Fátima

Greetings again from the darkness. I'm not Catholic and did not grow up learning much about Catholicism. However, I have heard the story of Fatima, Portugal and the 3 young shepherds who claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary. Writer-Director Marco Pontecorvo and co-writers Valerio D'Annunzio and Barbara Nicolosi deliver a dutiful re-telling of the events that led up to the Miracle of the Sun.

The movie begins in 1989 as Professor Nicols (Harvey Keitel) visits Sister Lucia (Sonia Braga), now an octogenarian, at her nunnery. The professor is quite the skeptic, but it's crucial to his new book project that he question the Sister about what she experienced in 1917. We then flash back to that era when 10 year old Lucia (Stephanie Gil) and her cousins, 7 year old Jacinto (Alejandra Howard) and 8 year old Francisco (Jorge Lamelas) are youngsters working as shepherds for the family flock of sheep. One day, a vision appears to the three children. It's the Virgin Mary (Joana Ribeiro) offering words of hope and a request for praying and strong faith.

Of course kids are kids, so their secret gets spilled almost immediately. As you would expect, no one believes them. Not their family or those in the small Portugal village. The townspeople gather regularly in the square to hear the Mayor (Goran Visnjic) read the names of the local boys and men who have been killed in war. It's a gut-wrenching occurrence for all involved, and yet another opportunity for the mean-spirited folks to accuse the kids of lying about what they've seen. The local priest (Joaquim de Almeida) tries to frighten them out of the story, and even Lucia's mother (Lucia Moniz) scolds and belittles her.

"The faith of a child" has rarely been more evident than with young Lucia. She stays strong despite being ostracized by the villagers, the church, and even her family. The film makes clear observation about faith and religion. What is religion but believing and having faith in something intangible - something that can't be seen or touched. Director Pontecorvo delivers a faith-based film, yet one that is not preachy. It does make us wonder why the religious leaders are themselves so lacking in true faith, and why the politician is envious of the youngsters who draw an audience. Photographs of that day in 1917 ... the "Miracle of the Sun" ... are shown as part of the closing credits, while Andrea Bocelli's remarkable voice sings out. It's a low-budget film with some overacting (from adults), but the message and the performance of young Stephanie Gil make it worthwhile.

The 2020 version is a good attempt at telling the story of Fatima. However, many details were omitted which will leave the audience, who may not know the story well, scratching their heads in confusion. Far more could have been done to better explain what happened during the Miracle of the Sun.

Honestly, I liked it, even though it wasn't perfect. One of the most beautiful and well-made religious films I've ever seen, mainly due to the quality of the actors, young Stephanie Gil is brilliant, and the children Alejandra Howard and Jorge Lamelas are also perfect, the adult cast also does a great job. Setting and ambience are realistic, it manages to portray place and time well, soundtrack is pleasant, direction and production have good quality, in short, a lot of good things. The only thing that slips is the script, which is confusing, it skips several moments of the real story, and anyone who doesn't know it will feel quite confused, especially in the last third, where there is an even greater void in the details of the real facts, leaving out a lot of things.

I think this is a movie where spoilers might be useful for those who don't know the real story. It's worth doing some search on the internet and reading a little about it, in order to watch the film knowing how everything happened, it's the only way to not get lost with the final part of the film and understand that a lot was excluded from the script.

Rating 7 out of 10, it could be an even higher rating if it weren't for the problem I mentioned above.

No pun intended - and I do not mean to belittle anyone. Believer or not - this is I reckon more on the side of the believers of course. But that aside, it is a story of what happens, when a story goes out to the world and how people react to it. Not just the community it happened in - but of course the forces within meeting the forces from outside.

Good acting, some interesting ... dare I say cameos too. Always great to see Harvey Keitel - but of course this is about the kids. The kids who are certain they saw something. This is based on a true story if I got the ending right and the text that puts this in perspective.

Engaging - but not everyones cup of tea. If the story compels you (no pun intended and no connection to another "religious" movie) watch it - otherwise maybe stay away from it.

Great movie and again relevant for our times. Shows us that in the face of a pandemic, strife, suffering and socialism run amok that faith can conquer all. Whether is be 1917 or 2020, Our Lady STILL cares and draws us to salvation and her Son. Well constructed with a great cast...the child actors are honestly some of the best I have ever seen. So moving and so believable. Everyone involved should be proud of this movie.