I wonder if the girl was really paralized or act her illness for the attention of the other pelgrims or was there really a 'miracle'?
shareThe beauty of the film is that you can add multiple interpretations. I didn't think she was faking, but for a while I thought that was the conclusion they were heading towards - I thought she might have been travelling round the various pilgrimages, pretending to be cured and giving hope to everyone else (or cynically exploiting the situation to meet people and win their admiration).
I don't think any interpretation allows for a simple conclusion that "a miracle actually happened". It's always going to be ambiguous. At the very least, the healing is a partial one, and it must be a pretty capricious god who would dish out healings so sparingly, so randomly, and even then make them untrustworthy.
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I don't believe she was faking...However, in the end, realizes that she can't adjust in her "normal" life and willingly goes back to the "safety" of her disability.
shareI kinda expected such a twist, but all things considered I just think she's ill and really looking for a miracle. Such mysterious healings happen - they might not be God's miracles but products of our mind. I know a girl who can barely walk and once, after feeling a very strong, sudden emotion, walked by herself for a short while. Of course, she didn't heal permanently but something did happen in her body. Actually I think Christine's recovery in the film seems too good to be true (how could her legs be so strong that she immediately goes hiking??) but not implausible.
But I have love in my heart - Yes, as a thief has riches, a usurer money
It's pretty unambiguous. Even the Doctors at Lourdes itself said that her condition left open the possibility of a temporary recovery. Her temporary recovery happened to occur at Lourdes, but that's a coincidence, not a miracle. Before she leaves, her temporary recovery has already ended. This also isn't the first time this has happened at Lourdes. They note that the guy claiming on camera to have been healed on a previous visit is sitting down for the whole video rather than standing up and demonstrating that he can now walk.
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I agree that it's probably just coincidence that the remission kicked-in while she was at Lourdes. Part of me does allow for the possibility in filmland that she was actually permanently cured and just got tired on the dancefloor (though I'm not religious so I'm not attached to that view). For me the point is that while she needs to sit down, she's not miserable about it, she still seems happy, she's enjoying the party. She doesn't seem angry about the possibility that she may be relapsing.
Or maybe she'll go and blow the bloody doors off.
Charlie_Croaker has it right "on the nose." I was about to post something similar, to point out that multiple sclerosis indeed comes in phases of remissions and relapses. I see this movie as portraying that exactly, and it was simply a coincidence that the timing of one of her phases shifting in --- and then out again -- just happened to occur at Lourdes.
I don't think the character was faking either stage.
I agree with both of you. My mother had MS. It is possible to go in complete or partial remission (though typically not as suddenly as portrayed in the film).
However, not every patient has remissions, and there is no telling how long they last. It could be a few days or weeks, or months, or even years.
I do agree with the poster who said if you went into a remission, after YEARS in a wheelchair....you could not bounce up in 1-2 days and start hiking in the mountains. You'd be incredibly lucky to be able to walk short distances, and do self-care (like brushing your hair).
The character is portrayed as being in the last, very worst stage of MS -- most patients don't get this bad -- where she has lost any ability to sit up, or use her hands (which are curled and clenched). Getting back simply the use of your HANDS would be a big thing -- bigger than walking, actually.
So it is not a realistic portrayal of remission from MS. And even remission would require months of rehabilitation and physical therapy. You would not bounce up and be hiking, climbing mountains and dancing.
Also: MS is consistent with patients falling. It affects your balance most of all. Someone who had JUST gone into remission, but fell down, would not be remarkable.
I had the impression at the end, that it was implying her remission was ending very suddenly, and the young security guard took off like a bolt. That maybe she was broken hearted, and so stopped trying.
It's an interesting film, on an unusual subject, but GLACIALLY paced and I am not sure who it is meant to appeal to. It's snark about devout Catholic faith, and yet few non-believers would sit through this detailed documentary aspects about a visit to Lourdes.
I'm quite sure she wasn't faking ita, because of the look of hope on her face, and in the end her you clearly see it dawning on her, that she's getting worse again. Although I do suspect, that she's had 'good periods' before. She didn't seem really surprised when she gradually got feeling in and control over her body.
The old lady was obviously the 'best pilgrim'. One could also debate wether her decreasing health in the end was a punishment for not giving the old lady the credit (and trophy).