Abstract
The classic problematic of divine absence and presence is a familiar theological trope (deus absconditus). It achieves new life, however, in the work of contemporary Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino (b. 1970), who explores the theme in his recent television miniseries The Young Pope (2016). I “read” Sorrentino as part of a trajectory in contemporary Italian theory (Vattimo, Agamben, etc.) that deconstructs-as-a-way-of-receiving certain traditional (especially Catholic) problematics. However, Sorrentino is to be distinguished from these others by what we might call a postmodern sincerity, whereby he manages to twist without breaking an orthodox understanding of divine invisibility. Importantly, Sorrentino emphasizes the interpersonal and ongoing nature of revelation, and thus situates the absconditus problem in a broader account of dialogical divine love. “Reading” Sorrentino in this way suggests that deus absconditus and deus revelatus are not concepts in tension but rather dynamic parts of an integral, integrating dialectic. It also suggests that visual storytelling remains a powerful medium for raising and indeed enacting fundamental theological questions to do with belief and unbelief.
Highlights
The classic problematic of divine absence and presence is a familiar theological trope
“Reading” Sorrentino in this way suggests that deus absconditus and deus revelatus are not concepts in tension but rather dynamic parts of an integral, integrating dialectic
It suggests that visual storytelling remains a powerful medium for raising and enacting fundamental theological questions to do with belief and unbelief
Summary
Appraisals of Sorrentino’s oeuvre have been proliferating for several years in Italian (Vigni 2017; Salvestroni 2017; De Santis et al 2010; Tenaglia 2019) yet remain rare in English (Kilbourn 2020; see Uva 2016). To recapitulate: Sorrentino is a dialogic artist, inviting the viewer into a situation in which they are confronted by formidable characters who seem larger than life and persistently inscrutable; his tendency is to maintain the tension inherent in such a confrontation, rather than resolving it too quickly; and he is an artist who seeks to give new expression to old problems, especially those within the remit of his distinctively Catholic patrilineage Having noted these three traits, we are in a better position to understand Sorrentino’s engagement with the question of divine hiddenness
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