The Apparition
Original title: L'apparition
- 20182018
- 2h 24m
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
1.5K
YOUR RATING
A journalist is sent by the Vatican to investigate a young girl claiming to be visited by the Virgin Mary.A journalist is sent by the Vatican to investigate a young girl claiming to be visited by the Virgin Mary.A journalist is sent by the Vatican to investigate a young girl claiming to be visited by the Virgin Mary.
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
1.5K
YOUR RATING
- Director
- Writers
- Xavier Giannoli
- Jacques Fieschi(collaboration)
- Marcia Romano(collaboration)
- Stars
Top credits
- Director
- Writers
- Xavier Giannoli
- Jacques Fieschi(collaboration)
- Marcia Romano(collaboration)
- Stars
- Awards
- 2 nominations
Videos2
Père François-Xavier Ledoux
- Secrétaire de Monseigneur Vassilisas Secrétaire de Monseigneur Vassilis
- (as François-Xavier Ledoux)
- Director
- Writers
- Xavier Giannoli
- Jacques Fieschi(collaboration)
- Marcia Romano(collaboration)
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
- All cast & crew
Storyline
Jacques (Vincent Lindon) is a journalist at a large regional newspaper in France. His reputation as an impartial investigator attracts the attention of the Vatican, who recruit him to lead a committee to explore the legitimacy of a saintly apparition in a small French village--a true canonical investigation. Upon his arrival, he meets young novitiate Anna, who claims to have personally witnessed an apparition of the Virgin Mary. She's garnered an impressive following in the village but is torn between her faith and the many solicitations she receives. Confronted with opposing views from clergy members and skeptics, Jacques finds his belief system profoundly shaken as he works to uncover the hidden motivations and pressures at work. —Music Box Films
- Genre
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaInspired by the true story of Saint Bernadette of Lourdes. A young girl who, in the age of 14, had all together 18 apparitions of Virgin Mary in the late 1850s. Today Lourdes is visited by 5 million Catholics a year, and several miracles have taken place.
Top review
A deeply serious and intelligent examination of religious belief.
Religious belief is a subject not often discussed in the cinema and there are very few 'great' religious films; the best of them more often dealing with doubt than with faith, ("Ordet", "The Diary of a Country Priest"), while the ones dealing with visions and miracles often cheapen the subject, (Linda Darnell as the Virgin Mary in "The Song of Bernadette"). Now we have "The Apparition", a very detailed and serious account of the Catholic Church's investigations into determining whether a young girl's claims to have seen the Virgin Mary are true or not. The twist, for want of a better word, is that the man tasked with carrying out the investigation is a journalist and a non-believer still grieving over the loss of his colleague.
Xavier Gianolli's film is clearly a work of considerable intelligence that midway through appears to radically change course, though not quite in the way you might expect. As Jacques digs deeper into the girl's past the film becomes something of a policier; he might be investigating a murder or a kidnapping rather than a vision of the Blessed Virgin. Given that he has very little to do but look glum and ask questions Vincent Lindon is excellent as the investigator and given that she has very little to do but look enigmatic Galatea Bellugi is equally good as the girl. If, ultimately, the film never rises to the heights of "Ordet" it certainly deserves kudos for tackling a difficult subject in such a way as to make you think about the issues involved while keeping you entertained at the same time.
Xavier Gianolli's film is clearly a work of considerable intelligence that midway through appears to radically change course, though not quite in the way you might expect. As Jacques digs deeper into the girl's past the film becomes something of a policier; he might be investigating a murder or a kidnapping rather than a vision of the Blessed Virgin. Given that he has very little to do but look glum and ask questions Vincent Lindon is excellent as the investigator and given that she has very little to do but look enigmatic Galatea Bellugi is equally good as the girl. If, ultimately, the film never rises to the heights of "Ordet" it certainly deserves kudos for tackling a difficult subject in such a way as to make you think about the issues involved while keeping you entertained at the same time.
helpful•145
- MOscarbradley
- Oct 31, 2018
Details
Box office
- Budget
- €8,900,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $28,293
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $9,830
- Sep 9, 2018
- Gross worldwide
- $3,562,793
- Runtime2 hours 24 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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