Review by Matthew Lucas: The less one knows about Jessica Hausner's “Lourdes” before seeing it, the better. I knew next to nothing about the film or its story going in, and I recommend that others do the same to appreciate the full power of the experience. So I issue fair warning before inviting you to read on. “Lourdes” is the kind of intelligent, transcendent film rarely seen today. If cinema is the supreme fine-art medium through which to express feelings, then Hausner uses all the resources her form allows to craft something that engages both the heart and the mind—something at once cerebral, emotional, and spiritual. It's not a religious film, although it could easily be read as one, just as it could be read as the opposite. It's a film of mysteries and questions, one centered around a paraplegic Christine (Sylvie Testud).

Paralyzed from the waist down, Christine pilgrimages to Lourdes, a place revered by Catholics as the site of many miraculous healings. Accompanied by nuns, volunteers, and others seeking restoration both spiritual and physical, Christine seeks stimulation rather than religious awakening. Her pilgrimages are excuses to get out and see the world from her wheelchair, and she has little real hope for a miracle. While those around her devote themselves to getting cured, beseech God to hear their prayers, or question the validity of the entire affair, Christine simply observes, a casual participant in sacred rituals. But something will happen that will shake the skeptics and challenge the believers, something unexplainable that will touch them all. Some characters will feel doubt, others jealousy, and still others deep exultation.

Hausner provides no clear answers, nor does she lead her audience to any one conclusion. Each audience member is left to his or her own interpretation. Is the film a stinging indictment of peddling faith as commodity? Is Lourdes merely a tourist trap set up to rob the faithful of their money by offering cheap statues of the virgin Mary, bottled water, and the false hope of being healed of affliction? Is it a meditation on the nature of miracles, be they medical or metaphysical? Do such mental constructs spring from a mixture of practical reasons and wishful thinking? Or do they truly come from the hand of God? In fact, “Lourdes” is all of these things, and more. There is something truly haunting about the way everything seems to exist in a space between faith and reason. Hausner directs with a kind of tremulous beauty; every frame, every nuance has a kind of gossamer perfection, luring the audience into a spiritual experience of their own.

There's an intelligence in "Lourdes's" construction, a probing sort of wisdom intent on exploring our deep-seated human desire to see the divine, to make the intangible somehow tangible, or to make apologies and explanations for that which cannot be seen or proven. The power of great art comes from its ability to be interpreted by the beholder. Audience members bring to the table a set of viewpoints and life experiences that make up who they are and inform how they will read a movie. Hausner knows and embraces this, offering up a film that defies easy categorization and simplistic descriptions. It exists squarely in a world of mystery and uncertainty, deftly avoiding political hot buttons in favor of something much more profound. The brilliance of “Lourdes” stems from its enigmatic nature, its ability to be spiritual without being religious, to question without being cynical, to embrace both faith and doubt without judgment—and that is a miracle in itself.

Last Word: As both a wise and incisive look at the nature of faith, as well as a spiritual experience in its own right, “Lourdes” is a haunting and powerful meditation on the great mysteries of the divine, always dwelling in the gray areas between belief and doubt.

Review By:
Matthew Lucas

IN REVIEW ONLINE