The Third Miracle

Ed Harris, one our finest actors, plays Chicagoan Father Frank Shore in The Third Miracle. Shore is a postulator for the Roman Catholic Church, helping to argue for (or against) the canonization of saints on behalf of the Vatican. His name is appropriate: he speaks frankly, and isn’t afraid to admit his mistakes and his religious doubts. Bishop Cahill (Charles Haid) compels him to take on a new assignment, even though he had previously left the church, staying off the radar and eating in soup kitchens. Shore is known as a “Miracle Killer” for debunking “miracles” reported to the church, and has never witnessed a miracle himself; the impression is given that Cahill hopes Shore will kill this one, too.

His new assignment: to consider the canonization of a late Austrian immigrant, Helen O’Regan (Barbara Sukowa), who ministered to local children; since her death, it’s reported a holy statue she loved sheds tears of blood and healed a local young girl (since turned prostitute). An intro to the film shows O’Regan at a young age praying as Allied bombs drop on 1944 Slovakia; the bombs drop on a shell-shocked village of panicking refugees, but don’t land.

Shore’s investigation leads him to O’Regan’s daughter, the athiest and earthy Roxane (Anne Heche), who still holds anger and hurt towards her mother, who abandoned her to enter the ministry. Although she first refuses to talk, a slow, romantic bond begins to bring the two skeptics together, despite Shore’s vows to be celibate. Their relationship, in a sense, depends on whether the claims of the statue are true. If so, Shore’s religious beliefs would be solidified, allowing for no falling away from his vows.

The conflict is further complicated by the arrival of Archbishop Werner (Armin Mueller-Stahl), a Roman Catholic authorized to pronounce the canonization worthy or not. He’s an elitist, dubious of American culture in general, and wary of every aspect of the case, including Shore’s lack of religious fervor.

Harris plays Shore with both sensitivity and serious resolve, and Heche’s range as Roxane is perfect, part spontaneous flapper, part needy, isolated loner. The script, although refreshingly earnest in the ways it deals with religious faith, is so low-key it nearly becomes ponderous. The Third Miracle, although admirable in its probing pace, ultimately needed to build to drama more stark and suspenseful, something that never happens. Its third act relies on a flashback that somehow feels like a cheat, and the story ends (not unsatisfyingly) with unspoken implications.

I regret not being able to report more favorably about the film because Agnieszka Holland is one of our most under appreciated film directors, a stylist with a unique visual look and perspective. Born in Communist Poland, she decided to become an artist while in jail, after being arrested in 1968 for her support of Prague Spring. She became an assistant director for the Polish giant, Andrzej Wajda, before emigrating to France before Poland’s 1981 declaration of martial law. Her 1990 tale of survival in WWII Germany, Europa, Europa, was expected to win the Academy Award for best foreign film, but Germany refused to submit it. Her latter work includes the 1991 The Secret Garden, the 1997 adaptation of Henry James’ Washington Square, and work in television on The Wire, Treme, House of Cards and Rosemary’s Baby.

Her color choices in the film, working with Polish cinematograper Jerzy Zielinski, give the story a tone and atmosphere supporting the themes.

—Michael R. Neno, 2018 Dec 31