The Seventh Chamber

Director: Marta Meszaros Cast: Maia Morgenstern, Adriana Asti, Iwona Budner, Ileana Carusio, Elide Melli, Jan Nowicki Production: Morgan, EuroFilm, BudapestFilm,Country: Italy,France, Hungary, Poland, Year: 1995, Synopsis: The film, directed by Hungary's estimable Marta Meszaros, one of the world cinema's most conscientious artists, with the magnetic Romanian Maia Morgenstern in the lead role, is also achingly beautiful. It is the story of Edith Stein, the Jewish philosophy professor who became a Carmelite nun and It's poetic, subtle and imaginative. Shot in a kind of a rich expressionist realism, it's backed by poignant chant (Jewish and Gregorian) that makes every frame haunting and alive. The content dodges no controversies. The tension between Edith and her beloved mother, who could not forgive her for seeming to abandon her people in their time of greatest danger, is a major emotional theme. Stein's convent years will seem challenging to today's audiences.