FATIMA

OUT 2 APRIL (CINEMAS/DIGITAL) / CERT TBC / 113 MINS DIRECTOR Marco Pontecorvo CAST Joaquim de Almeida, Goran Višnjic, Stephanie Gil

In this drama based on a true story exploring the trustworthiness of a child’s faith, Sônia Braga plays ageing Portuguese nun Lucia, who believes she was visited by the Virgin Mary as a young girl (Stephanie Gil) during World War I. Church and state condemned her, although thousands of believers gathered near her home, praying for their own miracle. In Marco Pontecorvo’s sombre film, Lucia recalls these events in an interview with a sceptical academic (a slightly wayward Harvey Keitel), and sepia flashbacks to 1917. While the tone is respectful, Lucia’s story remains open to question: did her own mother or the horror of the war distort her youthful imagination?