In Lourdes, Christine (Sylvie Testud) is traveling to the city of Lourdes in southern France, a place of great importance to Roman Catholics. Many believe that miracle healing still happens in Lourdes, so millions of sick and disabled believers travel to Lourdes every year to bathe in the sacred waters, pray, worship, and receive blessings from members of the clergy. The clergy try to keep expectations in check by emphasizing “spiritual healing” and acceptance of one's condition over physical healing, but people still hold out hope of seeing a real miracle.
Christine is in a wheelchair. Multiple sclerosis has taken her ability to walk or control her arms or hands. She is accompanied by a young nurse who had a choice between this pilgrimage and a proper vacation. Christine is not particularly religious, but these trips sponsored by the church are one of the few ways that she has to get out of the house and see the world. While most people on the trip are focused on their piety, she is swooning over a handsome young man who had previously traveled with her on the trip to Rome. Christine is a lovely young woman who is angry that life is passing her by, and she wants nothing more than to get out of her chair and dance, go on a date, or eat a meal on her own.
There were several scenes that struck me both as a film critic and a believer. First, there is a scene where Christine is at a service where the clergy are praying over certain people and giving blessings. Christine's wheelchair is only about halfway towards the front of the room, and only the people in the front row are getting blessings. Frau Hartl (Gilette Barbier), an older woman in the group, grabs Christine's wheelchair and pushes her up to the front row, past hundreds of other people. Christine and Frau Hartl are later chastised for assuming that by Christine being in the front row, she would be healed. From a perspective of faith, though, Frau Hartl's actions remind me of the men who cut a hole in a roof so they could lower their disabled friend down to be healed by Jesus. Frau Hartl broke conventional rules of courtesy because she truly believed Christine could be healed.
Second, I was unaware that the Roman Catholic church in Lourdes required medical verification on all miracles before it could actually be called a real miracle. For example, there is a mother who brings her mentally and physically handicapped daughter to Lourdes every year. For one day, her daughter recognized her and called her, “Mama.” This was not classified as a real miracle because it did not last. The next day, the daughter was unresponsive and no longer recognized her mother. Of course, this begs the question of whether a temporary miracle could still be a blessing from God and whether we should try to medically explain miracles. If Lazarus had died again a few days after Jesus had raised him from the tomb, would Lazarus' sisters and friends have been any less grateful for a few more days with him?
Now, Christine is traveling with a fairly large group, most of whom have physical or mental ailments, and I won't spoil who is “healed.” After the healing, however, the group goes through a transition from joy and hope to resentment and rejection. Why was this person healed and not these more “deserving” believers? The dynamic between the “healed” and presumably “rejected” is fascinating to watch. Lourdes shows that being a good and benevolent God is more complicated than just healing everyone who asks for it because inevitably, human nature gets in the way. Jealousy and judgmental attitudes rear their ugly heads, and we spend our time explaining why one person doesn't deserve God's grace rather than celebrating the miracle that has taken place.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Special features include an interview with director/writer Jessica Hausner, the theatrical trailer for the film, and trailers for more upcoming films.
"Lourdes" is on sale September 13, 2011 and is not rated. Drama, Foreign. Directed by Abby Epstein, Jessica Hausner. Written by Jessica Hausner. Starring Gilette Barbier, Lea Seydoux, Sylvie Testud.
