I recently watched Requiem, a German film released in 2006 based on the same real life events that The Exorcism of Emily Rose was. It is set in the 1970s and is about a Catholic young woman who goes away to school later than her classmates because she possibly suffers from epilepsy, but she later believes that the source of the illness is more sinister.
Requiem is not supernatural horror, but a drama that is the polar opposite of its American counterpart, which. Other than the music played by the characters, I don’t think that there is even a soundtrack. It is very naturalistic. The pacing was even a bit too deliberate for my tastes because even though it was evocative of her mental state, I had no interest in watching this woman dance for what felt like an eternity. It is also incredibly depressing and is closer in spirit to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible than expected. Whereas the American version begins the story after the titular character dies, Requiem is mostly told from Michaela’s point of view so we do get to see her version of events.
Requiem left me asking if this young woman even had epilepsy. All children, but especially children reared in religiously conservative homes, must make a decision as they enter adulthood: how much of your parent’s teachings will you keep or discard? Then you must deal with the parents’ and your home community’s reaction to your decision. This movie implies that it is more socially acceptable to be possessed by demons and die than take a different path and face disapproval.
Requiem presents a counterintuitive gender power dynamic than expected in traditional possession films. The women characters are the primary actors while the men follow the women’s lead. When we meet Michaela, she is eager to leave home and is the aggressor in her romantic conquest. She initially orchestrates the men to act according to her wish depending on what that is: getting her dad to get her a room at college, getting the priest to introduce her to a priest more inclined to believe her wild theories, refusing medical treatment when her father suggests it. Michaela is torn between following two women. Hanna, a college friend whom I initially thought was a bitch, but later realized was the best friend ever who initially shied away from Michaela because of her own issues. Hanna is the only adult in the movie that unselfishly cares for Michaela, including Michaela. Unfortunately Michaela’s mother has been playing this game longer than these women have been alive. She is the one who plants the seeds of doubt in Michaela’s mind about being physically unable to leave home. After Michaela does, her mother is emotionally and psychologically abusive-unwilling to talk, refuses physical contact (hugging), and violates normal boundaries. Her mother eventually succeeds in emotionally abusing the father until he no longer wants to help his daughter.
The men of Requiem pretend to be weak and seem to have no independent life outside of the women in their lives, which is a serious problem for priests. The most distasteful one, the vicar, seizes on Michaela’s possession suggestion and won’t let it go even when she begins to lose interest in him. When we are first introduced to the vicar, I got a distinct feeling that he was attracted to her. He definitely feels unimportant because he has a small congregation. The most devastating moment in this film is when no one is around to be an audience to Michaela’s theories, so she begins to pull herself together, and her family and the priests enter the room. When the vicar takes and pushes aside her paper, it was as if the last thread of her desire to try and embrace a normal life is extinguished in that moment.
Requiem depicts why a woman would subconsciously make that decision instead of live a normal life. When Michaela says what the demons say, they sound exactly like her mother. It is not accident that after she leaves home, her psychological state deteriorates proportional to her proximity to home. She can’t touch the rosary that her mother bought her. Michaela is unwilling to recognize that her mother is abusive. When she begins to feel lonely and the pressures of school, she psychologically self sabotages herself so she can return to something familiar, a codependent relationship in which she is not to blame for her failures, and she can say or do whatever she wants then blame demons for her outbursts. She also gets approval from her family and her community by rejecting medical options and embracing spiritual solutions. It is easier to die a saint than live in ambiguity with the possibility of failure.
Hanna asks, “It’s only you. If it’s you they’re driving out, where will it end?” I was intrigued that Michaela’s little sister, Helga, was more cognizant and willing to be consciously resistant of their mom’s abuse. Helga even warns Michaela of what her mom will do in reaction to Michaela’s innocuous signs of independence. Helga seems more emotionally mature than her older sister, but what happens to her after an exorcism that leads to the negligent homicide of her sister by her family and faith leaders in her own home? She has no choice but to rely on them because she is a child, but how do you coexist with them? Do you live in fear, pretend that they are safe to love and trust or some unhealthy mix? I own The Exorcism of Anneliese Michel by Felictas D. Goodman, the book that chronicles the events that both movies are based on so hopefully I will find out, but for me, the most frightening part of this story is that there is one other girl who is being shaped by these people and events in addition to having a family history of mental illness. Michaela may be getting all the attention, but Helga needs protection, and she does not even have a Hanna.
The idea that two parents are more alarmed that their daughter is going to go on a walk with her friend than she is dying in her bed is alarming to me. Healthy parents should want children to grow up, leave home and be functional. Films set in Germany tend to address the effect of WWII on German families, specifically The Reader and Labyrinth of Lies, but that is never addressed in this film. I personally know of a German person who witnessed how neighbors turned on each other and a father home from promulgating Nazi principles on the outside world has no choice but to reject them or turn them inward towards their home. If you see normal life as deviant and promote evil behavior as preferable, is religious zealotry or mental illness to blame or prejudice in a community with no diversity?
Requiem is a provocative movie in how straight it tells the story with no sensational elements; however I hesitate to recommend it because it is so bleak in its absolute rejection of instinct for self-preservation and ultimately normal life.