The Song of Bernadette (1943)

The Song of Bernadette, nominated for Best Picture of 1943, begins with an admonition that is repeated by one of the characters later in the movie: "For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe in God, no explanation is possible." Bernadette Soubirous was the French peasant girl who claimed to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary near a waste dump in the village of Lourdes in 1858. The film version of her life seems to accept the first half of the admonition at its start; it never truly questions Bernadette's faith in what she saw.

Jennifer Jones stars as Bernadette, and she brings a naive charm to the role. Bernadette admits that she isn't very smart--well, she calls herself stupid, actually--and that she doesn't truly understand what people mean when they talk to her about such concepts as the "holy trinity" or the "immaculate conception." Perhaps that's why it's tough for people to accept the story that she tells. It's really quite a simple tale. While she was waiting for her sister and a friend to return with some firewood, she felt the presence of someone else. She walks into a small niche in the hillside next to the dump, and there is a lady dressed in white talking to her. Bernadette kneels as if in deep thought and/or prayer and promises to return to the spot again.

When word of her vision gets out, everyone denounces her, even her mother and father. Her story is just too incredible to believe. The local priests and nuns all consider her to be blasphemous, and the city elders immediately try to have her declared insane in order to prevent her from returning to Massabeille, the spot where she first saw the lady in white. Oddly enough, though, her impoverished family suddenly has a change of fortune, with her father getting a good job and friends bringing them food just when they might have gone hungry. That doesn't mean that she or her family make a connection between their good luck and the vision, though. In fact, her mother (Anne Revere) tries to send Bernadette to live with her Aunt Bernarde (Blanche Yurka) to preserve the family's good name in Lourdes.

It's the aunt who makes the family reconsider Bernadette's story. The next time Bernadette wants to go to the dump, she is accompanied by her mother and her sister. We watch the gossip of the townspeople as they pass, but gradually, some of the other residents of Lourdes tag along. They watch as Bernadette kneels, but no one except for the young girl sees the woman in white. The crowds grow a little bigger each day, making Lourdes the subject of a great deal of ridicule in the French papers. It isn't until the lady tells Bernadette to drink from a spring that the first "miracle" occurs. You see, there's no spring there. Bernadette digs, but she finds only mud. It's after she is laughed at by a policeman and the crowds start to disperse that the trickle of the spring begins. A stone cutter gains his sight back after bathing his eyes in the water, and then a child regains the use of his legs after his mother places him in the spring. After these two events, a stream of people begins to make the trek to Lourdes. What's pretty remarkable is the film's depiction of the power of a message passed by word of mouth. Bernadette's story travels quickly throughout France, making it all the way to the Emperor and his wife.

Bernadette continues to be interrogated not only by the city officials, who eventually start to enjoy the money brought by increased tourism anyway, but she must also face a special church-sponsored commission. Despite numerous documents and repeated testimony from Bernadette and others, the church still claims that the results are inconclusive because the evidence is "insufficient." Given her notoriety, Bernadette cannot simply fade back into an ordinary life as a housemaid and wife as she had planned. She is recommended to a convent, and the latter part of the film depicts her time as a novice and then as a nun.

Jones won the Oscar for Best Actress for her portrayal of Bernadette. She is certainly consistent in her depiction of the peasant girl's naivete and faith. Bernadette seems very susceptible to influence from others around her like her parents or the leaders of the church, yet she's also steadfast in her belief in her visions. She never backs down from her claim, "I did see her." Perhaps it's that sense of faith--and a belief that such an innocent girl as Bernadette is incapable of lying--that makes people begin to support her. Jones is quite good at conveying both Bernadette's trusting nature and her tenacity when it comes to carrying out the requests made by the lady in her vision. We lost Jones recently, and it was very bittersweet to watch her in this role from the early part of her career.

The supporting cast features some standout performers. Charles Bickford plays Father Peyramale, the Dean of Lourdes who initially chastises Bernadette for lying about her vision but who ultimately becomes her most ardent supporter. The great Vincent Price has a small role as Vital Dutour, the town's prosecutor who is thwarted in every one of his efforts to put an end to the spectacle occurring on the edge of the town. Dutour, after professing his strong lack of faith throughout the movie, undergoes a conversion late in the film when he learns what has been ailing him for many years. Lee J. Cobb, almost unrecognizable here, plays Dr. Dozous, the physician who not only has to examine Bernadette to see if she is mentally ill, but he also has to deal with the patients who experience miraculous recoveries after bathing in the waters of the spring at Massabielle.

I have to note, in particular, the performance of Gladys Cooper as Sister Marie Therese. She begins the film as Bernadette's teacher, and she's a prime example of the stereotype of the harsh treatment nuns reportedly meted out. She's the one who first calls Bernadette "stupid," and she's one of the harshest critics of the story that Bernadette tells of her vision. She even claims that, in earlier times, Bernadette would have been burned as a heretic. Later in the film, when Bernadette enters the Convent of the Sisters of Nevers, it's Sister Marie Therese who has to show her around and keep an eye on her. She still doubts Bernadette's story and tells her so; she's also determined to make Bernadette suffer. Her conversion to being a believer is the most shocking and the most emotionally satisfying, and that's due in large part to Cooper's talents as an actress. She was deservedly nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role. She never won an Oscar, by the way, despite numerous good performances.

I am not really surprised at the earnestness with which this film approaches its subject matter. It just accepts that Bernadette's story is true; it offers no evidence to cast doubt on what she claims happened. Oh, certainly, there are characters who doubt her, but they are quickly dismissed when they have to confront the depth of faith that Bernadette has. By the film's end, you as a viewer are also expected, I think, to believe the story without question. Nowadays, I'm certain a film maker would be a bit more critical of the veracity of Bernadette's tale, but in 1943, you would probably have expected less questioning of religious faith. I don't really mean that as a criticism of the film; I just feel it is a product of its time.