This movie was shot in Lourdes, with the agreement of Church authorities, but after watching it we have to think if today the outcome would be the same.

It's a very slow movie that follows in a documentary way a group of pilgrims during a week in Lourdes. It shows the spiritual believes and hopes of people, but also the business, the envy and greed that establishes between the group, when a "miracle" finally occurs. The main issue is: why her and not me? After all, people are there to have a spiritual experience or to be healed? And if so, what should we (they) do to be the ones to receive it? Also, we witness the process of acknowledging a miracle, with all the caution put into it by church doctors. The most interesting thing here is that nothing is explicitly told, but if you "look" into what is going on with a critic mind, you will notice that there is a lot more behind "believing".

I really think that being religious or not has an influence on how you understand this movie, due to the almost casual way that things are shown. And there is a tremendous irony going on there.

Christine (Sylvie Testud) is wheelchair-bound, and is suffering from multiple sclerosis. She travels to the pilgrimage site of Lourdes in the Pyrenees Mountains to both escape from her isolation, and seek some kind of answers to her situation. Compared to the other pilgrims, Christine has little faith in God. Yet while she's there, she miraculously gains controls of her limbs and she rises from her wheelchair. The church are quick to jump on it as a 'miracle', but seek medical advice in order to confirm this.

The film never takes a stance in regards to its attitude to either religion or spirituality, to the point where the 'miracle' that takes place takes a backseat. This is a film that is more concerned with its characters' plight, and how the people around Christine react to the possible miracle that they witness. It does, if anything, portray the Catholic faith in a positive light. The priest seeks all the medical advice he can get before he will believe it as a miracle, and the helpers at Lourdes (minus one rather self-involved girl) are shown to have genuine love for the work they do, and its importance. But it does also show the slightly ridiculous side, as the Church will only recognise it as an 'official' miracle if it ticks certain boxes.

it does not linger on the idea of faith, as previously stated, but instead how it corrupts, bewilders, and enchants the people around Christine. Some of the pilgrims talk bitterly between themselves and doubt her sincerity, to the point where they begin to dismiss the idea of miracles, which is the very thing that they went to Lourdes to experience. One of the male helpers initially shows an interest in Christine, glancing and smiling at her every now and then. Yet when she begins to walk again, he seems to almost completely fall for her, much to the jealousy of one of the female workers. It's a startling commentary on how humanity can be corrupted and influenced by the idea of religion.

Lourdes is a quiet, gentle and ponderous portrayal of a woman desperately seeking an answer to her illness and finding it in the last place she would expect. It doesn't force its ideas down your throat, but instead it lets it flow across the small interactions and expressions of its characters. The pace may sometimes come to a standstill, but this is a richly rewarding experience from one of Austria's most exciting new directors.

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Before I got down to watch it, I thought it was all gonna be about a girl who was going to Lourdes in order to cure of being in a wheelchair. After watching 10 minutes of this film, I felt there was nothing much going on but only seeing people walking around the pilgrimage but nothing else.

It might've changed later during the movie but I wouldn't waste my breath in watching the whole movie! It would be too late then for me to see the action. For me, I would rather see the action in movies at the beginning straight away because you are in with the story already and it makes your time well spent in looking at the movie!

I just think the movie could've done better in showing only the characters to the audience then seeing the passersbys. It just makes the film look rather dull in my opinion! It's very disappointing that it's too slow!