Noomi Rapace Is No Saint as Mother Teresa in Teona Strugar Mitevska’s ‘Mother’: ‘She Was Punk!’

Teona Strugar Mitevska takes on Mother Teresa in Venice premiere “Mother.” She aims to “demystify the perfect saint,” with the help of Noomi Rapace, cast in the title role.

“It was essential to show her humanity and not her greatness. Jealousy, desire, anger. How can you be good if you don’t know the bad?” asks the Macedonian director. “We’re open to looking beyond male myths. Alexander Sokurov made his ‘Tetralogy of Power’ about Hitler and Lenin and everyone accepted it. But when it comes to women … even I am a prisoner of what I’m supposed to represent.”  

The director says that Rapace looked for the vulnerability of the Nobel Peace Prize winner. “Noomi’s strong and audacious, and it’s evident. But nobody is just strong and ferocious, and nobody is just a saint. We had to find her fragility and her imperfections. Her human side, her imperfect side, her childish side, her obsessive side.” 

Known for award-winning drama “God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunija” and “The Happiest Man in the World,” Strugar Mitevska was asked to make a documentary about Mother Teresa 15 years ago. 

“She comes from my country, from my town. She was an Albanian from Macedonia, from Skopje, so I grew up with her legacy,” she recalls. 

“We had a chance to interview four nuns who knew her. One of them said: ‘She’d come to my office, move the furniture around and say that tomorrow, I’m going to the Philippines.’ She really created an army. I was discovering this Robin Hood, this CEO; she had nothing to do with the frail woman we all remember.”

In the film, set in 1948 over the course of just seven days, Teresa — Mother Superior of the convent of the Sisters of Loreto — is in her late 30s. She’s in Kolkata, waiting to leave the monastery and create a new order. But her possible successor, Polish nun Agnieszka (Sylvia Hoeks), is hiding a secret. 

“She didn’t follow the rules; she didn’t give a damn. She was punk! When I met Noomi, who possesses the same kind of energy, it became even more urgent. I think it has to do with freedom: Freedom to be who you are. It’s my personal journey, but also my message to women: Dare to do things,” says Strugar Mitevska.

“I needed 50 years to have the confidence of Xavier Dolan, who had it when he was only 18 years old. The confidence in myself, in the right to female gaze and telling stories differently. This film is an embodiment of it.” 

Mother Teresa’s opposition to contraception and abortion, as well as allegations of inadequate care, turned her into a controversial figure over the years. 

“It took me a long time to understand she was a product of a certain time and the environment she was a part of. She was a Catholic nun. It’s important to talk about it today because for me, abortion is a basic human right. Looking back reminds us of the progress we’ve made and the progress we can’t lose again,” notes Strugar Mitevska, adding: “There has been lots of negativity around her, and that made me curious. It’s very easy to vilify a woman. Despite all the controversies, I discovered a feminist icon.”

It’s necessary to take historical female characters out of school books and show them in a different light, she says. “We owe it to future generations and to the women of the world.” But religious communities might be shocked by Strugar Mitevska’s take on Mother Teresa, who was canonized by Pope Francis in 2016. 

“It was important to understand who this saint is. Is she a saint? I don’t think you should be punished for questioning things, but this I cannot control. Am I afraid? Of course I’m afraid,” she says. 

Strugar Mitevska based the script, co-written with Goce Smilevski and Elma Tataragić, on Mother Teresa’s interviews, memoir “Come Be My Light” and her journals. 

“All these things she’s questioning in the film, from motherhood to ambition, and even God, were a part of her personal writings. There were some dark days when she was wondering who she was in the world. Her closeness to a man, her confessor Father Van Exem, was questioned by her congregation. She wasn’t a blind follower,” Strugar Mitevska says. 

She adds: “I was never going to make a traditional biopic. But the film will be in cinemas everywhere, so I am ready to start a conversation.”

Produced by Entre Chien et Loup, Sisters and Brother Mitevski, Rainy Days Prods., Frau Film, SCCA/pro.ba and Raging Films, “Mother” is sold by Kinology.