Synopsis
A young man, without any vocational background, decides to join the Society of Jesus, convinced that the strict rules governing the seminary will help him escape the dark and conflicting desires that plague his mind. After initial intolerance with the extreme discipline of cloistered living, he sets aside all critical thoughts and religious doubts, transforming himself into the “perfect Jesuit.”

critical note
“(…) Costanzo is not interested in providing definitive answers or resolving theological debates; rather, he seeks to bring to light the often painful issues that lie behind those positions—ones that drive various individuals to make different, if not opposing, life choices. As the author of the screenplay as well—which strips down Furio Monicelli’s novel Lacrime impure—Costanzo uses silences, architecture, glances, and rules of life to tangibly illustrate the tension that each novice bears within himself, more intent on making us share an atmosphere than on taking sides. In doing so, he thus demonstrates that he has achieved expressive maturity and first-rate narrative mastery.”
(Paolo Mereghetti, Il Corriere della Sera, 12 February 2007)

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