Film: Lourdes
Release date: 26th March 2010
Certificate: U
Running time: 97 mins
Director: Jessica Hausner
Starring: Sylvie Testud, Lea Seydoux, Bruno Todeschini, Elina Lowensohn
Genre: Drama
Studio: Artificial Eye
Format: Cinema
Country: France
Sometimes calling a film strange, mysterious or puzzling is a high compliment – and this is such a case. It’s haunting, but always engaging, and will leave you wondering what it all means for many a week.
Testud plays Christine, wheelchair-bound as a multiple sclerosis sufferer, who is on a visit to Lourdes. She is bright and slightly cynical, and we learn that this is the latest in a series of visits around Europe to places of pilgrimage. Christine doesn’t believe in miracles, but goes through the routine of visiting the holy sights, being blessed with the water and bathing in the pools, but with the expression of resignation rather than hope.
Her attitude changes when she spies Kuno (Todeschini), a handsome member of the Order of Malta (who help the disabled), and they strike up a friendship. The problem is he seems rather more interested in Christine’s carer Maria (Seydoux), who lacks intelligence but has a body and face absolutely bursting with health and vitality. Christine’s face is as fragile and pale as her poor, broken frame.
Against all the odds, Christine rises out of her wheelchair. Is it a miracle? The religious folk seem convinced, the medical team less so – but it certainly gets Kuno’s attention. It also creates a huge amount of resentment – after all, some of the visitors have visited Lourdes for years with no joy, while she is on her first visit and doesn’t even believe in it all…
At its heart, Lourdes is a film about the importance of belief, over cynicism. Lourdes is portrayed as a horrendous Disneyland but with longer queues, and the Order of Malta staff are more interested in wine and playing cards than in looking after the disabled. Yet despite all of that, Christine does appear to go through a change, brought on by – well, what? Longing? Desire? Belief?
There’s a particularly painful moment when a mentally ill girl appears healed, only for it to become the cruellest of illusions, and the look on her mother’s face is almost unbearable.
Despite tackling such profound subjects, Lourdes is a consistently witty film, with a wry sense of humour, and one outright funny joke – told by a vicar, no less. But it’s the performance of Testud as the brittle Christine which ultimately makes this so intriguing. Her body may be broken but her face tells a whole lifetime’s worth of stories.
A remarkable portrayal of a character who never attracts pity or sentimentality. A puzzle, but one you’ll enjoy trying to solve. MM
No comments:
Post a Comment