Lourdes

Sylvie Testud in Lourdes

From Lourdes in southwest France comes a tale of hope, courage and belief.

A French tour group embark on a pilgrimage there, a place full of Roman Catholic history and tales of miraculous healings. As some go in search of a cure, their stories meticulously unfold inside a film that is wonderfully produced.

Just as a female wins best director at the Oscars, Austrian Jessica Hausner – who wrote and directed this film – shows that Kathryn Bigelow’s achievement wasn’t a fluke, and that women can achieve as much for the cinema as much as their male counterparts.

As she paints the picture, Sylvie Testud provides the brush, as she plays the wheelchair-bound Christine, a French woman diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

As a character whom the film follows throughout her pilgrimage, Testud gives a stellar performance.

As the picture develops we are taken through the everyday life of the institution where Christine resides amongst other wheelchair users and patients with disabilities.

In a film which is not heavy with dialogue, the plot slowly unfolds as we see the patients guided on daily trips to different parts of Lourdes.

Once there, they take holy baths, walk through religious landmarks and visit historic cathedrals – all in the hope of the next miracle or spiritual awakening.

As nurses and volunteers assist the group and add to the subplots of the story, there are glimmers of hope in a world of pessimists and semi-believers.

This film is built on religious symbolism and belief; Jessica Hausner manages to add delightful subtleties, giving the film an abundance of layers through its black humour.

The culture of Lourdes and all it represents is captured as people from all over the world come in search of a life-changing experience; a high level of attention is essential as the viewer is required to do a bit of work.

The hope for a happy ending is not unusually pressing with this film, but it perhaps may leave you slightly emotionally drained.

Hausner directs a drama not for the high action or the heart in mouth moments, but for a warming journey with some unusual surprises.

Lourdes shines with an array of messages told through some great direction, whilst the picture feels like it was made specifically for lovers of the pure art of cinema.

Rio Cinema
107 Kingsland High Street
Dalston

Tel: 020 7241 9410