Brehm Center

Over our years of writing movie reflections, we have often drawn attention to how the “reel” is a window, or draws us into, the “Real.”  A fictional story can be the occasion for seeing the world or humanity anew, and it may even be an encounter with the divine. Thus, we have focused on fiction rather than the documentary.  We hope to begin to rectify this situation with an enthusiastic recommendation of a beautiful documentary, Divining The Human: The Cathedral Tapestries of John Nava.   

This winsome and moving documentary, written, directed and produced by David Tlapek, explores the connections between (and the unity of) art, the human community, and spirituality. This exploration allows the viewer to follow the artist’s creation of the tapestries, from commission to installation (a three year endeavor). These tapestries were created for the new Los Angeles Cathedral, Our Lady of the Angels, the first new cathedral of the millennium.   Initially commissioned to render his drawings using incised lines in the concrete walls of the cathedral, Nava’s work eventually took shape as thirty-seven individual tapestries that range in height from fifteen to forty-five feet, hanging on the interior walls of the new cathedral.  

The Los Angeles Diocese of the Catholic Church is a diverse place where forty-two languages are spoken each Sunday at masses in local parishes.  For Nava his work needed to mirror the congregation of the diocese’s cathedral. Thus, the tapestries’ theme, “the communion of the saints,” is depicted with 130 white-robed figures--portraits of real life saints throughout the ages and from all over the world.  Randomly intermingled are well-known saints such as St. Francis of Assisi or Mother Theresa of Calcutta, with often forgotten saints like Felicitas of Carthage, and urban saints walking the streets of Los Angeles.  The artist used real life models from which to create the figures.  Thus, many of the saints are people from the little town of Ojai, CA where the artist lives (e.g. one is the waitress at his favorite Mexican restaurant in town).

What is so impressive about Divining the Human, is that the film not only “documents” the making of these beautiful tapestries, from an artistic and technical point of view, but also from a deeply human and even spiritual perspective.  We, the viewers, observe the creative, artistic and technical skills of the artist, but we also see the spiritual impact the tapestries had on him, the models, and the viewing public.  Tlapek is masterful in weaving such elements as technical discussions of Flanders tapestries (e.g. each of the sixteen colors used by the artist were composed using sixteen different colored threads for a total of 256 options on the artistic palette), with interviews of the models, to catching visitors to the Cathedral in their tender or transcendent experiences of the tapestries.  The movie is not just about a work of art; it is a work of art. 

The spiritual journey begins with Nava himself.  In painting he finds delight, not only in creation and the Creator, but in the gifts the Creator has given him. His paintings become prayers or meditations between him and the Artist of the universe. Then we listen in joy and wonder as the models (from a variety of faiths) tell with humor, tenderness and awe of their own spiritual transformation by the mere chance to be a “saint” even if but for a few moments.  As they put on their robes, they no longer had a task, but rather entered into a holy act.  Imagining himself as a standing saint encouraged one wheelchair-bound man.  Another says, “Pretending to be a saint, even for a little while, makes you think about why not make a greater effort in life to be a good person.” 

Likewise, the diverse visitors to the Cathedral are moved, as is the viewer, by the immanence and transcendence of the tapestries. They visually proclaim that God is everywhere and his saints come from everywhere.  Perhaps their message to the viewer is as Nava himself quotes from Revelation 21: 3,  “See, the home of God is among mortals.”  Or as another reviewer of the film, Sr. Rose Pacatte, suggested, that the tapestries “express the humanity of godliness and the godliness of humanity.”  

David Tlapek, a faithful Catholic, was a practicing attorney in Dallas, Texas before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film.  David’s previous feature film, The Hidden Gift: War and Faith in Sudan is also a powerful documentary that has been used in the peace movement to end Sudan’s long civil war, and continues to be a major fund-raising tool for ongoing Catholic ministry in Sudan. We were able to first see Divining the Human when it premiered at the Cathedral, under the watchful eye of Cardinal Roger Mahoney and other Catholic dignitaries.  Since then it has been shown in quiet venues such as the Pasadena Museum of California Art.