Student perspectives on the new film “Triumph of the Heart”
Marcellino D’Ambrosio, former theology professor at UD, author, speaker, media producer, and executive producer of “Triumph of the Heart,” invited UD students to attend the premiere of this new film. .
Over 2000 individuals attended the black-tie event at the Edith O’Donnell Arts and Technology Building on the University of Texas at Dallas Campus on September 8th.
The film focuses on the final fourteen days of Maximilian Kolbe, who volunteered to die in the stead of another man in the starvation bunkers of Auschwitz.
Little is known about the specifics of the last fourteen days of Kolbe’s life, though the guards reported that he met his death with a courage and peace that shocked them.
Senior Christi Bales says, “in films about saints especially, you have to make some interpretative decisions, and you have to be careful about what those decisions are, because your film then becomes the lens through which that scene is seen by a wider audience.”
In addition to fleshing out the story of Kolbe, director Anthony D’Ambrosio created nine characters, each representing different groups that were persecuted and executed during the Holocaust.
For example, Albert is a Polish soldier disillusioned from his dream of battle-won glory, who left behind the love of his life to join the draft. His story, though fictional, “was both incredibly sad and beautiful at the same time” said Rachel Davern .
The film does not shy away from the barbarism and hopelessness that pervaded the bunkers. Kolbe himself struggles at times to retain his hope and faith under such severe physical and mental strain.
Alongside its storytelling, “Triumph of the Heart” explores spirituality within cinema. The lighting is that of a Caravaggio painting, striking dark and light contrast. The directors also included their own interpretations of visions of Our Lady of Czestochowa, serpents, and Christ himself at a traditional Polish wedding feast.
Yet “Triumph of the Heart” also had a few moments of surprising gallows-humor. For instance, in the later days of their starvation, the men imagine meals they would want most, which segues into Kolbe telling Albert that he would really like a cigarette.
Albert, surprised, asks, “Father, you smoke?” Kolbe responds, “No, but now would be a good time to start, wouldn’t it?” The two men then mime passing a cigarette back and forth as they share stories about their lives.
Bales said, “ I really liked that part, because it made him more relatable and more human, and that [Kolbe’s] not so serious that he can’t play around”. Davern said, “It was good to see moments of joy even amidst such awful circumstances”.
The film will be out on streaming services soon. I, as well as all I spoke to, highly recommend watching it.