''La Vie miraculeuse de Thérèse Martin'' (''The Miraculous Life of Thérèse Martin''), is a French film, silent, directed by

Julien Duvivier Julien Duvivier (; 8 October 1896 – 29 October 1967) was a French film director and screenwriter. He was prominent in French cinema in the years 1930–1960. Amongst his most original films, chiefly notable are ''La Bandera (film), La Bandera'', ...

, and released in 1929. It is a " stark and striking biographical account of the late 19th century

Discalced Carmelite The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Carmelites of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel ( la, Ordo Fratrum Carmelitarum Discalceatorum Beatae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo) or the Order of Discalced Carme ...

nun who died at age 24 from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

and was

canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of Cult (religious practice), public veneration and enterin ...

in 1925." The film is based on the spiritual autobiography Thérèse wrote, ''L'Histoire d'une âme''. The same material inspired

Alain Cavalier Alain Cavalier (; born 14 September 1931) is a French film director. Biography Cavalier was born in Vendôme, Loir-et-Cher and studied film at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques. He won several awards, including the César Awar ...

's film '' Thérèse''. "Simone Bourday has genuine adolescent fervour as Thérèse and André Marnay is pathetically fine as her father. The sequence of the taking of the veil has extraordinary documentary force." Art direction on the film was by the future director

Christian-Jaque Christian-Jaque (byname of Christian Maudet; 4 September 1904 – 8 July 1994) was a French filmmaker. From 1954 to 1959, he was married to actress Martine Carol, who starred in several of his films, including ''Lucrèce Borgia'' (1953), '' ...

. The film follows Thérèse Martin as she moves from the close circle of her family home in

Lisieux Lisieux () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It is the capital of the Pays d'Auge area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland. Name The name of the town derives from the l ...

to the austere world of the Carmel, where she joins her older sisters Pauline and Marie. In this film version of the saint's life the Devil (François Viguier) appears, before her taking of the veil, and again when she lies ill in the infirmary. This is a direct allusion to the trials she faced when she doubted her vocation, and near the end of her life when she wondered how she would die. " In childhood the great events of my life seemed from afar like mountains I could never reach. When I saw other little girls going to First Communion, I said to myself: how shall I ever reach my First Communion? Later: how shall I ever get to the point of entering Carmel? And still later: reach my Clothing, make my Profession? And now I say the same of dying. The

devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...

is about me. I feel him near me. He torments me and holds me with a grip of iron to deprive me of all consolation, trying by increasing my sufferings to make me despair. Oh, how necessary it is to pray for the dying. If you only knew! How needful is that prayer we use at

Compline Compline ( ), also known as Complin, Night Prayer, or the Prayers at the End of the Day, is the final prayer service (or office) of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours, which are prayed at fixed prayer times. The English wo ...

: "Free us from the phantoms of the night!"

Ida Friederike Görres Ida Friederike Görres (2 December 1901, in Schloss Ronsperg, Bohemia – 15 May 1971, in Frankfurt am Main), born Elisabeth Friederike, Reichsgräfin von Coudenhove-Kalergi, was a Catholic writer. From the Coudenhove-Kalergi family, she was the ...

''The Hidden Face''

Cast

Simone Bourday Simone Bourday (1912–1943) was a French stage and film actress.Crisp p.151 Selected filmography * ''La Vie miraculeuse de Thérèse Martin'' (1929) * '' The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard'' (1929) * ''The Sweetness of Loving'' (1930) * '' The Voice ...

Thérèse of Lisieux Thérèse of Lisieux (french: Thérèse de Lisieux ), born Marie Françoise-Thérèse Martin (2 January 1873 – 30 September 1897), also known as Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face (), was a French Catholic Discalced Carmelite ...

* André Marnay as Louis Martin, her father *

Janine Borelli Janine may refer to: People and characters * Janine (given name) Music * "Janine" (David Bowie song), a 1969 song by David Bowie * "Janine", a 1979 song by Trooper from the album '' Flying Colors'' * "Janine", a 1994 song by Soul Coughing f ...

François Viguier François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, Kin ...

as Satan *

Lionel Salem Lionel Salem (born 5 March 1937, Paris) is a French theoretical chemist, former research director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), retired since 1999. He is a member of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Scie ...

as Louis Martin * Suzanne Christy *

Jane Dolys Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name * Jane (surname), related to the given name Film and television * ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd * ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fi ...

Nina Vanna Nina Kind Hakim Provatoroff, known by her stage name of Nina Vanna ( Yazykova; 27 September 1899 – 8 November 1953), was a Russian-born British film actress who appeared in a number of silent films during the 1920s. She sometimes played in ...

Pierre Blondy Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French language, French form of the name Peter (given name), Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via ...

References

External links

Films directed by Julien Duvivier 1929 films French silent feature films French black-and-white films 1920s French films {{1920s-France-film-stub