1943’s The Song of Bernadette is a rousing, thoughtful, poignant drama that tells the story of Saint Bernadette Soubirous. For those unfamiliar with Saint Bernadette, she was a woman in Lourdes, France, who reported seeing 18 visions of the Virgin Mary in 1858. The apparitions were met with initial scepticism from the Catholic Church, but they have since been declared worth of belief after an investigation and Bernadette was declared a Saint in 1933.
The story of Saint Bernadette was adapted into a novel in 1942 by Franz Werfel, so the film is an adaptation of the novel. Directed by Henry King, The Song of Bernadette works because it does not force a version of religious truth down the throat of the viewer and it allows for various interpretations and viewpoints of the events at Lourdes.
Jennifer Jones stars as Bernadette, a girl struggling with illness in the town of Lourdes. Her family is not well off, but they are deeply religious. Her father, François Soubirous (Roman Bohnen), and mother, Louise (Anne Revere), struggle daily to provide for Bernadette and the rest of the family. One day, Bernadette goes along with her sister, Marie (Ermadean Walters), and a school friend (Mary Anderson) to get wood when she sees a vision of a woman.
Bernadette promptly tells her sister about the vision and the story inevitably spreads all over town, fuelling various reactions when it is revealed that Bernadette has been “instructed” to return to the spot of the vision (the grotto of Massabielle) a total of 15 times. Bernadette’s story splits the townspeople, with many of them believing her and following her to the grotto and others, like the town’s Imperial Prosecutor (Vincent Price), doubting her tale and believing it to be harmful to the reputation of the town.
King’s film follows Bernadette from the occurrence of the first vision to her eventual death in 1879 at the age of 35. While there certainly were some historical liberties taken with the tale, such as the fact that the Lourdes government was not the anti-religious authority the film makes them out to be, The Song of Bernadette does, for the most part, get things right. In presenting the tale, King’s picture sheds light on an important component in Catholic tradition without shovelling dogmatic issues around needlessly.
Indeed, The Song of Bernadette is a carefully produced and well acted motion picture. Jones is fantastic and certainly deserved the Oscar she received for her performance. She fully encapsulates the wonder and beauty of such a character, openly offering herself up to the service of her beliefs and supplying a sort of doe-eyed optimism about the world. Jones, who would be nominated for a handful more Oscars, really solidified her career as one of Hollywood’s finest with this performance, which was one of her earliest.
The Song of Bernadette drummed up a minor stir with the casting of Linda Darnell as the Lady. This presented a problematic situation for Werfel, who was upset at the casting of a supposed “soft core porn model” in the role. Of course, Darnell only appeared in topless photographs, but this was enough of a problem for Werfel. Werfel also believed, perhaps rightly, that the Lady shouldn’t be visible in the motion picture.
The Song of Bernadette is a compelling picture highlighted by terrific acting and some excellent cinematography by Arthur C. Miller (How Green Was My Valley). It is a film that doesn’t shove dogmatic explanations or faith assertions down the throat of the viewer, choosing instead to marvel at the very real and very human story of belief, scepticism and the place at which those two seemingly opposite concepts can intersect.
9.1/10
