Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Director: Marco Pontecorvo, Rialto Distribution.
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” – Albert Einstein
Throughout the Catholic world, the Portuguese town of Fátima is renowned for the miraculous appearance of the Blessed Virgin to three young shepherds in 1917.
Based on historical events, Fatima is a compelling and enriching drama. It was a 10-year-old girl Lúcia and her two younger cousins who were witness to multiple visitations of the Virgin Mary. She told them that only prayer and suffering would bring an end to World War I.
It inspired thousands of believers and angered officials of both the Catholic Church and the secularist government, who try to force them to recant their story. Like many in the town, Lúcia’s devout mother, Maria (Lúcia Moniz), didn’t believe the children’s story and chastised her for lying. In the meantime, word of the sighting spreads across the country, inspiring religious pilgrims to flock to the site in hopes of witnessing a miracle.
What they experience will transform their quiet lives and bring the attention of a world yearning for peace. It is based on real-life events and stars Joaquim de Almeida (Queen of the South), Goran Višnjić (Beginners), Stephanie Gil (Terminator: Dark Fate) and Lúcia Moniz (Love, Actually), with Sônia Braga (Aquarius) and Harvey Keitel (The Piano, The Irishman).
While wandering in a cave near her home in the hamlet of Aljustrel, Lúcia (Gil) is visited by an angel who shows her a vision of a battlefield. World War I is raging across Europe and claiming the lives of many young men in Lúcia’s village. In the vision, Lúcia sees her brother, Manuel (João Arrais), a soldier at the front, caught in an explosion. Later, while tending her family’s flock of sheep, Lúcia and her younger cousins Jacinta (Alejandra Howard) and Francisco (Jorge Lamelas) are visited by another apparition, this time of the Virgin Mary (Joana Ribeiro). The “Lady of the Rosary,” as she calls herself, tells the children they must pray and suffer in order to bring an end to the deadly conflict. She also tells them she will return to the same spot every month for six months.
On the day of Mary’s final visit to Fátima, tens of thousands of believers arrive, hoping to witness a miracle that will convince them of her existence. What they experience is still talked about to this day and the site remains one of the world’s most popular destinations for Catholic pilgrims.
Fatima, an uplifting film about the power of faith, is the first feature in English directed by Marco Pontecorvo (Pa-ra-da, Game of Thrones) from a script by Pontecorvo, Valerio D’Annunzio and Barbara Nicolosi.
Fatima opens in cinemas nationally on 3 September, with Victoria to follow post-COVID-19 lockdown.
