A previous commentator regarded this movie as a piece of sick and twisted propaganda. While I can understand that point-of-view, the movie should also be viewed within its larger genre as well as a work of genuine film art. I also saw the film (twice) as a child who attended parochial school in the late 1950s and was tremendously affected by it, even haunted in a way, at the time. Back then, the nuns did not have the training to prepare children for films about children and death; I doubt many schools today would show the film to children 7 - 12 even though many children - ironically - routinely watch TV and videos that have violence and death as a regular feature. This film is deeply affecting precisely because the relationship to death is hinted at and never seen. Yes, this film seems somewhat manipulative, but mostly in the way the Church's distribution of it targeted children. However, that kind of overt propagandizing was pretty common in the middle years of the 20th century, and often much more crudely done than in this film. Seen from the perspective of either a child or an adult (at least in my memory of more than 40 years ago) there are many good things about the film. The cinematography I thought was quite good, the scene settings stark and simple yet emotionally appealing. The acting is also pretty good, especially the principal character of Marcellino, all the more so for a foreign language film (i.e., foreign at the time to this viewer). I really see this film as worthy of its genre, which I would put in a group with other magico-religious plays and films. All films are manipulative in some way. The fact that this film was used for religious propaganda at times does not, in my view, take away from its artistic power.
Review of The Miracle of Marcelino
