A Review: "The Blinking Madonna"

The Beth Harrington of a few years back was not a believer in miracles. A self-described "fallen-away Catholic," she lived her life in the hustle and bustle of Boston, not in the pews. She was so removed from her religious upbringing that she could film a traditional Italian-American festival of the Madonna free from bias, without unsettling her own secular piece of mind–or so she thought. And then she recorded a miracle: in her film, the statue of the Virgin Mary blinked. At least that's what her North End neighbors claimed to see. The Virgin blinked; what's more, the Virgin was blinking at her. She, of course, protested–it was only a glitch in the tape, a brief moment out of focus. But rumors flew; the story took on a life of its own, and took hers with it.

Filmmaker Beth Harrington

In "The Blinking Madonna & Other Miracles," filmmaker Beth Harrington takes a look at the way the event has shaped her life. First, though, she playfully and imaginatively reenacts her childhood years in Catholic school, with the help of a "cuter-than-she-ever-was" stand-in, an inspirational nun, and an ex-Navy cigar-smoking priest. Half-Irish and half-Italian, she grows up Catholic during the Kennedy years. She fosters an early fascination with the Madonna and a suspicion that Catholics hold a special position in the world. All of this, as expected, she slowly leaves by the wayside as news from the outside world encroaches, at times violently, on her imagination. By the time she is grown, she finds herself living entirely in her time rather than for the afterlife. As an adult, she moves from the suburbs to Boston's North End, an emancipated Modern Woman. Here, she struggles, socially and spiritually, between dual urges-her skeptical desire to distance herself from her Catholic Italian neighbors and a deeper need to belong and believe. And the Blinking Madonna's arrival on the scene brings her conflict to the forefront.

The tone of the film is pleasant and relaxed–Harrington doesn't create any miracles here, just relates her discoveries about life's twists and turns in a charming, engaging way. It's a film with a good heart and a healthy respect for life's little miracles.

But what about the big miracle? you ask. Does the Madonna really blink? Is it a sign from above, or just a trick of the lens? It's ironic that even a miracle, a supposed unmistakable proof, can be hard to recognize. The clip gets shown, of course-several times, in real-time and slo-mo, and I've come to my own conclusions. I guess you’ll have to see for yourself.

To purchase or rent a copy of "The Blinking Madonna & Other Miracles" visit http://www.newday.com/films/The_Blinking_Madonna.html