Looking for a little mid-workday decompression yesterday, I flipped on the television during my lunch break. I scrolled through the channel guide and noticed that the 1943 film The Song of Bernadette was being telecast on one of the classic-movie networks. So I turned it on.
I grew up in a pious Catholic household, and attended Catholic elementary school, Catholic high school and a Catholic college. But somehow, I had managed never to have seen The Song of Bernadette until now. And in truth, I still haven't seen it: when I turned it on, only the final half-hour remained. I admit I was surprised how good those 30 minutes were. Yes, it was pious. Yes, it was melodramatic. Yes, it's difficult to credit that anyone could be as saintly as Bernadette, as portrayed by Oscar winner Jennifer Jones. But still, it all worked. I was moved, and even shed a tear at the end.
I am not one to go out of my way to watch films with religious themes. But having the family and school background I described above, it's not surprising that I was subjected, more than once, to The Greatest Story Ever Told and a movie about Fatima, which I think probably was The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima. And of course, The Ten Commandments was shown on television every year; I think it still is. It wasn't until much later in life that I caught Going My Way and The Bells of St. Mary's. All of them are worth watching, some more than once.
As Marian devotion has receded in prominence in the church, I'd think that films about apparitions wouldn't have the same mass popularity that they apparently did in the '40s and '50s. They seem practically countercultural now. I'd expect contemporary filmmakers, even those inclined to be respectful of the subject matter, to have markedly different takes.
At any rate, I hope I get a chance to see all of Bernadette soon!
I have seen the whole movie, years and years ago, and thought it was good. Also read the book it was based on, I believe the author was Franz Werfel. Werfel was not a Catholic, at least at the time he wrote the book. But apparently bhe was very moved by the story of Bernadette.
ReplyDeleteI have mentioned before that I don't really engage with Marian apparitions. But Lourdes is an exception. It strikes a chord in me. It isn't like Fatima where the apparition scares a little girl into nightmares with visions of hell,and the message is that God is very angry and y'all better shape up. Lourdes is about peace and healing.
What struck me about Bernadette was her utter humility. She was poor and often ill, and was held in no esteem, even by her own family. As in the Magnificat, God has lifted up the lowly. I thought Jennifer Jones portrayed her well.
I have read that Bernadette didn't speak formal French, at least not very well. The regional dialect was Occitan, and apparently that is what the Lady spoke to her. I have seen some examples of Occitan and found it similar to Spanish, which I have studied, though not enough to be fluent. I have not studied French, and only recognize some words from their Latin roots. Linguistics are fascinating.
DeleteKatherine, that is really interesting. I'd never heard of Occitan before. Seems its geographic span is mostly in France but also spills into parts of Spain, Italy and Monaco. The Wikipedia article on it also indicates that all the dialects are endangered. Seems it may be gone in another generation or so.
DeleteSomething similar, I understand, happened in the part of Belgium my grandfather and his family hail from. They spoke some dialect of Flemish which, I'm told, doesn't really exist anymore. I believe that Flemish itself isn't really recognized as a separate language nowadays; the Flemish portions of Belgium basically speak the same Dutch today as is spoken in the Netherlands. Someone in the family unearthed old letters from my great-grandmother or one of her siblings, and apparently the Belgian cousins struggle to read it now.
L’Occitane is a very large region of southern France. We drove through some of it about 4 years ago. It’s a beautiful region that changes as you move from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, looking less like Provence or northern Spain and becoming less arid and greener as you got closer to the Atlantic coast. All if it was beautiful from sea to shining sea - to borrow a phrase I’ve heard elsewhere. I didn’t know about the dialect. I used my terrible French and it was fine.
DeleteWe spent a week in Antwerp years ago for an event one of our sons was involved with. It’s in Flemish Belgium, but it seemed everyone not only spoke both French and Flemish/Dutch, they were fluent in English too. German is also an official language, spoken near the areas near Germany. Surprise, surprise. Before going to Antwerp we spent 3 days in Bruges - an ancient walled city that survived WWII bombers. Vert touristy but definitely worth the visit. There was a community of Béguines there and the history is fascinating. Somewhat different than the Béguines that Jean studied. Besides the charm, architecture, Beguinage, and canals, the city is known for amazing chocolate and handmade lace. Beautiful and fascinating to watch the women making it.
Anne - interesting! On the rare occasions I heard my grandfather say a few words of Flemish, it sounded very similar to German to me - some of the same words. But maybe that's true of modern Dutch, too; I think the language used to be known among English speakers, a century or two ago, as Low German.
DeleteBtw, the world of Netflix, with its many foreign/subtitled series, has made me realize how much English has borrowed from the Scandinavian languages (or perhaps we have common linguistic ancestors among the Angles, Saxons et al).
If you want to hear Occitan, try "Songs of the Auvergne" by Cantaloube. I have a recording sung by Kiri Te Kanawa. It transports me. If you've never heard it, please give it a try.
DeleteThanks for the suggestion, Stanley. Sounds like something I would like.
DeleteIt seems that apparitions of Mary are more of a Western than an Eastern phenomena. Now the East has a lot of weeping or otherwise miraculous icons. Maybe it has something to do with their prejudices against statues and in favor of icons.
ReplyDeleteGuadalupe might be seen as a hybrid. There was an apparition that resulted in an icon.
One of the weeping icons travels to my Greek Orthodox friend’s church every year. She invited me to come to the special liturgy one year, after which everyone went up to receive a small vilal or soaked cotton ball of the miraculous tears and a blessing. I stayed in the pew. They apparently make a whole lot of money taking this icon around the country to all the Orthodox churches.
DeleteThe Hindus have some miraculous statues also that people flock to see.
Werfel is less famous for the book he wrote about the Armenian genocide: 40 Days of Musa Dagh (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forty_Days_of_Musa_Dagh)
ReplyDeleteBack to the original topic - I’ve never seen the Song of Bernadette, didn’t much like The Ten Commandments’ as I recall, but will admit to liking The Bells of St. Mary’s and Going my Way when I was a kid. It was made in 1944 so was an old movie by the time I saw it - on TV in the 50s. I always liked Bing Crosby, and Bob Hope and the “road to” movies they made. I have no idea how I would react to those movies now.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was young I loved the book called “The Cardinal “. Years later I saw the movie version and I reacted very differently to the story lines - I didn’t like some of it at all as an adult.
I watched The Cardinal on television as a teenager, back when "the late show" meant an old movie :-). It was pretty interesting, especially the civil rights / KKK episode. I haven't read the book.
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