A Canção de Bernadette

Despite being a huge classic film fan, it took me a while to get round to watching 'The Song of Bernadette'. Partly because of being so busy, but also, although being an admirer of a lot of the cast and crew, finding that the subject matter didn't appeal to me for a while.

Goodness knows why though, because finally getting round to it 'The Song of Bernadette' was a miracle of a film. Sure it is a long film, perhaps a little too long (the only thing that counts as a debit against it for me, and it is so small because what it does right is enough to fill a novel), but contrary to one might think its point of view that it portrays is valid and very sincerely put across, not heavy-handedly or in a way that's biased. It also, from personal view, doesn't contrive to move audiences, or convert viewers and sceptics to its way of thinking. The emotional impact comes from how well it explores its subject matter and how much the sincerity and poignancy shines through every frame and performance.

Before one forgets, 'The Song of Bernadette' is a surprisingly quite faithful account of the story of Bernadette Soubirous, which is an amazing story in itself, some may ask how idealised it is, actually considering other films based on true stories/history etc and the subject matter it doesn't actually feel that idealistic. It manages to do the seemingly impossible in making capture the main events, spirit, background and atmosphere of Werfel's novel and making everything cohesive while condensing things necessarily to the point from a book so rich in detail to the point of bloat.

There are so many that make 'The Song of Bernadette' a film miracle. The luminous black and white photography wholly deserved its Oscar, that, the atmospheric lighting and sumptuous production values help make 'The Song of Bernadette' one of that year's (that half of the decade even too) most visually beautiful films. Alfred Newman's score adds so much to the film to the extent that the film may have been a completely different one without it, and it's hardly surprising it's garnered a soundtrack album of its own considering how well it stands up as music on its own. It's stirring and achingly gorgeous music, some of my favourite work of his.

Scripting doesn't resort to preachy sermonising or bias, instead it's very intelligently written and as aforementioned the argument it makes is valid and sincere, and it makes sense. The dialogue itself does provoke thought some time after. The story is incredibly moving and inspiring, also being careful not to paint its characters too black and white. Despite being a long film, the production values, music and performances are so wonderful, Henry King's direction so sensitive and the emotions so high that one is riveted throughout.

Jennifer Jones, in her debut performance (in her own name that is, having done a few other previous projects under a different name), seldom gave a more touching or better performance, of her five Oscar nominations this was the only time she won one and it was a very deserved win from personal view.

In support she is particularly well aided by Gladys Cooper, on fiery form, Vincent Price, impeccably giving his character menacing colour and unusual restraint, and Charles Bickford, suitably sympathetic. The Virgin is sincerely portrayed as a symbol of hope by Linda Darnell, am also of the opinion that the film and role were not trying to say anything comparing who was greater between Mary and Jesus, it was just a symbol.

Overall, a miracle of a film. Whether one is converted is very dependent on the person, personally I watched 'The Song of Bernadette' expecting to be challenged but still admire it a good deal, finished it feeling very moved and inspired. 10/10 Bethany Cox

I recently bought this movie, and just finished watching it the first time. All I can say is, WOW! Why doesn't Hollywood make movies like this anymore? I know, there's more money in showing gratuitous sex and violence...at least that's what they tell themselves. But for my hard-earned dough, nothing tops a film about the purity and innocence of faith, and that's what 'The Song of Bernadette' is all about. It's also good for quite a few laughs, as you see the imperial prosecutor's scheming against Bernadette fail time and time again. :)

My only complaint is that toward the end of the movie, I found myself wondering what was left to tell. Thankfully, I liked the answer and won't be complaining next time I watch it.

This film is a must-see, especially for my fellow Catholics. It's made my top 10 list...why not give it a chance to make yours?

