Grade: D
Synopsis: After learning of her son’s death in World War I, a woman (Henrietta Crosman) travels to France to visit his grave.
Pilgrimage is a wonderfully produced and photographed film from director John Ford. During the opening sequences, the idyllic farm backgrounds look so much like paintings that it’s startling when the characters prove them three-dimensional. The amazing production quality extends to the wartime scenes, with powder-lit skies flashing above a line of troops in a sequence memorable even by today’s effects standards.
Unfortunately, Pilgrimage doesn’t have much of a plot. It meanders through Henrietta Crosman’s character’s journey, in a somber state, packing few surprises. There are a few attempts at comedy, which fall very flat. What kills the film is its triteness. Crosman’s character starts out as an angry, iron-willed woman, but, through a series of remarkable coincidences, she finds it in herself to love. Compared to such modern films as There Will Be Blood (2007), which make no apologies for their characters’ darkness, a film like Pilgrimage just doesn’t hold up.
That said, Henrietta Crosman does an excellent job playing a rather unlikable, yet still watchable character. If the script had been willing to treat her with more honesty, Pilgrimage might have been a classic.
Bottom Line: Pilgrimage is a visually impressive film from director John Ford that features a great performance from Henrietta Crosman, but unfortunately is also sorely lacking in plot and story.
