Le 13e jour

"In her motherly concern, the Blessed Virgin came to Fatima to ask men and women to stop offending God, our Lord, who is already very offended. It is a mother's sorrow that compels her to speak" (John Paul II, 2000).

Whilst looking forward to an accurate, faithful and convincing screen adaptation about the 1917 extraordinary events at Fatima (Portugal), I encountered a view that what we need is not a movie that attempts at visually pleasant production with top notch performances but something that absorbs us profoundly, almost mystically, and presents an ever-open, still actual message of Fatima. Something up-to-date in its method of communication that may inspire modern generation. Meanwhile, we have encountered many screen adaptations. Most of them, however, either focused on the cinematic combination of history and fiction or simply resorted to sheer linear monotony. The crucial thing, however, is to understand the significance of these apparitions as a "prophetic mission" (Benedict XVI's words). Luckily, a few years before the centenary of these events, we are indeed fortunate to see Dominic and Ian Higgins' THE 13TH DAY which truly appears to meet that expectation. A movie like barely any other screen production, is a profound achievement fanned by the 'flame of faith' where the thought provoking question Benedict XVI asked in Fatima becomes as touching as ever: "Who awaits the dawn of the new day fanning the flame of faith?"

If you await top notch performances or any feast for the eyes, you had better not be misled. Yes, pleasant cinema is something precious, undoubtedly, but there is no room for that here. That is not where the movie's strength lies. It dwells in all that God loves most, in humility of the ignored and mocked by those who "sacrifice all that was most sacred on the altar of petty and selfish interests (Benedict XVI). The heroes are "merest" children: Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco, not the learned, the brave, the clever ones. They represent the innocence of the world that has ceased to exist in so many of its fields, its contexts, its desires and motifs. They remind the world of God with their "faith-filled surrender into the hands of the Love which sustains the world" (Benedict XVI). But are they the highlights of the story? From the very start, any viewer, if believer or non-believer, will strive to figure out who the movie is about and who it is addressed at...

The film opens at Pontevedra in Spain in 1937, twenty years after the Marian Apparitions. Sister Lucia, the only surviving seer, writes down her memories according to the request of her superiors, the memoirs that are stored in her heart. With the vivid, yet mystical, foggy flashbacks, she becomes the sole narrator of the story. In this way, the whole depiction of the difficult content remains more analytical and more innate (if I dare say intimate spiritually). A great flashback!

In that depiction, a key aspect is cinematography. It appears to be an altogether splendid idea to shoot the movie mainly in black and white and use the color at the scenes of the supernatural! In this, the cinematography evokes the wondrous assumption here that could, otherwise, result in idealized awkwardness elsewhere. That is the fullness of joy, of beauty is solely in God. Where there is God and life of faith, all colors with sublime harmony shine brightly. This spiritual overtone executed in visuals becomes most evident at the climactic scene of the miracle of the sun. Consequently, the concrete medium that cinema is appears to grasp the mystical and spiritual, embrace the religious and prophetic standpoint in an austere manner. The supernatural, in many cases, resorts to mere naiveness, cartoon like kitsch, ridiculous illusions. Here, however, it is very authentic and genuinely shakes the perceptions of viewers. Many archive materials add certain sense of authenticity and documentary nature. They are, in a way, incorporated to the scenes and nicely evoke the atmosphere of the time.

Yet, nothing is 'apocalyptic' in the earthly sense of the word filled with fear and doom but in the 'Christian' sense of the word filled with hope. No prophets of doom! Do not expect them here and thanks be to God for that because that is nothing of what Fatima is all about. These events are not filled with darkness but, to the contrary, they are full of light. Yes, Light...let me make a brief note about one of the most significant aspects.

Bl. John Paul II in his homily during beatification of Jacinta and Francisco (2000) pointed out: "they (children) see a light shining from her maternal hands which penetrates them inwardly." In one scene, we see the light that frames the entire screen and embraces the viewers. At that very moment, you feel to be the part of the movie.

