Lourdes

LOURDES is a film that quietly contemplates spiritual grace. As it opens, a paralyzed young woman named Christine is joining a group of pilgrims to Lourdes, the French town famous for its apparitions of the Virgin Mary. A site of alleged miraculous healings, the place is now a vast economic operation visited by up to five million of the faithful each season. The pilgrims, as well as those assisting the weak and disabled, have all come for different reasons. Some are there for physical healing, some for their psychological health; some hope for change in their lives, or maybe even to witness a miracle. Christine is not particularly pious, nor does she believe in miracles. She just likes to get out a bit, which is hard to do in her wheelchair, and she'd really rather be in Rome. When Christine arises from her bed one night and begins to walk, it stirs all kinds of emotions in her fellow pilgrims. Why should she be the one to receive the grace of a miracle? She's certainly not spiritually transformed, or even very grateful. LOURDES is a parable about the hope residing in all of us that goes beyond reason. (In French with subtitles) – BB