It is an intense, epic, and in some ways surprising story told by the film «The Monk who defeated the Apocalypse». It tells of the «Calavrese abbot Giovacchino with a gifted prophetic spirit», as Dante defined him in the XII Canto of Paradise. The film directed by Jordan River received great applause at yesterday’s national preview, at the Citrigno cinema in Cosenza.
An enveloping vortex of religion and spirituality, literature, philosophy, art, history, love for nature. A character forgotten for too long, Joachim of Fiore. The universality of Joachimite thought, its contemporary and current nature, is astonishing. He surprises for his intellectual strength, his visionary power: he influenced Dante Alighieri for the Divine Comedy and Michelangelo Buonarroti for the Sistine Chapel. The film tries to tell it in a profound way, through a lucid and consciously secular narrative.
«The Monk who overcame the Apocalypse» has already received numerous awards: it won the 20th edition of the Terni Film festival which closed just last week, and the 78th Salerno International Film Festival. We talked about the film with Jordan River, director and also screenwriter.
Together with Michela Albanese you wrote the screenplay of the film. What kind of approach did you decide to have with such an intense and meaningful story?
«We started from numerous readings, research of materials, documents. We touched on ancient books, Joachim’s original writings in Latin. There are several dialogues in which Joachim’s authentic words will be heard. We instead wanted to leave the names of places and people in Latin to infuse the sound of the language linked to that time. Once we had the first draft of the screenplay, we sent it to two personalities who already knew Gioacchino having done research, studied and written about him. Valeria De Fraja, a very attentive medievalist, and the well-known philosopher Andrea Tagliapietra, who also wrote books on Joachim, including a bestseller with Feltrinelli. Both were invaluable in this writing phase. But the film is not only the result of historical research, during the development and scouting phase for the locations there was also a second finishing job to make the story more in line with the settings we had chosen with the production designer and director of photography, and further refinement during editing and post-production in general. In a certain sense, after taking it from the dusty shelves, we let ourselves be guided by Joachim. Even what happened after the clapperboard was played helped rewrite history. It can truly be said that the Holy Spirit sees no boundaries. I’ll tell you a curiosity: there is a scene in which Gioacchino, played by Francesco Turbanti, is meditating barefoot, in the woods, and suddenly a dog enters the scene. The actor interacted with this unexpected event and the scene was narratively inserted into a particular moment of the film…”.
Dante Alighieri for the Divine Comedy and Michelangelo Buonarroti for the Sistine Chapel allowed themselves to be guided by Gioachimite thought and art…”.
«At the time, not everyone knew how to read and write. And the Abbot da Fiore had the ability to interpret the Holy Scriptures like no one else. Therefore, several pontiffs gave him permission to write and interpret these ancient prophetic writings. The most cryptic was certainly the Apocalypse of John. If we think about it, the Last Judgment is nothing more than an artistic representation of the Apocalypse. And Gioacchino, before these characters, was able to suggest visions.”
Gioacchino da Fiore’s relationship with Nature, in particular, is an aspect of his thought that resonates in the era we are living in…
«Gioacchino’s story is divided into several stages. I imagined them as a path. Often even when we think of saints, we imagine them as altars. And this is wrong, the divine does not distance us from true life, indeed the more we live a true life, the more authentic the experience of transcendence is. Joachim paid great attention to the third period of history in which everyone, living an authentic life, can positively fulfill their destiny. Gioacchino, in a particular phase of his life, leaves the abbeys to observe silence and refine the dialogue with nature. It wasn’t difficult to understand the strong bond he had with nature, just browse the pages of Liber Figurarum today, for him nature was the earthly vehicle to reach the celestial world.”
Pope Francis was the first Pontiff who cited Joachim as an example of an ideal. In short, you have chosen to talk about a character who has remained in the shadows for a long, long time…
«This coincidence of events surprised us a little. Pope Francis’ pontificate is somewhat marked by a “Joachimite” style. Not only is he pro-peace, but he was also a reformer. Just think of the corrections in the Our Father. Regardless of whether we are believers or not, Joachim has been unfairly left in the archives for centuries. Now is his time, and the Pope wanted to remedy the delays and injustices of centuries of history. To our surprise, in June we received a letter from the Vatican in which Pope Francis complimented the film and imparted his Apostolic Blessing. And to say that I never thought of making a religious film, in fact even the film style, although in a spiritual dimension, is very secular and modern.”
Alongside an international cast, including the American Nikolay Moss (already winner of the Emmy Award for Best Actor), Bill Hutchens, Francesco Turbanti, Elisabetta Pellini, G-Max, Giancarlo Martini and Yoon C. Joyces, there are many Calabrian actors: Costantino Comito, Saverio Malara, Carmelo Giordano, Alessandro Cipolla, Salvatore Audia, Francesco Guzzo Magliocchi and Antonello Lombardo who played a part in Latin. «The Monk Who Conquered the Apocalypse» was created with the contribution of the Ministry of Culture, the Calabria Film Commission Foundation and the Lazio Region, with the patronage of the Province of Cosenza, the Sila National Park Authority and the Pollino National Park Authority, the support documentary of the International Center for Gioachimite Studies of San Giovanni in Fiore, the Archdiocese of Cosenza and of the Postulation of the Cause of Beatification of the Servant of God, and the collaboration of the FAI (Italian Environment Fund).