Bernadette of Lourdes

Overview

This modest, unpretentious French film is a streamlined version of the true story previously cinematized as The Song of Bernadette (1943). Daniele Ajort plays the simple 19th-century French peasant girl who insists that she has experienced a vision of the Virgin Mary. Once this sighting becomes common knowledge, Bernadette's very existence becomes a religious and political hot potato. Thousands of people flock to the grotto at Lourdes where Bernadette claims she has seen the Holy Mother, believing that the waters therein contain recuperative powers. Bernadette dies under a cloud of controversy, but is ultimately elevated to sainthood by the Vatican.

Cast

Danièle Ajoret

Bernadette Soubirous

Bernard Lajarrige

François Soubirous

Madeleine Sologne

Madame Soubirous

Henri Nassiet

Le curé Peyramale

Jean-Jacques Delbo

Le commissaire Jacomet

Renaud Mary

Monseigneur Forcade

Nadine Alari

Mère Marie-Thérèse