The Song of Bernadette (1943)

Why so much hype?

Simply A Masterpiece

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I was once reading a book about the Oscars, and the author, whose research required him to watch Oscar-winning and -nominated films throughout the years, said he had put off "The Song of Bernadette" because he was turned off by the religious subject matter and assumed it would be a heavy-handed, sanctimonious film for believers. Then he finally saw it and was surprised by how intelligent and reasoned it was. Based on this, I was curious to see it myself, because I usually feel the same way about religious-themed films, especially biopics that are prone to hagiography even when they're not about religious figures. I too found it to be a pretty articulate depiction of a humble woman's witnessing of miracles and subsequent rise to sainthood, even if it does not leave any room for those who don't believe in the Christian God. It acknowledges the existence of nonbelievers but pretty much says we can't be helped.I didn't expect even as much complexity from a film made in 1943 as "The Song of Bernadette" provides, so I was happy that it addresses various viewpoints, from the skeptics who are willing to be convinced given enough empirical evidence, to those who refuse to believe out of a sense of jealousy that they weren't the chosen one, to those who want to cash in and profit from the devoutness of others. One thing the movie nails is the reluctance of the religious community to accept supernatural occurrences when they occur in the real world despite its insistence on believing in them when they occur in the Bible. If a film like this is ever remade, I hope it leaves more room for people like me, people who don't necessarily rule out the possibility of miracles, however you want to define them, and believe that there is much about the natural world we can't and will never be able to explain, but don't believe that any of it is the work of a sentient deity. As with most things, our culture demands that people pick a side and refuses to acknowledge shades of gray, so in that way this film was a bit much to take by the time it ended, which is a LONG 156 minutes from the time it started.Jennifer Jones received the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance, and she's fine, but it's the supporting players around her that are far more interesting, including Oscar-nominated Charles Bickford as the village dean, and Gladys Cooper as a bitter nun who has a marvelous scene late in the film during which she faces a crisis of faith. Cooper shared the Best Supporting Actress field with Anne Revere, who plays Bernadette's mother. The film also won Oscars for its black and white art direction and cinematography, and Alfred Newman's lovely score. It won the most Oscars of its year, though it lost the big prize to "Casablanca." Also nominated in the categories of Best Picture, Best Director (Henry King), Best Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound Recording.Grade: B

One of the greatest films of the golden era of Hollywood was a religiously themed film about the private revelations of the Blessed Virgin to Bernadette Soubirou, an illiterate peasant girl from the town of Lourdes in the year 1858. It made a star of Jennifer Jones, and won her the Oscar that year. The film was nominated for Best Picture as well as 10 other Oscars, and won for best score (Alfred Newman) and cinematography as well. One of the intriguing things about the movie is how it came to be made. The writer, Franz Werfel was living in Germany with his wife, Alma (the widow of the great composer Gustav Mahler) when they had to escape to France to escape the Nazi terror. Settling near Lourdes in the south of France in the shadow of the Pyrenees, they became acquainted with the 'miraculous' spring of Lourdes, where the Catholic faithful had been coming for nearly a hundred years.Inspired by the faith and hospitality of the French peasantry who flocked to the shrine, Werfel vowed to God to write about them if He saved the couple from annihilation. Though a Jew, Werfel was impressed by the humility and goodness of the people among whom he had settled.Escaping finally to America, and settling in California, he set to work in 1942 writing The Song of Bernadette. Upon publication, it was immediately recognized by David O. Selznick of 20th Century Fox as a great property, and was purchased for the rights to adapt it to the screen.One of the singular things about the film is how closely it hues to the book, which was an historically accurate novelization of the phenomenon of Lourdes. It presents in stark terms the disbelief of the political, religious and scientific leaders of the day, and the grief they caused Bernadette Soubirou and her family. Further, it presents Bernadette's visions without explanation or judgment, and leaves it to the viewer to make his own mind up about them.Made in 1943, at the height of WWII, when the world was in turmoil such as it had never been before, and faith in God was severely put to the test, few films have been as appropriate to their time and place as this was. It is one of the greatest films of all time. It has recently been digitally restored on DVD, with commentary and other extras.

Having gone to a Catholic grammar school as a child I was familiar with the story of Bernadette Soubirous. I was not aware of this film until just a few months ago and made it a point to see it when the opportunity presented itself. The film is a faithful and reverential retelling of the life of young Bernadette and the miracle at Lourdes, France in 1858. Jennifer Jones, representing the title character is capably angelic in her performance, though some might consider her performance decidedly one dimensional. However I was impressed by the film's screenplay which presented assorted characters who questioned Bernadette's interpretation of her visions, but could not shake her resolve. Interestingly, while the villagers of Lourdes almost immediately ascribed her visions to that of the Virgin Mary, Bernadette herself never made that claim, though it becomes clear by the end of the story that it could have been no other divinity. Even the Catholic Church at the time took a position attributing no special significance to the events at Lourdes. As the film professes a number of times, true believers will accept the story of Bernadette on faith while for doubters there can be no proof whatsoever. Nevertheless, thirty years following Bernadette's death in 1879, an exhumation revealed that her body had been preserved from decomposition, and was cited as one of the miracles to support her canonization to sainthood in 1933.

The Song of Bernadette is a faith based movie released in 1943. Jennifer Jones is radiant as the fourteen year old girl who reports vision of the Virgin Mary. Her father is working odd jobs in order to feed his family. One day, Bernadette is walking with her sister and a friend collecting firewood when she feels a breeze and sees a woman holding a pearl rosary. The story soon spreads throughout the village and initially only her Aunt Bernarde believe in her while everyone else, including her parent's, doubt her story. Both the civil authorities and the Catholic Church ridicule the girl until one day a spring spouts water from barren ground and becomes famous for miraculous healing powers. A bishop closes the grotto but when the emperor's infant son is cured by the water, the site is reopened and a review is ordered by the bishop. They reluctantly declare the visitations valid and Bernadette joins the Sisters of Charity. She lives a relatively quiet life but suffers from tuberculosis of the bones which causes tremendous pain. At her deathbed she has a final visit from Mary, and even after one hundred and fifty years, Lourdes remains a popular destination for pilgrims from around the world. An interesting side note is the doubting Thomas prosecutor played by Vincent Price who later gained fame in grade b horror films; he is actually quite good in this movie.