The transcendence of nature in film

Three films - The Tree of Life (2011) by Terrence Malick, Melancholia (2011) by Lars Von Trier and La chimera (2023) by Alice Rohrwacher - become symbols of a real 'miraculous situation': when the transcendent shows itself and inhabits our reality. A close analysis of the three films shows how the duality concerning what is immanent is made manifest in them, in the continuous search for a balance between the microcosm of the characters and their relationship with different types of transcendence. All this takes place through visual, theoretical and philosophical elements that relate to the sphere of the sacred and that often reveal themselves in nature. In each of these films there is a certain kind of sacred atmosphere, more or less surreal, which explores the 'sacred demonic,' that is, a transcendence reflected through profane nature. The essay thus becomes a journey through the different types of the sacred reflected in the natural world, the filmmakers' favorite bridge for crossing over the mirror of appearance.