Haunting ‘Lourdes’ Revels in the Poetry of Ambiguity

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Rating: 5.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Most films about faith seem artistically limited by their spiritual subject matter. Some religiously devout filmmakers are so fixed in their beliefs that they lack the ability to perceive life with the complexity necessary to create resonant art. A perennial classic like Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments” may have magnificent scope and spectacle, but it has all the dramatic depth and nuance of a Bible card.

What makes a film like “Lourdes” so mesmerizing, apart from its exquisite acting, cinematography and direction, is the fact that it’s the work of a filmmaker who doesn’t claim to have all the answers. Writer/director Jessica Hausner is uninterested in spoonfeeding superficial enlightenment to her audience. Yet she also has no intention of mocking Catholicism, or any other religion, with self-congratulatory satire or blasphemous put-downs. Though her film has been described as a “dark comedy,” it is far more serious and even-handed than such a term would suggest. With so many formula films playing in theaters, it’s riveting to see one that defies all expectations.

Read Matt Fagerholm’s full review of “Lourdes” in our reviews section.

Sylvie Testud, the beguiling French actress of films such as “Fear and Trembling” and “La vie en rose,” stars as Christine, a young wheelchair-bound woman whose disease, multiple sclerosis, has isolated her from the rest of the world. She’s one of many ailing souls making a pilgrimage to Lourdes, a small town in the Pyrenees Mountains where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared and healed faithful mortals since the mid-1800s. Thus, Lourdes has gained the reputation worldwide for being a site where miracles take place, though any reports of supposed divine intervention are investigated by a medical committee to scientifically determine whether they are indeed acts of God. Christine is initially embarrassed to be seen among such pious people, and has embarked on the journey mainly to escape her loneliness. Her assigned caregiver is Maria (Lea Séydoux, whose broodingly lovely face briefly appeared in “Inglourious Basterds”), a reluctant volunteer who would rather be gossiping about boys than caring for the sick.

Continuing reading for Matt Fagerholm’s full “Lourdes” review.

Lourdes
Photo credit: Palisades Tartan