Marcelin, pain et vin

This movie was excellent. I saw it many years ago as a child in my Catholic grammar school and still remember it. It is a beautiful moving experience and is a movie that can be watched by the whole family. I encourage everyone to see it. We need more movies like this one. I believe I may have seen it again on TV many years ago. I believe people of all faiths can enjoy this movie. The story is about innocence and faith. They also have made a remake of the movie, I believe in 1991. I have not seen the remake but, usually there is nothing like the original. So, if they thought the movie was good enough to be remade, you know it has to be good. Watch this movie, I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

I feel almost provoked to comment on this film here, and I say this not as an especially religious person (which I am not), but as someone who feels that a film should not be unfairly criticized because of someone's faulty--or would it be more accurate to say willfully (?) -- distorted summary of the plot.

SPOILERS AHEAD

To begin with, Marcelino is bitten by the scorpion while he is playing outside the monastery, but at no point in the film does he ask to see the crucifix for any reason. He has been frightened by tales of a "bogeyman" in the attic by the monks, who wish him to stay away from it. OUT OF CURIOSITY, and for no other reason, he ventures in, sees the Christ figure, thinks it is the feared bogeyman, and tears back down the stairs. (The figure, incidentally, is a beautiful wooden carving, not gory in the least.)

After an unfortunate incident, in which he is taken to a festival and unwittingly causes a commotion by accidentally letting some animals run wild, the new mayor, an enemy of the monks who have raised Marcelino, swears to shut down the monastery. Marcelino is given the silent treatment by the monks, and it is then that he goes again to the attic, realizes the "bogeyman" is only a statue of Christ, remarks that it looks hungry, steals some bread, and offers it to the statue. It is then that a miracle occurs---the statue comes to life, eats the bread, and eventually, because of Marcelino's repeated visits, becomes Marcelino's teacher and confidant (Marcelino realizes who he is). And the vision is *not* a hallucination. The statue's final act in the film is intended only as a reward for Marcelino's kind actions, and it is done at Marcelino's innocent, but completely self-aware, request.

This is by no means a vicious, sadistic film; it is a beautiful, gentle one. It is a pity that there are those who would distort its meaning.

An user pointed out that some imdb reviews (particularly the early one) were very negative ;but in spite of a huge success,many leftish (Marxist ?) comments were scathing too when the movie was released :remember that Spain was a dictatorship and a French critic went as far as to write that 'if Christ allows the mother-and -child reunion ,it's in a better world ,and thus it solves the problem of the orphanages maintenance".

Today ,when compared to the Joselito Jimenez weepies,which have sunk into oblivion, "Marcelino pan y vino " holds up quite well .That a great director such Luigi COMENCINI made a remake is proof positive that the movie has worn well ,even though today's children may not get something out of it.

Everyone will agree that Pablito Calvo gives one of the best child actor performances of all time ;one can,however ,prefer to the scenes in the attic :

-the bread which diminishes ,much to the monk /cook's surprise .

-the fair ,where the stolen apple creates a "butterfly effect" in miniature .

-the boy learning his alphabet,under a monk's watchful eye.

-the meeting with the woman with a madonna face(wish she could be my mama).

-the hidden treasures in the wall.

January 2006, and we're talking about a film made in 1955! I too saw this movie possibly 50 years ago and have never forgotten it. I tried to get some more information on it in Sydney with our so called movie experts but got nowhere. The internet was not much help either, then last week, lo and behold, I found a DVD in "Parklea Market" Sydney Australia (sort of organised flea market) And it was selling for 5 Australian dollars (perhaps 2.5 Euros). Only one problem the tittle was "The miracle of Marcelino" ... It had to be the same though so I bought it. I could not wait to run it on my DVD player... and there it was "Marcelino Pan y Vino"! Yes try to search for Marcelino pan y vino, chances is you'll get nothing. Of course the reason I'm here is because of my newly acquired knowledge of its English title. I then was a little boy in France and I think the film was in Spanish with french subtitle. I personally think the dubbed version does some damage to the integrity of this beautiful story. I have to be honest here too. I found the movie rather rusty in the light of the ever growing technology in this field and I don't agree that the music is beautiful; it's markedly aged and I don't think I'd like a sound system with this quality.

But what a reunion, I had almost given up any hope to see it again. I think My parents took me to watch it in Paris. They were non religious as I am now. They only love it for it's beauty and artistic value. I'm pretty sure if you're reading this you've read other entry and you already know the story, so I won't go into it. I just hope you'll give it a chance in your lounge room, I think the reward will be great

mm Feb. 2006. I had to come back to this movie and read more commentaries since I was here. I felt saddened by some, expressing some kind of paranoia or just pure negativism. One entry asked us to take off our "rosy" glasses to watch this movie... For one I wish I could find my 'rosy' glasses again as the world I see today needs badly to be seen through such device or we'll soon run out of Prozac. Then people wear all kind of glasses with all kind of colours and so see things accordingly that is not to say that other should join in. I wander what colour of glasses Mother Theresa, "l'abbe Pierre" or the like of them wore to achieve what they did. I see Marcelino Bread and Wine" as a simple,touching and beautiful story despite not having entering a church for decades. MM PS Having mentioned my difficulty to search this tittle I tried again because I forgot to bookmark it. This time I made sure to enter in the search field "The miracle of Marcelino" and for result got : Marcelino Pan y Vino (Aka the miracle of Marcelino)...How this for contradiction!

A baby loses his parents and is left at the door to a monastery. The monks take him in and he grows into a mischievous but essentially good little boy. One day he sneaks into the attic and sees a life-sized image of Jesus on the cross...

For pre-teens and younger, a parent should probably watch it with them, since some children will be disturbed by the ending. With understanding, this film helps the viewer to grow a little in faith, hope and love.

... well, that is all I really wanted to say, but IMDb now requires ten lines of text for a review. I noticed the early reviews of Marcelino were extremely negative. If you have a lot of anger towards Christ or the Church, you will *not* like this film since it shows different types of people turning their hearts towards Jesus to varying degrees. This is not sinister propaganda, but the way the world really is. Christians are not the monsters you imagine them to be. If the Nazis *had* made films like this, as one reviewer suggested, instead of the inspirations to resentment and violence they actually did make, the world might have been a better place. Peace to all.