Jessica Hausner
Lourdes

Lourdes (2009), directed by Austrian Jessica Hausner, is a film that addresses the delicate theme of religion and miracles, appreciated by both secular and religious press and film critics, although opinions about it were not unanimous, as one might expect given the subject matter.

The film tells the story of a pilgrimage by a group of French citizens of various ages and social backgrounds to the Marian Shrine in the Pyrenees of France, where the sick are accompanied by nurses and assistants hoping the Virgin Mary will perform a miracle for them after the necessary prayers and ablutions in the miraculous water.

In the group, Christine stands out, a young woman suffering from multiple sclerosis, who is distinguished from the other guests by her coldness and detachment in observing the rituals and her lack of conviction in participating in the prayers and various religious functions that punctuate the pilgrims' lives, under the strict guidance of the nurse-guide.

The other people, including an elderly man embittered by his infirmity, among them stand out two women with minor ailments who nevertheless hope for Marian grace, a mother saddened by her daughter's incurable handicap, treat her with some impatience because they feel the girl does not believe as much as they do and are convinced she “endures” the pilgrimage rather than participating in it actively and as an occasion of faith. Only a silent woman stays close to her, pushing her wheelchair when everyone else seems to ignore the girl.

The turning point of the film comes when Christine suddenly starts walking: there is questioning about whether it is really a miracle, timid medical examinations are carried out that do not seem to shed exact light on the course of the girl's illness and the possibility of actual recovery, while all the pilgrims look at the woman differently.

Alongside religious wonder are human feelings of surprise, doubt, and envy towards a girl who does not seem to everyone to be worthy of this great opportunity for rebirth, while a young volunteer approaches her sentimentally, probably seduced by the woman's “special” nature, whom he previously ignored because of her difference and handicap.

The conclusion is open-ended: at the final dance of the pilgrimage, Christine feels faint, perhaps signaling that the miracle did not occur and that the illness is relapsing. While an old singer sings an Albano and Romina piece, the girl, once again alone, sits and observes the other pilgrims from the sidelines, in the quiet of a suffering equally shared among all.

A dense film, evocative, well-directed: the tones chosen by Hausner are cold, and equally impersonal is the narration of events, which do not seem participated in and lived by the director, in the spirit of a detachment that seems documentary-like, but which, in reality, approaches the tones of an Austrian cinema master like Michael Haneke.

The chosen form for the narration - of which some long takes should not be forgotten, especially the initial one, or the dramatic peaks, as in the subplot of the nurse accompanying the pilgrims or the grieving mother - is thus in its own way substance and narrative code: the director/narrator is not omniscient, merely a witness, like the viewer, of a story presented in its objectivity and naked fact.

Even the acting of the actors - among them the excellent lead Sylvie Testud - is on point; not only are the faces of the character actors those of ordinary people, and who you would expect to be present at a Lourdes pilgrimage (elderly, middle-aged women, non-stereotypical young people), but also the ways of being on stage, eschewing dramatic tones and playing much on glances and expressions, are in the spirit of maximum realism and spontaneity that recalls much French cinema, with Truffaut as a supreme model.

Tackling themes like this makes polemics easy, since believing or not believing in the Virgin Mary, the Church, and Miracles is an individual matter where each of us can say anything and everything.

If I have to find a weak point, the film sometimes seems a bit simplistic in portraying the volunteers - depicted in their uniforms as a sort of military corps without much humanity who seem to "play" guide to the infirm with much cynicism and little religious spirit - whereas, at least with reference to Italy and my personal experiences, they often are people of value, especially if one observes the sacrifice of organizations like Unitalsi or various religious groups coordinated by parish priests or very humane nuns.

In conclusion, a film that deserves to be seen and certainly stimulates reflection in those who do not believe and even in those who already have the gift of Faith.