"For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe in God, no explanation will suffice." Thus, 20th Century Fox made clear it's stance on the incident involving a poor ignorant peasant girl from the western Pyrenees who one early spring witnessed a vision of a "beautiful lady". Fox decidedly erred in favor of Bernadette's 'marion apparition'. But it wasn't because the mammoth studio had gone all pious suddenly. It's that the demographs showed that a vast number of potential audiences across the country had for the longest time gone untapped. The Catholics. What's more, the time seemed right to bring out the religious angle in a time of war. We looked to God for peacetime but raking in hefty profits at the boxoffice for such a sacred cause wasn't a bad idea either. Fox found their inspirational story from a most unlikely source who's own true-life story would have made a compelling screenplay. Franz Werfel , an orthodox Jew, had taken flight from the Nazis. He needed desperately to be reunited with his wife in America by seeking out those who would help along the way. Stopping to rest in his escape in Lourdes which bordered occupied France and neutral Spain, he found the people very sympathetic, hiding him from the Germans until he was given safe passage to the US. It is in Lourdes that he learned of Bernadette Souibirous and made a promise to God that if ever he should leave Europe alive, he would tell Bernadette's extraordinary story. It must've been a case of 'from Werfel's lips to God's ears' because that's just exactly what happened. In preparing the galleys for his book on Bernadette's account, the suits at Fox got wind of it and bought the rights to the film even before the publisher had the book on the stands which would become an enormous best seller in 1943. This was Jennifer Jones first leading role in a major film and few of us, I believe, could deny that her sensitive portrayal was nothing short of a miracle. A convincing harrowing portrayal of a pious ingenue without ever once being mawkish. Now that's walking a tight rope between instinct and skill. The rest of the cast is uniformly fine especially Anne Revere as Louise Soubirous (whose brilliant career would run afoul of the House Commitee for Un-American Activities, labeled a communist sympathizer). As for the real-life Bernadette, she was canonized in 1933, the same year it was decided to remove her remains to Never. Something even more startling however is that when her remains were disinterred some seventy-five years after her burial, she was found virtually in tact an incorruptible. Needless to say, the Church had all the justification it needed in declaring her a saint. And to this very day many who 'believe in God' make pilgrimages to the little grotto where the vision took place and the spring which brought about so many miraculous cures. There is in all this an interesting bit of irony though. The uncredited role of the 'beautiful lady' went to Fox contract player Linda Darnell who would have a brief but successful career playing 'bad girls'.

Bernadette Soubirous, 1844-1879, was a modest, shy, retiring religious girl of strong convictions in her faith who would have passed through this world unnoticed by many, but for an incident in her hometown of Lourdes in France. If you believe it was all a hallucination than this film will mean nothing to you.

But there are a great many people who believe that the pious young lady was chosen for a visit from the Virgin Mary one day when she was an adolescent teen. The Virgin Mary appeared to her several times in that location which in fact was the town garbage dump. In that spot an underground spring was discovered that had healing properties.

The film is based on a historical novel by Franz Werfel and Darryl F. Zanuck decided on an unknown to play young Bernadette. The girl chosen was Phyllis Isley of Oklahoma whose name was changed to Jennifer Jones and in her third film and first under her new identity, Jennifer Jones walked off with Best Actress Award of 1943. She beat out such seasoned veterans as Ingrid Bergman, Joan Fontaine, Jean Arthur, and Greer Garson. I'm sure it helped Jones that Fontaine and Garson were the previous two year's winners, that the film was such a hit, and that David O. Selznick had totally flipped for her and used every bit of influence to get that Oscar.

With all of that and a great performance as well. Jones captures both the simple beauty and piety of the young girl who may have been given insights into matters spiritual. Playing the Virgin Mary in an unbilled part was Linda Darnell, a fact I believe that did not come out until after Ms. Darnell's death in 1963.

Director Henry King gave his young unknown a lot of support by assembling a thoroughly professional cast without a bad performance in the lot. Such people as Lee J. Cobb, Vincent Price, Charles Dingle, Gladys Cooper, Roman Bohnen, and Anne Revere were just perfect in their parts.

As was Charles Bickford in the role of the priest and director of the Catholic school in Lourdes. He's very skeptical at first, but becomes her firm champion. Jones and Bickford became extremely close in this film, she looked up to Bickford for the rest of his life as a father figure in Hollywood. Bickford was nominated for Best Supportin Actor, but lost to Charles Coburn and Cooper and Revere both received nominations for Best Supporting Actress, but lost to Katina Paxinou.

Even with a more recent film telling the Bernadette Soubirous story that came out in 1989 with Sydney Penny, this film is still owned and shown in many Catholic churches and schools to this day. But even the most hardened of unbelievers will be blown away by Jones's performance.

In 1858 France, Bernadette (Jennifer Jones), an adolescent peasant girl, has a vision of "a beautiful lady" in the city dump. She never claims it to be anything other than this, but the townspeople all assume it to be the virgin Mary.

I suspect religious folks and non-religious folks might get two different things out of this film. From a religious point of view, there is definitely a theme of religion versus the state, and how you have to be firm in your beliefs when the state comes to challenge you. Even if threatened, stay strong.

Now, I am not religious, but I think a more general theme can be taken from this. And that is to believe in yourself when others doubt you or call you stupid. It may be easy to believe in yourself when the Mother of God is telling you to do things, but it need not be so dramatic.

Oh, and Vincent Price is in the movie. So that automatically makes it worth watching.