Among the artistic strengths of the movie, a mention needs to be made of the memorable music score by Andrew Guthrie which does not rely so heavily on Fado but combines various elements of vibrant and contemplative tunes.

But let me state one thing clearly: there are no protagonists of the movie, it is a film about God's relation with humanity taking a historical example of humble children of Fatima. Very thought provoking, highly recommended!

On May 9th 1985 before the assembly of the Republic of Portugal in Lisbon, Ronald Reagan said: "in the prayers of simple people everywhere, simple people like the children of Fatima, there resides more power than in all the great armies and statesmen of the world." Merest children...how wondrous is the 'tactics of God' Certain that "each one of us is precious in 'Her' eyes" (Pope Francis), this medium contributes to 'the dawn of the new day' of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart.

I was greatly saddened that they omitted 'Jesus' from the Hail Mary they prayed in the prison scene. Also, I just read that the children stopped dancing and singing after the Apparition, but the film seemed to focus on the dancing and singing, which is unfortunate because for truly devout Catholics, we know that dancing and singing tend towards worldliness. The black and white and eerie messaging seemed be the focus, rather than the Apparition itself. I think aspects of the messaging were very accurate like the persecution the children experienced, but it did not express the depth of the simplicity of the message and the religiosity. I think the children didn't demonstrate how deep their conversion really was.

The problem with most religious films is that the filmmakers have a habit of equating religion with piety and piety with gross sentimentality. There is also usually a surfeit of kind priests and nice nuns being kind and nice to beatific children or else they will be about Jesus, saints and miracles and the inexplicable. Perhaps the most famous religious movie about sainthood is "The Song of Bernadette" with an unlikely Jennifer Jones as Saint Bernadette. That turned out to be so much better than it might have been, not free from piety but very well written, directed and acted.

Of course Lourdes, where many Christians, or at least Catholics, believe the Blessed Virgin appeared to Bernadette Soubirous, is probably the most famous place of pilgrimage in Christianity outside of Israel. Fatima, where a similar apparition is said to have happened in 1917, is less well known. The movie "The Miracle of Fatima" was a decent enough attempt to deal with those events and now we have "The 13th Day", a kind of amateur docu-drama about what happened at Fatima. Co-directed by Dominic and Ian Higgins it comes across as something commissioned by the Catholic Church purely for Catholics, (it certainly won't win any converts), and is acted by a cast of non-professionals.

The amazing thing is it, too, is nowhere near as bad as it could have been though it's certainly no "Song of Bernadette". Stylistically it's closer to Rossellini's "The Flowers of St. Francis" but without the rigor or the beauty that Rossellini brought to his subject and what passes for acting certainly lets it down. Non-believers will either avoid the film like the plague or will see it as nothing more than Catholic propaganda while believers might find it closer to a demonic horror movie than a tale of future saints. Shot mostly in monochrome with colour inserts it's well enough made but unlikely to appeal to all but the very few.

The Father and the Son are the Parents of the Holy Spirit, if many churches are correct. If many churches are correct, The Trinity is a Family-- two Parents and a Progeny, just like a human family. (Humans are made in the "image" and "likeness" of God according to Genesis 1:26) In the Book of Job which is part of the bible,the Lord is compared to a father and also a mother with a womb. "From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens"--Job 38:29. Because God can also be thought of like a mother (Isaiah 42:14,Isaiah 66:13,Matthew 23:37), all three roles (father,mother,progeny) in a basic human family are filled in the Trinity. Saying that the "Father and the Son are the Parents of the Holy Spirit" is simply another way of saying that the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son" which has been official Catholic Church teaching for centuries. According to the Catholic Church, the Son is begotten from the Father. If this is true, the Father is the Father (Parent) of the Son. According to the Church, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.If this is true, the Father and the Son are the Parents of the Holy Spirit. According to the "Catechism of the Catholic Church" paragraph 264, "The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father as the first principle and...from the communion of both the Father and the Son" Of course, the scriptures are vague if the Holy Spirit is the 3rd or 2nd Person of the Trinity--whichever of these is true,the First Person and the Second Person may be the Parents of the Third.

