Movie Review: Fatima (2020)

 Hello, everyone!

Today is Holy or Maundy Thursday, so the beginning of Holy Triduum. Because of that I thought I’d do a review of a religious movie! It would still be appropriate for people of non-Christian or non-Catholic faiths, too. Let’s go forth to it!

My guarantee: On ALL of my reviews there are NO spoilers unless I give you warning. This is spoiler free!


Fatima (2020):

Based on: As it says at the beginning, “Inspired by historical events and memories by Sister Lucia.”
In 1917 Lucia was visited by an angel and later, accompanied by her two cousins, saw the Holy Mother Mary herself. The Virgin Mary assigns them to be her messengers and to come back each month at the same time. Meanwhile they are to pray the rosary while  having to cope with the accusations made that they are making these stories up. Some believe and come from miles away while others try to stop what they think is ridiculous. With a war raging through the world is there some hope to hold on to?

“Professor, I can only give you my testimony. I don’t have answers for everything.”

Genres: Drama, Historical, Family, War.
Length: approx. 113 minutes.
Script: 9. There are no bad words! This doesn’t get a 10 because in one place a character says “seriously” under her breath and it did not fit the lingo at all and made me laugh. All of the accents were really impressive throughout.

‘“On the contrary, I’ve always been fascinated by opinions opposed to my own.”

“Well then, we do have something in common.”’

Crew: Directed by: Marco Pontecorvo.
Written by: Marco Pontecorvo, Valerio D’Annuzio, and Barbara Nicolosi.
Starring:
Stephanie Gil as young Lucia.
Sônia Braga as older Sister Lucia.

Alejandra Howard as Jacinta.
Jorge Lamelas as Francisco.
Lúcia Moniz as Maria Rosa.
Goran Visnjic as Artur de Oliveira Santos.
Joana Ribeiro as Virgin Mary.
Joaquim de Almeida as Father Ferreira.
Harvey Keitel as Professor Nichols.
Marco D'Almeida as António.
Ivone Fernandes-Jesus as Angel of Peace.
João Arrais as Manuel Santos.
João D'Ávila as Monsenhor Quaresma.

Costumes: 9. I liked the accuracy and small details that went into all of the wardrobes.
Cinematography: 9. I really liked the cinematography! My one complaint is that during a climactic point at the end it got confusing and I had no idea what was happening (I should’ve though, because it’s history). All of the visions were seamlessly executed. The atmosphere was convincing and I felt that I was actually in Fatima, Portugal.

Cinematography by: Vincenzo Carpineta.
Music: 8. Nothing too surprising, but I did like the credits songs.
Music by: Paolo Buonvino. Songs during the credits are performed by Andrea Bocelli.
Notes: I believe that there is a 1997 Italian movie that is also called Fatima about these same events. In addition to that there is one called The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima from 1952. This is a popular topic, and for good reason.
Quotability: N/A, since I just watched this.

Content: 9. There are visions that include scenes of war including death and injuries, as well as visions of a demonic nature, but both are very tame. It gives you the gravity of the situation without being overly graphic.
Originality: 9. When books or movies are based on a true story I sometimes don’t rate them in this category because what happened, happened. Other times, it’s good to look at how well a book or film structured it, because or else you could just be watching a documentary. I liked the emphasis with Lucia’s connection to her family. Jacinta and Francisco are her cousins so she spends a lot of time with them. The story begins with her worrying about her brother, and it deeply looks at her relationship with her parents. It addresses how she has an earthly and a heavenly mother. The only thing that could’ve been expanded more or introduced better, I think, were her sisters. I didn’t even realize that she had older sisters until the movie was almost over!

Also, it switches back and forth between 1917, when the events happened, and 1989 where Sister Lucia is telling the story. To me, it didn’t wrap it up as well as it could have. Who was the guy she was talking to? According to the credits his name is Professor Nichols. Why had he decided to write a book about it? He was there to offer some common questions when people talk about what happened at Fatima, but it felt very last minute and thrown together. I couldn’t follow the train of thought with the conversation that was carried and it had a sudden end with them that didn’t tie in. Maybe when I watch it again I’ll understand that part better.
Good For: Christians and Catholics, especially, but people of other faiths, too. Families.
Age Range: This is rated PG-13, but that seems extreme. As I mentioned in the content section, things are very mild. Still, younger viewers might not understand what is happening, so it depends on each person. Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta are 10, 8, and 7, so it can connect to people who are those ages

Overall Score: 9!
Worth watching?: Yes! I don’t know why I don’t know much about what happened at Fatima, so it was very educational to me. (Shout out to Megan Chappie who actually introduced it to me. She actually talks about this movie HERE, which she has quite brilliant thoughts so I recommend it. Spoilers for the movie are there, but then again, it is history).
Will I watch again?: Yes, I believe so. I think I want to watch it with both of my sisters eventually.

‘“I believe,”

“I believe,

“I hope,”

“I hope,”

“And I love God.”

“And I love God.”’

For the blogathon:
This is my entry in The Faith in Film Blogathon hosted by Pure Entertainment Preservation Society (PEPS). The Blogathon is going to run from the 2nd-4th of April, but since I'm taking a break from my computer tomorrow for Good Friday I'm posting it a day early. When Tiffany has the start of the Blogathon article up, the link will be HERE.

This Blogathon is about celebrating the representation of different religions in films, whether it is devoted to inspiring faith or if it just has a member of the clergy in it. Of course I wanted to join with my own religion!

This film has priests, nuns, bishops, you name it. With that, it looks at how beautiful faith and trust in the Lord are from a child’s point of view. I love it showed the struggle Lucia had with everything going on. It was interesting to see also how Francisco had a different experience while seeing the same things. My favorite was Jacinta, who was so pure, precious, and holy for being so young.

One of my favorite parts of the whole movie was when it flipped the prayer requests specific things into just asking to pray with someone. It was one of the most powerful parts of the film, to me.

I really like the cinematography, clothing choices, and overall aesthetic. It feels very authentic and reminds me of The Chosen, which makes sense because they are both faith related things, but there is more to it than that! Overall I really liked it and am very happy to have seen it.



Thanks to the Brannans at PEPS for hosting! Thanks to all of you for reading! What are your favorite films that represent someone having great faith? Have any of you seen this? Let’s talk about it! I wish a blessed Triduum to all of you.

MovieCritic