Il miracolo

Ostensibly, The Miracle is about the way miracles are manufactured, about how popular and media pressure can spin a trick of the light into a weeping Madonna. But this is only one facet of the story - and it's a facet that was handled with more satirical verve by Fellini in the Virgin Mary subplot of La Dolce Vita. In reality, this is more a lm about how painful growing up can be. The central character, Tonio, is a 12-year-old boy who is knocked off his bike by a hit-and-run driver. Coming round later in hospital, Tonio wanders into a room of a man whose ECG trace has gone at, and revives him by placing a hand on his chest. (Lee Marshal, Screen Daily)