L'Apparition (2018)
Directed by Xavier Giannoli

Film Review

With L'Apparition (The Apparition), his most ambitious and original film to date, director Xavier Giannoli takes an unusual diversion into Carl Dreyer territory, latching onto the mysteries of faith and how these can impact on individuals whose needs go beyond the purely material.  Giannoli doesn't venture quite as far into the subject as Dreyer did with his transcendent masterworks La Passion de Jeanne d'arc (1928) and Ordet (1955), and it's perhaps more honest to say that he uses this as merely the jumping off point for what actually turns out to be a fairly routine, albeit well-crafted, procedural thriller.

Much of Giannoli's work to date has concerned itself with the power of faith and its consequences when it collides with reality.  What his films Quand j'étais chanteur (2006), À l'origine (2008) and Marguerite (2015) all have in common is a central protagonist who suffers from a tragically misguided faith in his or her own abilities, with effects that are variously poignant, disturbing and hilarious.  In L'Apparition, Giannoli focus our attention on a world-weary journalist - Vincent Lindon at his best - who is sent on a quest for faith which is both personal and professional.

Severely traumatised by the recent brutal death of a friend during a stint in Syria, Lindon's character badly needs the comfort that a spiritual awakening might bring.  But, at the same time, he is on a mission to assess the veracity of a teenage girl's hard-to-believe claim that she has sighted the Virgin Mary.  It is the resulting conflict, between the healthy scepticism the journalist needs to apply in his investigation and the profound inner craving he has for spiritual comfort, that is the most interesting and successfully handled aspect of the film.

Unfortunately, Giannoli is not content with limiting the scope of this film in this way, so he broadens it out and it ends up as something of an overblown mishmash, the sprawling narrative ultimately overwhelming its intricate character study with all the trappings of a traditional big budget mystery thriller.  Whilst it lasts, the rapport that develops between Lindon and his co-star Galatéa Bellugi (revealed in Hélène Zimmer's 2015 film À 14 ans) makes for some pretty astute drama, but when the plot mechanics come crashing in and divert the film onto a more familiar path its interest value wanes considerably.  By the ninety minute mark the film has already outstayed its welcome and has little more to offer with a denouement that is as drawn out as it is contrived.

Film Synopsis

A reporter on an important regional newspaper, Jacques has acquired a reputation as a rigorous and impartial journalist.  After witnessing the death of a close friend and colleague during an assignment in Syria, he suffered a breakdown and was forced to take some time off work.  The boredom of his new daily routine is relieved one day when he receives a telephone call from the Vatican and an invitation to carry out a special mission on behalf of the Catholic Church.

It seems that an 18-year-old girl named Anna has claimed to have witnessed an apparition of the Virgin Mary in her hometown in the French Alps.  As a result, pilgrims are flocking to the town hoping for a repeat of the miracle.  Jacques's mission is to investigate the matter and decide whether there is any truth in Anna's story or whether she has fabricated it.  In the course of his unusual investigation, the journalist soon discovers much to concern him about the veracity of the young woman's sighting.  Unfortunately, there are some members of the Church who have a vested interest in preventing Jacques from discovering the truth...