The Song of Bernadette (1943)
Directed by Henry King
In 1858 Lourdes, France, adolescent peasant Bernadette has a vision of "a beautiful lady" in the Massabielle grotto - the townspeople assume this lady to be the Virgin Mary. Pompous government officials think the girl is insane, doing their best to suppress her and her followers, while the church wants nothing to do with the matter. But as Bernadette attracts wider and wider attention, the phenomenon overtakes everyone in the town, ultimately transforming their lives.
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And again, while there is no deep, lengthy devotion in the film for portraying the profound loss needed to gain spiritual advancement (on par with, say, “The Song of Bernadette”), when Stu gets blindsided by yet another medical ailment, his turning to God in desperation in a dark night of the soul is a truly powerful, exceptionally well-acted scene.
It’s based on the real Father Stuart Long, with the standard theatrical embellishments (and concepts of suffering to test faith), but none are significant enough to give this picture the profound flavor of “The Song of Bernadette,” or “The Robe,” or “A Man for All Seasons” (or even “My Left Foot” or “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” a la the biblical Book of Job).