sein soll, und treffen sich in bestimmten Nächten, um neuen Sichtungen entgegenzufiebern.

So auch in der Nacht, in der das Filmteam den Abschluss der Dreharbeiten feiert und Enric (Roger Casamajor), der Kameraassistent, lieber allein raucht und trinkt und vom Hotel nach draußen ins Freie geht. Es ist seine Geschichte, die „La Mesías“ erzählt. Sie wirkt am Anfang wie ein Mysterythriller von David Lynch, erst recht in dem Augenblick, als sich Enric in den Kreis der Ufo-Gläubigen begibt.

Tatsächlich aber ist die Serie ein Psychodrama. Sie handelt von übergriffigen Männern, religiösem Fanatismus und seelischen Verwundungen, die vor allem (aber nicht nur) auf das Konto der ultrakatholischen Bewegung Opus Dei gehen.

„Seit Hanekes verstörendsten Filmen kann ich mich an nichts erinnern, was mich so verstört hat wie diese Serie“, schrieb der Schriftsteller Sergio del Molino als Kolumnist in „El País“, als „La Mesías“ in Spanien lief. Er war nicht der Einzige, den die Serie beeindruckte. Die Mitglieder einer bekannten Sakropop-Gruppe erklärten hingegen empört, keinerlei Art von Missbrauch erlebt zu haben. Die Band zählt zu den Inspirationsquellen der Serienschöpfer Javier Ambrossi und Javier Calvo – die betonen, dass die Gruppe nur eine von vielen Inspirationsquellen war, für eine ganz eigene, fiktive Geschichte.

The peace that “La Mesías” permits itself is admirable. Long scenes imply that you simply get utterly concerned within the unhappy face of the protagonist Enric and need to perceive the causes of his trauma with him. No much less admirable are the kid actors who embody the younger Enric (Bruno Núñez, Biel Rossell) and his sister Irene (Carla Moral, Irene Balmes). They have an oppressive feeling of loneliness, and but they’re full of affection for one another and their mom. Fears, longings, experiences: each look right here says greater than a thousand phrases.

“La Mesías” takes place on totally different time ranges. In the current story we see the grownup Enric exploring the world round Mount Montserrat within the days after the capturing and assembly individuals he hasn’t seen for a very long time. He is on the snapping point and utterly alone, wets himself when he hears a few virally profitable sacropop video, tries to contact his sister (Macarena García), who produces communion attire in a textile manufacturing facility and blocks him. Her household additionally talks in regards to the unusual web phenomenon. As shrill as “Teletubbies Christi,” the women from the YouTube video sing pious traces towards the top of the world.

Flashbacks delve into Enric’s biography. The first time, the mom (Ana Rujas, Lola Dueñas) insults the daddy as a “thug” and “sick rapist” and leaves him. Her title is “Montserrat, like the Virgin,” and he or she appreciated to occasion within the wild seventies, however achieved little and introduced unusual males house within the evenings. The youngsters are falling into disrepair, which even neighbors and kin can not stop. The mom quickly slips into prostitution.

Such pictures steadily emerge from Enric’s reminiscence – together with super-short pictures of aliens, that are apparently supposed to point his abuse by a few of his mom’s companions. It is a whole horror and will get one other horrible twist with the looks of the strict gardener Pep (Albert Pla), who belongs to Opus Dei. To quote Enric’s aunt: “Your mother had many men: good, bad, normal. But the worst of all was God.” Pep saves the mom from prostitution. However, he topics her to the foundations of faith, as he interprets them as a fanatic, locks her and her two youngsters on a rural property, fathers extra youngsters together with her towards her will and hides them from the world for years. Until the depressed Montserrat instantly thinks she is the chosen one – the title “La Mesías” foreshadows this. What he does not anticipate is the nod to American movie musicals. They are those who preserve a few of the imprisoned individuals from going loopy.

We see a household drama of literary high quality. It illuminates its persona proper right down to the supporting characters and is properly thought out proper as much as the ultimate sequence wherein Enric sinks into the arms of the well-known feminine guru Amma in Amritapuri, India, and the sister listens to snappy chants at a Catholic service. An necessary indication that religious issues, regardless of all of the mischief that comes with them, can even contribute to soul therapeutic. Meanwhile, in Spain, the nation the place Opus Dei was based, a debate in regards to the group is raging, triggered by papal reforms, a tell-all e book by Gareth Gore and an HBO documentary sequence by Mònica Terribas wherein 13 dropouts report on their experiences.

“The Messiah – The Chosen One” runs completely within the Arte media library.