Review of Lourdes (2009) by Settimio P — 01 Apr 2010

I felt gripped to the core watching this film because of its impassionate portrayal of one of the most celebrated places of cult in the Catholic church. I was impressed with the subtlety with which Hausner frames the irreconcilable contrasts of Lourdes: belief and its exploitation.

At the same time it would be a simplification to consider this a polemic examination of the state of Catholicism as faith and as an institution. In fact Lourdes and its fame as a miraculous place seems to offer Hausner the opportunity to develop a paradigm of the search for answers to the irrationality that apparently surrounds human existence.

Hausner presents a gallery of portraits of characters, in what could be considered as their ultimate modality of being: as pilgrims. From the red cross nurse who revels in her sufferings with religious ardor, to the petite bourgeoisie's idle rationalizations; from the priest who dispenses empty explanations, to the ill woman who struggles to accept her state.

I was deeply impressed by Silvie Testud, as she apparently managed to give an uncompromising performance of the invalid's contradictions: I fully empathized with Christine, but I was also excruciatingly aware of her flaws.

The film could be hardly described as easy watching, but the difficulty of viewing is finally rewarding as a thought-provoking and enriching experience.