The Nun

Today in class we watched the film "The Nun." I found this film to be extremely interesting. At the beginning I was confused when the nun was explaining about her husband, but soon it all started to unfold. The documentary told the story of a nun who was not always a nun, and it took place in Russia. She started out as an incredible singer and went to university level schooling for it. At music school she met her future husband. Together they got married and had three kids, two sons and one daughter. The mother was proud of herself, until her husband left her and her youngest son was diagnosed with cancer. Her whole life seemed to be falling apart so she turned to church. Her and her son prayed for his health and he was saved. Later, there was a divorce, and the mother moved to the convent. She is telling her story in the convent now. She is worried that she will succumb to temptations, and forget what is important to her, like her life devoted to God. She doesn't want to go back to being the person who was too proud and cared some about material things. In the convent, she teaches choir. Not only to other nuns however. There is a group of men who are a different part of the convent. They are men who had been troubled in the past, and they are in the convent to work and become better people. The nun states that when she is working with them, she fears she will lose sight of the new person she has become, and fall back into her old self. The father in the convent explains she has nothing to worry about, that temptation is a normal part of life, but the nun still worries. It seems like she just wants to do the right thing. The nun still gets to see her children, but does so with a blessing from the church. Most nuns are not divorced nor have children so she is somewhat of a special case. I enjoyed the movie because it showed how anyone can devote their lives to God if they are willing. Just because the nun had a completely different life before doesn't mean she can't change who she is when she wants to. The documentary showed a good mesh between the everyday life of an average person, and the everyday life of a nun living in a convent. It showed that it is still possible to look into the past while moving forward into the future.