On first impression, 96 minutes may seem like a long time to spend watching a film about a 90-year-old who loves her garden, but Sister Loyola Galvin has a lifetime of experience and an abundant depth of character that shine through in this ever-intimate, at times beautiful-looking documentary. And as you may be suspecting, Gardening with Soul has more to offer than a horticultural how-to – in fact, if you’re coming for gardening tips you’d be advised to stick to Eoin Scarrow.
Instead, Sister Loyola lets filmmaker Jess Feast into her daily life, in what is a revealing portrait of someone nearing the end of their days, but still very alert and active. The documentary is an opportunity for Sister Loyola to share her outlook on life, as well as the path that took her into the Sisters of Compassion in Island Bay, an order that supports the needs of the oppressed and powerless in the community.
As that description suggests, Sister Loyola is hardly the type of nun you’d come across in The Blues Brothers or other clichéd cinematic depiction. There’s an immense generosity of spirit revealed in her exchanges with Feast as well as through her stories of nursing sick (sometimes stillborn) babies and, as a nun, caring for disabled kids.
It’s not going to be for everybody, but for those that fall into the niche Gardening with Soul is aiming for are bound to enjoy what is the celebration of a life at turns exceptional and commonplace.
‘Gardening with Soul’ Movie Times
