The Miracle (I Miracolo). 1948. Directed by Roberto Rosselini.

(5/21/01)

I am sure that I didn't get what this film is all about. A peasant woman, considered crazy by her neighbors, meets a shepherd on a hillside. She is convinced that he is St. Joseph and wants him to take her to heaven with him. It's an interesting beginning for a film, but it is bizarre because the woman does this lengthy monologue, talking on and on while the shepherd just sits looking at her and not saying a word. Why? What does that mean? The woman is played by Anna Magnani and the situation certainly gives her an excuse to perform, but that doesn't really explain it.

The next thing we know the woman is pregnant and convinced that the child she is carrying is Jesus Christ. This is interesting in that Saint Joseph really wasn't the father of Jesus who was immaculately conceived. Does that mean something?

Anyway, the woman is scorned by her neighbors and leaves the village and wanders around--and wanders and wanders. There is just a lot of footage of her wandering. Finally, in a cave she has her child and the picture ends.

Magnani is interesting to watch and the whole film has the raw, earthy quality that we associate with neo-realism. The only thing I can find to say by way of interpretation is that the film is about the need we all have--which can become desperate--to feel important.