Ending Question

Yeah, that's really interesting. Because the way the movie is structured, with the chapter titles, it certainly seems that Beth's sacrifice is what cured him. It is difficult to know at the end of the film but the fact that the doctor repeats "it would take a miracle" is very interesting.

.....
"No time for the old in-out,love-I'm just here to check the metre"

Jan was just lucky...nothing to do with the prayers or Bess' sacrifice. And that's what makes this movie so tragic...Jan and Bess could still have had a life together!

I think the fact that the chapter is called Bess' Sacrifice says a lot. The last two chapters may all be a figment of Bess' imagination but it might as well be a great tragedy with a great consequential miracle.

She sacrifices her life in order to save Jan, same as Jesus died in order to save us. She is brainwashed about how much love Jesus has for everyone of us, but deep in her heart she knows no one else matters to her except Jan so she does her utmost to show how much love she has for him. Jan asks her to "prove it" and she does. We even see her climbing up a hill to the church while children are throwing stones at her. She goes back to the ship, believing she will save Jan, but gets killed.

The sound of bells from heaven when she is buried at sea confirms her as the tragic hero of the story. Jan can walk again because of what she did.

ENOUGH from the clown!!!!!!!!

The way I think of it... God is a character in the film, able to take action and effect the outcome. Bess speaks as God, prays, etc... Why shouldn't God be a character? And so God simply cures Jan because Bess has sacrificed so much, everything that she cares about -- for him. And God likes that kind of thing, traditionally, so he cures Jan because Bess wants him to.

It's open to interpretation. I choose to see it as both. Both her sacrifice and the medical procedures saved Jan. The ending just made me shed a tear.