No human has literally seen God. (Exodus 33:20; John 1:18; 1 John 4:12) The Bible says that "God is a Spirit," a form of life that is invisible to the human eye. God can be seen directly by angels, though, because they are spirit creatures. (Matthew 18:10) Moreover, some humans who die will be raised to life in heaven with a spirit body and will then be able to see God.-Philippians 3:20, 21; 1 John 3:2. How to "see" God now. The Bible often uses the idea of seeing figuratively, to represent enlightenment. (Isaiah 6:10; Jeremiah 5:21; John 9:39-41) In this sense, a person can see God now with "the eyes of (his) heart" by having faith so as to know Him and appreciate His qualities. (Ephesians 1:18) The Bible describes steps to build this kind of faith. Learn about God's qualities, such as his love and generosity as well as his wisdom and power, through his creation. (Romans 1:20) After being reminded of God's creative works, the faithful man Job felt as though God were right before his eyes.-Job 42:5. Get to know God by studying the Bible. "If you search for (God), he will let himself be found by you," the Bible assures us.-1 Chronicles 28:9; Psalm 119:2; John 17:3. Learn about God through the life of Jesus. Since Jesus perfectly reflected the personality of his Father, Jehovah God, he could rightly say: "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father also."-John 14:9. Live in a way that pleases God, and see how he acts in your behalf. Jesus said: "Happy are the pure in heart, since they will see God." As noted earlier, some who please God will be resurrected to heaven and will thus "see God" there.-Matthew 5:8; Psalm 11:7. Did not Moses, Abraham, and others actually see God? In accounts where it might seem that the Bible says that humans literally saw God, the context shows that God was represented by an angel or appeared by means of a vision. Angels. In ancient times, God sent angels as his representatives to appear to humans and to speak in his name. (Psalm 103:20) For example, God once spoke to Moses from a burning bush, and the Bible says that "Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at the true God." (Exodus 3:4, 6) Moses did not literally see God, though, for the context shows that he actually saw "Jehovah's angel."-Exodus 3:2. Similarly, when the Bible says that God "spoke to Moses face-to-face," it means that God conversed with Moses intimately. (Exodus 4:10, 11; 33:11) Moses did not actually see God's face, for the information he received from God "was transmitted through angels." (Galatians 3:19; Acts 7:53) Still, Moses' faith in God was so strong that the Bible described him as "seeing the One who is invisible."-Hebrews 11:27. In the same way that he spoke to Moses, God communicated with Abraham through angels. Granted, a casual reading of the Bible might give the impression that Abraham literally saw God. (Genesis 18:1, 33) However, the context shows that the "three men" who came to Abraham were actually angels sent by God. Abraham recognized them as God's representatives and addressed them as if he were speaking directly to Jehovah.-Genesis 18:2, 3, 22, 32; 19:1. Visions. God has also appeared to humans through visions, or scenes presented to a person's mind. For instance, when the Bible says that Moses and other Israelites "saw the God of Israel," they really "saw a vision of the true God." (Exodus 24:9-11) Likewise, the Bible sometimes says that prophets "saw Jehovah." (Isaiah 6:1; Daniel 7:9; Amos 9:1) In each case, the context shows that they were given a vision of God rather than a direct view of him.-Isaiah 1:1; Daniel 7:2; Amos 1:1. And so on... Conclusion: it's all about faith and visions people have. Me, Rodrig Andrisan, I really admire people with real faith. I admire even more those who prefer to die rather than give up their faith, although this is a proof of incapacitation, they may not be right. About the film now: it's well done, the music is beautiful, the children are beautiful. I hope that the real ones in 1917, Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto have really seen something, at least a sun eclipse, repeated 6 times in a row, for 6 months, each time on the 13th. The film is just an order of the Catholic Church. People, billions, are weak and very ignorant, they need faith, unfortunately, blind faith. And Catholics do what they can to keep them in faith. Like everyone else, Protestants, Orthodox, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, etc. and so on and so on...