Based on true events, the film is an inspiring story about the power of faith. Already in Ecuadorian cinemas.
Known for his work as a cinematographer on various television series such as Carlo and Malik, Rome, Game of Thrones, Among others, Marco Pontecorvo assumes his third film as a director and relies on the talent of the director of photography Vincenzo Carpineta (Angels & Demons, The English Patient) to create a new version of the circumstances surrounding three children around their religious experience having lived what is known as the miracle of Fatima, a story that has been made into the cinema on several occasions.
The suffering these children endured is the greatest attraction that Pontecorvo achieves. A point of view that seeks to highlight the dimension of the context in which Lucía dos Santos, Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto lived. In the film they bear the responsibility of faith and fight against the limits of reason and political interest.
It is a powerful and inspiring drama. A 10-year-old girl and her two younger cousins in Portugal report seeing the Virgin Mary, inspiring thousands of believers and outraging both secular government officials and the Catholic Church.
The plot goes like this: in 1917, outside the parish of Fátima (Portugal), three shepherd children witness multiple visits from the Virgin Mary, who tells them that only prayer and suffering will put an end to the First World War . As secular government officials and Church leaders try to force children to retract their story, news of the sighting spreads across the country, inspiring religious pilgrims to flock to the scene in hopes of witnessing. a miracle. What they experience will transform their lives and attract the attention of a world yearning for peace.
Based on real events and starring Joaquim de Almeida (protagonist of the television series Queen of the South, telenovela adaptation Queen of the South), Goran Visnjic (Beginners), Stephanie Gil (Terminator: Dark Fate / Terminator: Dark Fate) and Lúcia Moniz (Really love), with Sonia Braga (Aquarius) and Harvey Keitel (The piano, The Irishman), Fatima is an inspiring story about the power of faith.
In today’s Portuguese society, the author and skeptical Professor Nichols (Keitel) visits a convent in the city of Coimbra, where Sister Lúcia (Sônia Braga), an older nun, recounts the story of a historic event of which she was a part in 1917. The conversation between the academic pragmatist and spiritual asceticism illuminates decades of old mysteries and lays the foundation for a story that has fascinated millions of people for more than a century. While wandering in a cave near her home in the town of Aljustrel, on the outskirts of Fátima, Portugal, Lúcia (Stephanie Gil) is visited by an angel who shows her a vision of a battlefield. The First World War is happening throughout Europe claiming the lives of many young men from the town of Lúcia. In that vision, Lúcia sees her brother, Manuel (João Arrais), a soldier, who is affected by an explosion. Later, while taking care of her family’s flock of sheep, Lúcia and her younger cousins Jacinta (Alejandra Howard) and Francisco (Jorge Lamelas) are visited by another apparition, this time from the Virgin Mary (Joana Ribeiro). The woman with the rosary, as she calls herself, tells them that they must pray and suffer in order to put an end to this deadly conflict. He also tells them that he will return to the same place for the next six months. Like many in the town, Lúcia’s devoted mother, María (Lúcia Moniz), does not believe in the children’s story and punishes Lúcia for lying. Only children are able to see or hear the apparition.
Producer James T. Volk says he was originally unfamiliar with children’s history. However, at As he learned more about the subject, he knew that he had found a narrative that was perfectly aligned with both his company’s mission and the unfolding of events around the world. He and his partner Dick Lyles founded Origin Entertainment with the intention of creating transformative entertainment that would inspire audiences to create a better world. “When I heard about the events at Fatima, I was impressed,” says Volk. “I thought everyone should know about this. Many people who grew up in Catholicism know the story, but other people like me, who grew up educated in the Evangelical Church, are unlikely to know. This story can be the universal bridge of all faiths. The innocence of these three children helped us spread the message of peace and hope to an entire generation. Maybe I can do the same again today. “
The Italian filmmaker Pontecorvo was aware of the history of Fatima. “It is very well known in Catholic countries. I didn’t know all the details about Lúcia’s life or about Portugal in that era, so I must have soaked up the story. As it happened during the First World War, the political was an important element, but I focused mainly on the relationships, particularly between mother and daughter and on Lúcia and the Virgin Mary. The triangle is very interesting ”.
Representing the vision of the young shepherds about the apparition of the Virgin, Pontecorvo made the decision that the apparition is not something vague but rather a woman of flesh and blood, played by the Portuguese actress Joana Ribeiro. “Children see it in such a way that they can understand it and are not afraid: the figure of a mother,” explains the director.
In Fatima, viewers will empathize with children who will be severely questioned, harassed, and persecuted. The municipal authority seeks to silence them to look good with the central government. The Church questions the veracity of his words and visions. The family reprimands them for frustration at the consequences of their actions. Society subjects them to public derision and pilgrims pressure them for being mediators of the faith. He does not skimp on showing the complexity and the dilemma of the protagonists.
Sonia Braga she was immediately intrigued by the mystery and complexity of Sister Lúcia. In his experienced hands, the character projects the spiritual depth with which Nichols struggles to understand. “It was really very interesting working together with Harvey Keitel,” says Braga. “We had totally different approaches. He is a very intellectual actor, something that fascinates me. I never went to school, because I worked since I was little. He has long talks with the director. I work very intuitively. He plays a writer and thinker, a detective in a way. So he’s the whole brain. And I am a nun who lives in a world of prayer and faith ”.
Braga, who says that she was “very, very Catholic” when she was young, was familiar with the story of Fatima and remembers seeing images of the three little shepherds with angels behind them. So the opportunity to relive that made the film a very attractive proposition. “In this movie, my character is the only person who witnessed everything that happened. I was very curious to be a part of that. “
Photography, from the beauty of landscapes and planes of children’s faces, captures the extraordinary and supernatural of the old and new world of children. Music is another key element in Fátima, as is the art direction, to transport the viewer both to the time of the events and to the emotions aroused in them. The performances, by the majority of Portuguese actors, provide that link between the Portuguese country and its history despite the fact that the language of the film is English.
Fatima opens this Thursday in theaters in Ecuador.
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
