Evil, Theodicy, and Moral Ontology in Jerzy Kawalerowicz's <i>Mother Joan of the Angels</i>

Abstract This article analyzes the philosophical underpinnings of Jerzy Kawalerowicz's Matka Joanna od Aniołów [Mother Joan of the Angels, 1961], centering on the film's main character, Father Suryn, and his attempts to understand and deal with the demonic possession of the film's eponymous nun. The trajectory of Suryn's struggles, I argue, is based on two philosophical frameworks. The first, assumed in his initial approach to the possession, is characterized by a distinction between appearances and reality. The second, which marks Suryn's point of arrival, rejects this distinction and limits itself to the domain of appearances. This article traces the implications of this shift for understanding moral values. I demonstrate that the idea that the world of appearances is all there is corresponds in the film with a view that values are irreducibly plural and often incompatible. Then, I examine the film's focus on the phenomenon of transgression and argue that it anchors the film's pluralist moral ontology by suggesting a link between values and human responses to them.