Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Numerootno A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Vision: From the Life of Hildegard Von Bingen" or just "Vision" is a German/French collaboration from 2009 and the language in here is almost exclusively German. It is another female-centered work written and directed by feminist filmmaker Margarethe von Trotta and, like many other times, actress Barbara Sukowa plays the main character, the title character in this case. The cast includes a handful actors and actresses from Germany that will definitely be known to film buffs, most of them wearing nun outfits. Obviously this does not include Heino Ferch and Devid Striesow and I personally felt that they were almost unrecognizable in here, something entirely different for them for once. But this is also already the only truly positive aspect here, one of very few interesting things about this film.The downside (frequent and deep down) is the usual stuff you get with Sukowa and often also von Trotta. I have seen the lead actress in many works before and she has huge problems in hitting the right notes. She almost never does and instead she goes painfully over the top in her performance as this is the only thing she can do to try to stay relevant and memorable because of her lack of talent when it comes to range and subtle acting. This film is the best example for all this. Even in her big nun outfit and with the audience only seeing her face for the most time, her performance still feels very false and unauthentic. I never had the impression to watch an actual nun.The script is only slightly better, if at all. There are moments when you can at least feel the filmmaker's intention to come up with an interesting story, but these are pretty rare and most of the action feels as if it has one intention only, namely make the character of Hildegard von Bingen look as baity as possibly and create as many oh so important moments for her as possible. You can certainly not say that the main character was written in a boring manner, but instead she was written in a way that lacked realism entirely, so people would never forget her I guess. Sad to see that von Trotta still has not learned anything about the art of subtlety and restraint. Young nuns keep dying and it has nothing to do with good story-telling. It all feels rushed in for the sake of having the title character deal with these losses, not because it made any sense. Herzsprung is as bad as she usually is (ridiculous German Film Award nomination) and Kalenberg, who I usually like more, plays a character who was written in the most stereotypical way you could imagine.There were also major flaws in the story in general. Herzsprung's character cries to Sukowa's that she is so scared and has no idea what to do without her if she dies one day and almost the very next scene, she tells her mentor that she will move on to another monastery and the bond seems to be lost entirely (at least from one side). Extremely bizarre. Then the rushed-in death, so we won't forget how brilliant and likable von Bingen is. There are huge plot-holes from start to finish. The visions reference in the title add almost nothing to the film and the way Sukowa acts in these scenes is the most cringeworthy stuff you could imagine. Also needless to say that this film lacks relevance in terms of depicting an actually existing person completely. It will not get anybody interested in von Bingen at all I am afraid and the reference to scenes added for dramatic purpose won't cut the cake anymore. Major disappointment here. Stay far far away.

marymorrissey there's a lot about this movie that is very kitsch and tempted me to reject it out of hand without finishing: terrible use of CGI in depicting the "visions", hackneyed interpretation of the role of a saint as burning urgent faithfilled zombie on Ritalin, as old as Saint Joan, God and Barbara, etc., ping-pong "topper" pious dialog, alte musik meets ambient electronica vision score, the good guys vs the bad guys thing (all dressed in black however), ellipses that are bit strange (somehow Hildegarde/Richardis become Petra von Kant/Karin Thimm in a scene that seems to come out of nowhere dramatically), and finally the generally overheated soap operatic treatment of a sacred theme...however...in spite of all this, the whole thing is managed pretty deftly and cleverly and once I embraced it with a more camp perspective I came to quite enjoy this romp of sapphic sisterhood!

sergepesic Independent German film was for decades the mainstay of the European cinematography. Brave, original thinking and the courage of the expression made it a breath of fresh air for the movie lovers. Unfortunately these days are long gone. Almost everybody tries so hard to be hip and Hollywoodlike. If we explode few things and simplify the plot for every simpleton, how can we miss? Well, we miss time and time again. The eternal beauty of filmmaking is about trying and having an idea, and a story to tell. It seems that there are no stories left to tell, or there are no people left who like the stories to be told to them." Vision" is a strange, unfinished movie, but it is an honest attempt to feel and think, and that is all one needs in this art form.

wj2007 This movie was a disappointment. The viewer coming to the film without a knowledge of who Hildegard of Bingen was and her significance is likely to leave the movie in almost the same condition. Why nine hundred years after her life is she still discussed? This movie will not answer that question.The plot is minimal and predictable. It tells the story of Hildegard's becoming a nun, becoming the head of her group of sisters, starting her own nunnery, her conflicts with male authorities, and her relations with political authorities. At least as presented in Vision, this is not riveting. Neither the photography nor the acting is very impressive.While the movie alludes to Hildegard's musical works, her scientific and medical interests, and devotes time to her visions, we do not receive a coherent well developed picture of the woman and her accomplishments. And that is a disappointment since Hildegard was an interesting person.In short, Hildegard the person simply is not the same as Vision the movie. A movie reviewer ought not confuse the two.To cite just two points on which a more enterprising film might have focused:(1) For all of the movie's talk of Hildegard's visions, no effort is made to present them visually. That could have been quite dramatic cinema. Even if the budget constrained dramatic staging of the visions, a skillful writer would have used a plot device (such as manuscript illuminations or wall paintings) for graphic effect. It would have provided us with some feel as to their power and impact on her contemporaries. Alas, instead the movie has Hildegard narrating small disconnected passages without any real vitality.(2) The movie ends just as Hildegard is going out to preach. She made four such trips and apparently they had major impacts throughout the Rhineland. Yet we do not see those trips. Undoubtedly they could have been presented in very dramatic fashion. Alas again, the movie misses a great cinematic opportunity.One final point before closing. Yes, Hildegard is a strong woman resisting domination by male Church leaders, a creative artist, and an interesting intellectual figure. Unfortunately her legacy is not wholly uncontroversial. Some of her visions are profoundly anti-semitic. During the Second Crusade of 1147, the Jewish communities of the Rhineland were massacred. While Bernard denounced these mobs, Hildegard was silent. Wouldn't a more balanced picture of Hildegard have shown these moral failures? It might have made for a more interesting movie.