An average movie

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award, I thought I might as well check it out. Since I’m French, of course, I heard about Lourdes, one of the most famous pilgrimage sites, and I have to admit that it was interesting to see how it all started. Well, I guess it is a nice film for the devout Catholics but I’m not sure if it’s really interesting for anyone else though. I’m not religious myself, I was even raised in an anti-religious environment but I always thought that religion was fascinating and I do think that there is a great wisdom in Jesus words. However, there is something that always bothered me with religion, especially Christianity, is the fact most people decided to believe in Jesus and his God, not because of his words and behavior, but because they witnessed some miracle(s) and it is basically what happened in Lourdes. Indeed, at the end of the day, it didn’t really matter who Bernadette Soubirous actually was, what she thought or her actions, the only that mattered was that she had some visions and, even more important, that some people got miraculously cured. Of course, some people, even Bernadette’s own parents, didn’t believe her but the movie spent most of its duration ridiculing any character who might have some doubts regarding Bernadette’s visions. However, to me, it does feel like believing in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny and I don’t think it has much to do with the core of religion which is Love, loving the people dear to you, but also the people you don’t know and even the people you don’t actually care for or even despise. At least, I can’t deny that Jennifer Jones did deliver a strong performance, even if she was almost 10 years too old to play this saint. Anyway, to conclude, even if I wasn’t the right audience for this movie, I have to admit that it was still an interesting watch and I think it is worth a look. 

6/10