Synopsis
In order to escape her isolation, wheelchair-bound Christine makes a life changing journey to Lourdes, the iconic site of pilgrimage in the Pyrenees Mountains.
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Cast
- Sylvie TestudChristine
- Léa SeydouxMaria
- Elina LöwensohnCécile
- Bruno TodeschiniKuno
- Gilette BarbierFr. Hartl
- Gerhard LiebmannPater Nigl
- Linde PrelogMrs. Huber
- Heidi BarattaMrs. Spor
- Hubert KramarMr. Oliveti
- Helga IllichMrs. Oliveti
Recommendations
- 100
Time Out
Sly and suggestive, Lourdes is a cosmic black comedy that bumps up against the metaphysical. - 100
Entertainment Weekly
Beautifully led by birdlike Sylvie Testud as an ailing young woman in a wheelchair, every character (pilgrim and helper alike) exhibits a soul. And shaped with confident talent by the Austrian filmmaker, every serenely composed shot matters. - 80
Boxoffice Magazine
This drama is something of a miracle itself: a film dealing with religion that is refreshingly free of dogma. - 75
The A.V. Club
Lourdes starts from the unexpected position of believing miracles are possible, but it doesn’t paper over the religious and practical problems they raise--for the blessed and bereft alike. - 70
Village Voice
The film delves deeper into the pain and pleasure of watching other people experience the wonderful things you dream of happening to you. In that sense, Hausner has crafted a kind of meta-riff on the masochistic lure of cinema itself. - 70
The New York Times
One of the pleasures of this intelligent, rigorously thoughtful, somewhat sly film is that it takes place in the space between the inexplicable (no explanation is possible) and the unexplained (enlightenment might be around the corner). - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
Fascinating on social and theological levels, the film is less compelling as a straightforward narrative. Still, adventurous filmgoers will be rewarded by its unusually open-ended storyline. - 50
Variety
Either a subtly subversive black comedy, a deeply spiritual portrait of physical rebirth or a whole lot of nothing in a self-consciously arty package, Lourdes isn't about to reveal its true colors anytime soon.
