"The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima" and "Apparitions at Fatima"

The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima

Not Rated

Catholic-ometer: 4.5 of 5

Enjoyability: 5 of 5

Apparitions at Fatima

Not Rated

Catholic-ometer: 5 of 5

Enjoyability: 0.5 of 5

The apparitions at Fatima have gotten a lot of press, and for good reason.  It was one of the few times in recent history when a miracle has occurred so clearly, and to so many at once, in the midst of one of the most skeptical and secular societies in human history; Portugal during the first world war.  In that terrible climate of religious oppression, Mary; the mother of God appeared to three young children, and after several appearances, the sun was seen to move by more than eighteen thousand people; some of whom were a huge distance away from the apparition when it took place.  To them, the sun almost seemed to be dancing through the air, and its motion was accompanied by many other miracles as well, such as the near-instant curing of many people who were sick, blind and injured.  Such a clear and undeniable miracle has, to this day, won many souls for God, and millions still believe in the miracle of the sun.

It's no wonder, then, that so many movies have been made about the dancing sun and the blessed mother's appearance at Fatima.  I certainly can't cover all of those movies in one entry, so today, I'd just like to talk about two, which are virtually on opposite ends of the scale in quality.  "The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima" (hereafter called MOLF) and "Apparitions at Fatima."

I started watching MOLF fairly recently, and was surprised by its quality as a film.  It's very well-done.  Its characters are believable and likable people, its special effects are believable for the most part, its script was very well-written, and on the whole, I thought that it succeeded magnificently as a movie.  However, it's still not completely perfect.

There are two reasons why MOLF gets one half point down on the Catholic-ometer.  The first is that the movie spends so much of its time dwelling on the ordeals of the children, and the people of Fatima, that much of the lady's intended message wasn't clear.  The second is that in the real apparitions, the lady was preceded by an angel, who gave the children holy communion, and warned them to pray diligently and make sacrifices.  Of all the movies based off Fatima that I've seen, only a couple include this detail.

One movie that includes this episode is "Apparitions," another film I saw recently, and I must say, that in terms of including all the actual historical facts of the case, it was more complete.  The angel was included, as well as the sacrifices made by the children, and the full messages of the blessed mother.  This is why it gets an extra half-point from me on the Catholic-ometer; because it includes more of the truth of what happened.  However, this is the only honest compliment that I can give to "Apparitions," because in every other respect, the movie was brain-destroyingly awful.

Believe me; I don't say this lightly, and I didn't want to hate "Apparitions," but I think that, if anything, it's likely to lead people away from the faith because of its poor quality, rather than inspiring them, or leading them to God.  Excusing, for a moment, the fact that it's a very badly-dubbed foreign film which relies on a frequent narrator to provide exposition throughout the beginning, middle and end of the film, every line of dialogue sounds like it was taken verbatim from a textbook on Fatima, and recited in the blandest and least interesting way possible.  Not a single performance in this movie is moving, or even convincing.  Every last word sounds forced and wooden, and that's not even getting into the cheap camera-smudge, painting and filter special effects used in the movie, which were done just as badly as the rest of the film, or the short, unconvincing puppet used to represent Mary.  I'm seriously not kidding about any of this.

What else can I say?  "Apparitions" was more faithful to what really happened by a small margin, so I have to give it that last half star for pure faithfulness, but I can't think of any reason for watching it, when you can get all of that technical information out of a book or on the internet.  If you're watching a movie, you want to have a good time.

This is how I see "Apparitions."  It's as if someone tried to scribble out a very boring and annoying textbook using crayons, and kept breaking them midway through.  It's faithful to what actually happened to a fault, but cinematically-incompetent.

MOLF, by comparison, is an enjoyable ride, full of lovable, memorable characters and charming scenes that inspired my faith, and at more than one point, actually made me cry a little.  It's a masterpiece of writing and acting, and if I didn't already know about the miracle of the sun, this movie would have encouraged me to read up on it.

My conclusion, therefore, is simply this; be careful not to mistake "Apparitions" for MOLF in a video store.  They're as different as night and day.  You can rent or buy MOLF anytime you want, and enjoy it with your kids.  You won't regret the experience.  Pick up "Apparitions," however, and I make no promises about whether or not you'll regret it.