It's almost five years to the day that I watched and reviewed the 1952 film, "The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima", so a detailed comparison would be hard to make at this point. I do remember that the earlier film interjected some humor into the story with a fictional Uncle Hugo to the three young children who witnessed the apparitions of "The Lady of the Rosary". He had a donkey named Lucifer, which was almost like asking for trouble from heaven above, while later in the story he tried to take advantage of his relationship to the children by peddling souvenirs from the location where the visions appeared.

From my vantage point, I thought this was a well executed and reverent portrayal of the events that took place in Fatima, Portugal over a six month span in the middle of 1917. Being raised a Catholic, I had heard the story numerous times in parochial school along with that of Bernadette Soubirous of France in 1858. This film incorporates a modern day take on the miracle with an author (Harvey Keitel) interviewing the elderly Sister Lucia Santos (Sônia Braga),with their exchanges providing perspective on each other's faith and in the case of Professor Nichols, his natural skepticism. Undeterred in her belief of what occurred as a child, Lucia offers the most honest appraisal she can when pressed, "I don't have answers for everything".

What most impresses about the child Lucia (Stephanie Gil) and her sibling cousins, Jacinta (Alejandra Howard) and Francisco (Jorge Lamelas),is their dedicated conviction held firmly in belief that what they witnessed was an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, even if the woman they experienced never called herself by that name. When their loosely held secret was eventually revealed, the villagers of the town expressed their own Judgment on the matter, with the majority taking the side of the children in their belief of divine intervention. What's puzzling is how the local priest and his spiritual authorities approached the visions as childhood fantasies, or worse, the work of the devil, which is somewhat ironic in that they would have believed in Satan making an earthly appearance in favor of the Mother of God. Seems rather twisted to me.

The story would not have been complete without mentioning the events of the sixth and final monthly appearance of The Lady of the Rosary, culminating in the "Miracle of the Sun". This would have been one aspect of the film that deserved better treatment in my view, as the miracle was represented merely as a glowing orb without including the spectacular display witnessed by seventy thousand faithful on October 13th, 1917. I realize that for non-believers, the story of Our Lady of Fatima is one to be skeptically challenged or ridiculed outright, but I would invite anyone with an open heart and mind to view the picture and experience the virtuous faith that guided these three youngsters to a life of pious devotion.

It's 1917 Fátima, Portugal. The government is a progressive democracy and war is taking the lives of the town's young men. A heavenly apparition appears before three young kids and they are told to return each month. Father Ferreira (Joaquim de Almeida) is concerned and the mayor Arturo (Goran Visnjic) is desperate to get them to recant. The oldest child, Lucia, has her mother who is struggling with her belief and her oldest son away at war. In modern times, Professor Nichols (Harvey Keitel) is writing a book about the incident and interviews Lucia who is a nun in a convent.

I never considered Fatima as a dramatic event. I assumed that everybody accepted the kids' visions. I guess that I never thought about it too deeply. With war, religion, and politics all mixed together, the drama should have been more apparent to me. That and the personal family trauma is the best part of the movie. The drama comes from Lucia resisting the testing of her faith. That's the heart of everything. The more devoted would want some digging into the three secrets. I don't know that it matters to the themes of the movie. It's academic rather than touching the emotions of the drama. I would cut back on the modern interview. It could bookend the movie but it really doesn't add that much. It's about the kids and their faith.

This is a story of the Fatima sightings as told by Sister Lucia, the surviving of the three children. A doubter and author hear the story directly from the sister. He casts his doubt through the tale. The flashback starts in 1917 Portugal where Lucy (Stephanie Gil) and her siblings have their vision. It gives an historic recollection of the crowds that it attracted. What was interesting was the command to pray the rosary every day. It seemed to be a prerequisite to go to heaven. Sorry non-Catholics who don't have a rosary. I also found interesting was the appearance was on the 13th of every month. 13 is the number of the Goddess and women. There are 13 lunar cycles in a solar year. It is the number associated with the woman's monthly cycle. Great for Catholics.