14/11/2023 - Jaap van Heusden’s latest feature is a gripping psychological drama about a priest seeking the truth behind a mysterious Crying Madonna

One of the features celebrating its international premiere in competition at this year’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival is Jaap van Heusden’s The Man from Rome [+see also:
interview: Jaap van Heusden and Rogier…
film profile]. The picture opens on an intriguing premise: we follow Father Filippo (Michele Riondino), a troubled man who lives with great passion and turmoil his inner conflict between faith and science. Saving people from deception, he is tasked to find out lies and schemes behind many alleged miracles. 

Here, we see the man travelling to a small village in Limburg, where four years before a tragic school shooting left a trail of blood and an apparently irreversible sense of doom and hopelessness among the villagers. Things seem to change for the better when the statue of a Madonna, belonging to a woman and her daughter Térèse (a young girl who survived the attack but became mute as a result, played by Emma Bading), begins crying and returns faith to the community, lifting their spirits.

Riondino nails his portrayal of a forty-something priest who, like a modern-day crusader and a sceptical Saint Thomas, seeks the truth and is aware of the sacred mission he needs to accomplish. His English is fluent, but when he switches to his mother tongue, he sounds like a severe churchman, whose voice is at times slightly “chanted.” It’s an interesting trait, which looks organic on screen, and makes him quite credible despite his unusual good looks for a young clergyman.

Despite her muteness, the cryptic character played by Emma Bading ends up being a powerful presence, crucial to the development of the story and able to keep the viewers hooked. Overall, the script (penned by the helmer in tandem with Rogier de Blok) boasts a good balance between the urge to advance the plot at an adequately fast pace and the need to leave some things unsaid, creating mystery and sparking curiosity.

The film is technically well realised, with the sombre score courtesy of Minco Eggersman and the cinematography by Melle Van Essen standouts. The flashback scenes depicting the tragic day of the mass murder are exceptionally well crafted, enriched by an effective use of slow motion and a very light colour palette. 

The closing of the narrative arc is ambiguous yet surprising. All in all, The Man from Rome is an intense journey about faith, hope, instinct and loss. Even though these themes have been thoroughly explored in the past and are not dazzling with originality, in Jaap van Heusden’s fourth feature they are treated in a fresh, meticulous fashion through the unique lens of a small Dutch village, forgotten and forsaken by God.

The Man from Rome is produced by IJSwater Films (Netherlands), and co-produced by Fiction Park (Germany) and Evangelische Omroep (the Netherlands). Gusto Entertainment is in charge of the film’s Dutch distribution.