“Despair is a development of pride so great that it chooses one’s certitude rather than admit God is more creative than we are,” says Ethan Hawke’s Reverend Ernst Toller in “First Reformed.” The true depth and test of faith is often only truly measured in times of great struggle, and it’s just one of the heavy ideas that lie underneath the compelling, fluorescent sheen in director Gabriel Mascaro’s (“Neon Bull”) latest film, “Divine Love.” The drama engages with the ever-present theological question of how the faithful endure the silence of God during times of great suffering. But it also ponders the extremes the devout will go not only to receive an answer from on high, but proselytize in His name.
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The year is 2027, and in “Divine Love,” the future is pretty much like it is now, except Brazilian bureaucracy has almost become a realization of the vision from Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil.” Joana (Dira Paes) helps to push the paperwork along working as a notary in the registry office, and she doesn’t leave her faith at home. In fact, she uses the opportunity when speaking with married couples who wish to divorce, to encourage them to stay together. Her methods go from gentle persuasion, to more manipulative approaches; whatever it takes, to keep those papers from being signed. But for those who genuinely want to retain the sanctity of marriage, they’re quietly invited to Divine Love.
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Operating somewhere between a cult and a church, Divine Love certainly doesn’t fall under any official diocese. However, at first glance, it has all the trappings of standard religious devotion (or an AA meeting). Sitting in a circle, the assembled group bring Bible passages to read aloud and bask in the glow of holy union. A little later, the light gets dim, clothes come off, and after some ritualistic baptisms, it’s essentially a swingers party, but with a twist. “The seeds of life could only be deposited in the mother earth,” we’re informed, so just before the moment of climax, members return to their still lawful partners to finish the deed.
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How does all of this square with Joana, who by any other metric, is as puritanical as they come? It’s one of the many intriguingly teasing questions that Mascaro feels free to leave unanswered. But in this vision of the not too distant future, religious communion with God is as fleeting as picking up a Happy Meal. Indeed, Joana herself finds spiritual guidance from her pastor whose congregation literally drive up and roll down the driver’s side window in a drive-thru, one by one. It’s not exactly the best place to wrangle with the knottiness of God’s seeming absence, particularly as Joana and her husband Danilo (Julio Machado) are desperate to start a family, but unable to conceive. What advice could a pastor, who is unafraid to use some dry-ice for added spectacle, possibly give to reassure Joana that despite her deep faith, God’s plan is working for her in mysterious ways?
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Mascaro, who co-wrote the script with Rachel Daisy Ellis, Esdras Bezerra, and Lucas Paraizo isn’t much concerned with any specific takedown of the church or those who practice their faith intently. Rather, the filmmakers’ interests are broader, posing questions about the steps the devout will go to find reassurance when the knowledge of God’s unwavering love feels inadequate, and the slow creep of religion into government. The latter point comes at a politically charged time, with Brazil recently electing the far right President Jair Bolsonaro, who once said, “God above everything. There is no such thing as a secular state. The state is Christian, and any minority that is against this has to change, if they can.” However, the film is not necessarily a reaction. Rather, it’s an imaginative and sometimes dryly funny exploration of the state and self intersecting — and sometimes falling into conflict — when testing the limits of finding a place for a centuries-old religion in the modern world.
Moving with the steady rhythms of a good orator sharing a Sunday sermon, the pacing of “Divine Love” might be unhurried, but you don’t want to take your eyes of Paes. That’s a good thing, considering she’s in nearly every scene in the picture, with cinematographer Diego Garcia never losing the humanity of her performance in surroundings that sometimes dip toward the surreal. In fact, it’s likely not a coincidence that Mascaro and co. named their lead character after a figure in the gospels who accompanied and provided for Jesus and the Apostles. Her name means “favor” or “grace,” and just as much as Joana longs to feel the rewards of her faith in those sentiments, we’re blessed to join her on the journey. [B+]
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