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The third miracle

Threat advisory: Guarded - General risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

The charismatic Father Frank Shore (Ed Harris) is a priest who serves as a church-appointed "spiritual detective", probing the facts behind reported miracles. After a disturbing incident that left him with the nickname "The miracle killer", Father Frank is on the brink of hopelessness, living on the streets as a lay person. Then the powerful Bishop Cahill (Charles Haid) tracks him down and hands him an unwanted mission: he must journey to St Stanislaus in the heart of Chicago where mystical phenomena are said to be taking place surrounding a recently deceased immigrant woman.

In St Stanislaus, Father Frank uncovers a series of extraordinary events but the most extraordinary thing of all may be the "saint's" very earthly daughter, Roxanna (Anne Heche). Roxanna is a feisty, angry non-believer who cannot forgive her otherwise selfless mother for abandoning her at the age of 16. As Frank probes Roxanna's side of the story, he begins to see that they share more in common than they could ever have imagined. Now the closer Frank gets to proving his first real case of a miracle the closer he gets to Roxanna - whose alluring reality brings his doubts and desires to the fore, imperilling the very foundation of his investigation.

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film drama religion faith Roman Catholic church miracle saint canon

Persons of interest

Armin Mueller-Stahl .... Archbishop Werner
Michael Rispoli .... John Leone
James Gallanders .... Brother Gregory
Jean-Louis Roux .... Cardinal Sarrazin
Ken James .... Father Paul Panak
Caterina Scorsone .... Maria Witkowski
Barbara Sukowa .... Helen
Richard Vetere .... Author
John Romano .... Screenwriter
Agnieszka Holland .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Sony Pictures Releasing

Intelligence analyst

Secret Agent Acid Thunder

Theatrical report

There is room for this film to be successful but the year 2000 is not the year of the church. It should've been released around 1995. (Pope Gregory's calendar is incorrect.)

Security censorship classification

M (Adult themes, low level violence, low level coarse language)

Surveillance time

113 minutes (1:53 minutes)

Not for public release in Australia before date

VHS rental: 8 November 2000

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Director's statement

The question of which is the stronger pull on humanity - faith or reality - has haunted me for a long time and it comes to the fore in The third miracle. Graham Greene once said that the biggest problem of our times is that we have lost the belief in miracles, the meaning of them. I think this is true.

To date there have been primarily three kinds of movies that have tackled this subject:

the fantasy horror movie such as the exorcist
the satirical comedy such as Monty Python's Life of Brian
the psychological drama about the lives and failings of priests, such as priest

What really appeals to me about The third miracle is that it doesn't fit into any of these categories. It is an original exploration of this subject that continues to fascinate people. In this story, the style is very realistic and the characters are very true to life, yet at the same time it presents the idea that miracles might be just as real. Mystical events exist on an equal plane with the psychological and the sociological in this film.

I have also always been fascinated with the Catholic Church as an institution with its own fascinating history, folklore, rules and metaphysical dimensions. The lives of men who choose to become priests intrigue me enormously. What drives a normal man to such extremes of devotion and faith? It is an extraordinary subject. Even more interesting to me is what happens to such a man when he has to face the doubts and the temptations that must arise throughout his life?

The issue of how belief can make miracles come true is also a very rich one. I remember a professor of medieval history once said to me: "You can be Catholic and still not believe in the miracles at Lourdes but you cannot be a rationalist and refuse to believe in the miracles at Lourdes, because the facts are the facts." What I enjoy most about The third miracle is that it is about an investigation of the facts but it carries both a message of hope and enduring mystery for the priest Frank Shore, for the audience and for myself.

Agnieszka Holland