Cine-Feuilles

This Swiss co-production smartly illuminates the work and life of Mother Teresa while at the same time telling its own story with delicate, moving themes.

The excellent idea behind this biographical film is to tell the story of Mother Teresa (Jacqueline Fritschi-Cornaz) through the eyes of a contemporary figure: Kavita (Banita Sandhu), a young London violinist with Hindu roots. At first glance, little connects this brilliant musician with the nun who tirelessly served people marked by poverty, hunger, and disease. And yet, after an accident, Kavita steps back from her life and—unconsciously—draws closer to Saint Teresa of Calcutta.

The parallel construction of these two women’s destinies prevents the film from becoming a purely “textbook” biopic that merely recounts the life of a famous person—as is all too often the case. The flashbacks to Mother Teresa’s life resonate with Kavita’s present-day story.

This narrative device allows the film to show the work, courage, and perseverance of this figure of charity, while also developing an original story with its own themes. It is a quest for origins into which the question of abortion is woven. Here too, with its cocktail of religion—charity—abortion, the film could easily have slipped into demagoguery; nevertheless, it remains intelligently balanced, coherent, and affecting.

One can therefore forgive its use of broad strokes in the staging (desaturated flashbacks to signal “the past”) or in the storytelling (the linkage between Kavita’s story and Teresa’s can at times feel a bit heavy-handed)—even more since this feature was made with limited means and entirely independently.

In the end, the Vevey-born director of Indian origin, Kamal Musale, can boast of having paid a fine tribute to the work and person of Mother Teresa—while telling a particularly touching story of his own. One may hope that Hollywood, which appreciates such heroic, authentic figures bearing the label “inspired by a true story,” will take a leaf from it.

— Blaise Petitpierre, Grade: 14/20

Source: Blaise Petitpierre, “Mother Teresa And Me,” Ciné-Feuilles (accessed today). Link: cine-feuilles.ch/film/7302-mother-teresa-and-me.