Released in Italy last December 2024, the film ‘Joachim and the Apocalypse’ by director Jordan River is certainly still making headlines. This film tells the story of the monk, philosopher, and theologian Joachim of Fiore, whom Dante speaks of in the Divine Comedy, and who inspired Michelangelo Buonarroti for the Last Judgment.
Well, in the last week of June, the film finally returned to Rome, with two consecutive screenings at the Azzurro Scipioni cinema in the Vatican area. After hearing so much about it, we finally managed to attend the evening screening, which was also attended by the director and some cast members who shared some anecdotes we could define, using a term coined by Fr. Emidio Alessandrini, as ‘Dioincidenze’ (coincidences driven by God). The final intervention by Monsignor Antonio Staglianò, president of the Pontifical Academy of Theology and emeritus bishop of Noto, was particularly interesting, as he is the author of the book ‘The Calabrian Abbot’, which focuses on the theological thought of Joachim of Fiore.
This film’s story shows a great sensitivity coming from the artistic direction, albeit with very slow rhythms and sometimes with sequences that are a bit too long, even if we well understand the director’s choice of helping the audience go through a deeper reflection. Aiming at being an account rather faithful to the life of Joachim of Fiore – as far as this can be possible in a film, and keeping in mind the disclaimer in the final credits –, however we have to highlight that, every now and then, there are some naive historical inaccuracies, such as indicating in the overlay description, for example, that Mount Tabor was in Israel, when obviously this cannot correspond to the truth since, when Joachim of Fiore went to the Holy Land around 1168-69, the entire area was part of the Principality of Galilee under the Kingdom of Jerusalem, in Palestine.
Surely, we have to mention the sequences concerning some mystical visions of Joachim of Fiore (some, to be fair, a bit naive in their representational style), although their metaphorical interpretation is not always simple and leaves some doubts for the viewer. We also have to highlight that, in such sequences, an additional audio channel, almost imperceptibly, has been synced with the beautiful soundtrack of the film (set in 7 + 1). This is a low Hz band (6 or 7) that recreates the so-called Theta waves, which are typical of the hypnagogic and hypnopompic states, as well as during deep prayer and meditation phases, and thus linked, somehow, to altered states of consciousness. Professor Bruno Gioffrè is the scholar who worked on this project, and who is also engaged in studying the beneficial effects of these waves on Parkinson’s patients (he presented his studies during a recent conference held at the University of Tor Vergata in Rome, which we had the opportunity to attend).
We recommend the film (albeit the director’s English name, this is an Italian production!), although the various limitations we highlighted should be kept in mind. Don’t also forget to pay attention to check the audio equipment used in the screening cinema to best appreciate the music (7+1) and the additional channel with Theta frequencies.
Note: this article originates from a post published on our Facebook page ‘Thresholds – Soglie’ at the end of this June, revised after some interesting insights provided in his comment to the post by director Jordan River, whom we do thank.