L'apparition (2018)

A journalist is sent by the Vatican to investigate a young girl claiming to be visited by the Virgin Mary.

Director:

Xavier Giannoli

Writers:

Jacques Fieschi (collaboration), Xavier Giannoli (screenplay)

Stars:

Vincent Lindon, Galatéa Bellugi, Patrick d'Assumçao

Cast

Credited cast:
Vincent Lindon	...	Jacques Mayano
Galatéa Bellugi	...	Anna
Patrick d'Assumçao	...	Père Borrodine
Anatole Taubman	...	Anton Meyer
Elina Löwensohn	...	Docteur de Villeneuve
Claude Lévèque	...	Père Gallois
Gérard Dessalles	...	Stéphane Mornay
Bruno Georis	...	Père Ezéradot
Alicia Hava	...	Mériem
Candice Bouchet	...	Valérie
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marie-Hélène Aubert	...	Soeur suite Anna
Aurore Broutin	...	Cécile
Geoffroy De La Taille	...	Pèlerin
Sandrine Ferraro	...	Pèlerine
Pierre Glénat	...	Pélerin

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 the young novitiate Anna, who claims to have personally witnessed an apparition of the Virgin Mary. Shes 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.

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Plot Keywords:

journalist | photographer | camera | blood | death | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

unifrance (fr)

Country:

France Belgium Jordan

Language:

French Italian German English

Release Date:

7 September 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

La aparición

Filming Locations:

Gap, Hautes-Alpes, France

Box Office

Budget:

€5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,830, 9 September 2018, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$26,331, 18 October 2018

Company Credits

Production Co:

Curiosa Films,Gabriel,Proximus

Technical Specs

Runtime:

144 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Inspired 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.

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Soundtracks

A Deal with Chaos
Composed by Jóhann Jóhannsson

User Reviews

A spiritual detective story

I just saw a surprisingly interesting movie called The Apparition. No, not a horror flick, but rather a spiritual detective story, about a secularish journalist who is recruited onto a Vatican commission to investigate a sighting of the Virgin Mary in a French Village.

I hesitate to recommend it because it is 2 1/2 hours long, although it never seemed to drag. The lead is played by Vincent Lindon, one of those deep-voiced French actors who seem to purr their lines rather than speak them.

One of the realities that the movie explores is how uncomfortable the Catholic Church is with these kinds of sightings, which are subjected to intense scrutiny. Very few of them receive the Church's endorsement. Most are eventually rejected as unauthentic. Part of the Church's problem is its orthodoxy. The Church is like a sheepdog, driven by instinct to perpetually circle its flock, keeping them in a tight bunch. Every question of faith must be either dogma or heresy, believed by everybody or by nobody -- lest they forfeit the high ground of orthodoxy. Superimposed on this is the Church's need to protect role as intermediary between man and God. If direct experience of the divine is commonplace, the Church and its sacraments are unnecessary. And if visionaries are adored and invested with exceptional spiritual powers, they wind up in direct competition with the hierarchy. The Church is (rightly) fearful of the potential mischief of cults.

Critics have charged the movie with lack of focus, and the director with lack of discipline, and the ending with lack of resolution. They have missed the point. One of the main themes is that different people pursue different sorts of truth. The Vatican wants spiritual truth. The journalist just wants to know exactly what happened (or didn't happen) and is not much concerned one way or the other with its spiritual significance. His is not a conflict of faith; his conflict is that his instinct as a journalist tells him that the girl he is investigating is sincere, but the facts don't add up. In this context, the ending is perfect. But the movie is a rich tapestry, with a lot else going on. It treats every character (save one, an American evangelist) with respect, and allows each his or her own truth. Its theme requires a broad focus, and a wandering camera. And 2 1/2 hours.