‘Triumph Of The Heart’ Is An Oasis In Hollywood’s Creative Desert

No matter how sound an argument, stubbornness can take hold of the mind and close it off to the truth; public discourse proves this daily. But the heart cannot evade being pierced by beauty. The human heart has a deep-seated need for beauty and meaning, and beauty has a singular power to influence us, inspiring us to find its meaning and even our own purpose.

A tragedy amid modern creative work is the drought of beauty and meaning, which exposes an internal aridity of purpose and indifference. One artist, writer, and director, Anthony D’Ambrosio, and his new film, Triumph of the Heart, offer a drink to those thirsting for more.

Blockbuster films often possess the visuals that draw an audience in but lack truth and goodness. More wholesome movies, meanwhile, portray truth and goodness but fall short of beauty. Curiously, D’Ambrosio achieves all three of these in style and form in his debut film Triumph of the Heart — not in a bucolic romance but in a harrowing story of Catholic saint Maximilian Kolbe. Kolbe was a Polish Franciscan priest who, after founding monasteries in Japan and India, was imprisoned in Auschwitz after disseminating anti-Nazi publications.

Yet it works. As philosopher Roger Scruton explained, art, because it is concrete and sensory, helps to contextualize the human condition. We are drawn into introspection after witnessing another’s suffering, helping us to parse through the reality of the fragility of our own lives. The universality of adversity is a great equalizer and clarifier.

The dominant artistic technique in Triumph of the Heart is like a Caravaggio masterpiece reemerging after 500 years. Light contrasting darkness in cinematography and writing is how this known story impresses anew amid a myriad of films depicting Nazi devastation. Natural light fuses with the ten men’s internal radiance, contradicting the darkness of their circumstances and environment. Mirroring the visuals, the Caravaggio-like writing exposes the self-enslavement of the Nazis’ hatred despite their freedom of movement. With the help of Kolbe, the prisoners conversely achieve freedom through love despite their circumstances.  

The drama of Triumph of the Heart commences when most films would end: the climactic moment when Maximilian Kolbe offers himself in the place of a man condemned to a starvation bunker. After the random selection of ten victims in reprisal for an escaped prisoner, one man cries out for mercy, exclaiming that he has a family. Deeply moved, Kolbe volunteered to take this man’s place as one of the ten.

Though this portion of Kolbe’s story is well-known, less familiar are the stories of his nine companions and the period of time spent in the bunker. By way of gripping storytelling through flashbacks, we befriend these men alongside the saint and learn of their lives before the war. We are edified by their depth of character while facing unimaginable suffering. Their dignity that was present before the war remains in Auschwitz, despite the dehumanizing efforts of the Nazis.

Modern culture’s mirage is unable to inform our understanding of the human condition. The power of Maximilian Kolbe and his nine companions’ story, however, resensitizes the audiences’ humanity, which has been otherwise hardened.

Regrettably, much of Hollywood stands in opposition to films such as these. D’Ambrosio was told that “a movie about men starving to death won’t play.” While the reality that these ten men faced is the film’s backdrop, the depth of their relationships is at the fore. It is a film about perseverance and living life to the fullest, even in the face of death, a necessary story for our time. Though the audience mourns such suffering, it is simultaneously heartened by the prisoners’ triumphant hearts, and their spirit, though tested, remaining unbroken.

Independent news outlets have attracted minds seeking honest journalism to develop an understanding of the world. Similarly, people are seeking artistic renderings that drive the heart toward introspection and point them to a life well-lived. Now is the time to create a groundswell of demand through word of mouth or financially supporting film projects, such as Anthony D’Ambrosio’s Triumph of the Heart, as they work toward theatrical release. Such efforts combined build an oasis in this creative desert.

The key to pushing back against a broken culture is to reject the status quo and support those who have made it their mission to reshape the culture. Beauty and meaning are paramount to mankind’s understanding of his existence. D’Ambrosio’s film powerfully reorients us and reminds us — not only of what our lives can mean but of the powerful role art can play in restoring what our culture has lost. It is time for a grassroots movement to usher in a renaissance.

Emily Malloy is the food and floral design editor for online women’s magazine Theology of Home and the author of Theology of Home IV: Arranging the Seasons (2023). She and her husband live on a small farm in Mississippi with their four children.