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France · 2014
Rated PG · 1h 35m
Director Jean-Pierre Améris
Starring Isabelle Carré, Ariana Rivoire, Brigitte Catillon, Laure Duthilleul
Genre Drama
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Based on a true story. Born deaf and blind, Marie Heurtin does not know any language until the age of ten, when her father sends her to a convent. There she meets Sister Marguerette, a kindhearted nun who teaches her to communicate, helping to transform her from a feral child to a caring student.
The Hollywood Reporter by Boyd van Hoeij
Based on a true story that's perhaps less famous than some others but just as intriguing, this serious-minded — no Helen Keller jokes, please — period film is nonetheless quite entertaining and, finally, moving.
Slant Magazine by Clayton Dillard
The film is unable to specify narrative urgency beyond a broad sense of "based on a true story" pathos that's by turns hollowly uplifting and tragic.
The New York Times by Jeannette Catsoulis
Though based on a remarkable true story, this clichéd tear-jerker is barely interested in Marguerite’s revolutionary teaching methods, focusing instead on the intensity of her connection to Marie.
Village Voice by Marsha McCreadie
To play Marie today, Améris found the non-actor Ariana Rivoire at the Institute for the Deaf. And Rivoire is a revelation — showing what it's like to be in, and then break out of, a world of total darkness and silence.
Washington Post by Michael O'Sullivan
The movie by Jean-Pierre Améris milks the tears in the home stretch, making little effort to hold the melodrama at bay. The result is a story that everyone can feel great about feeling terrible about.
Anyone who’s seen The Miracle Worker in any form will find Marie’s Story very familiar, and even perhaps a bit rote.
A quarter-century ago, such an assured, emotionally satisfying French offering as this could have done significant business in the States, the way films like “Jean de Florette” once did.
Marie’s Story will feel familiar, which is mostly a tribute to the enduring power of Helen Keller’s biography.
Los Angeles Times by Sheri Linden
At its most provocative, it suggests a tension between spirit and flesh in the nun's maternal feelings. Rather than examine that friction, Améris pushes the narrative in predictable directions.
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