The film Chiara Lubich: Love Conquers Over All begins almost immediately with Chiara appearing before a stern board of five Vatican officials, mostly cardinals, ready to examine the accusations being made against her and her “movement.” Chiara calmly insists she did not set out to found any movement. Yet seven years earlier, after a half-dozen girlfriends got together, their joyous Christian living began to inspire so many that it grew into what became known as the Focolare Movement.

EWTN will show this film version of Chiara’s story made in 2021 on Saturday, July 9.

Flashbacks become the vehicle as Chiara’s story unfolds through her eyes. For the stern board she recounts the details, beginning in her hometown of Trent, Italy, in 1943. World War II was about to reach the town, where she was a schoolteacher, a very compassionate one. The peaceful scene is interrupted by the war as the town is bombed for the first time.

These scenes artfully bring the horrors and atrocities of war, without the violence and bloodshed Hollywood wallows in, down to compassionate human levels. It is in the midst of the suffering and destruction and her wordless “Why?” that she encounters the Blessed Mother in a statue in a street-side shrine with little damage. Chiara tells a priest she thought she heard the words, “Devote yourself to me.” In this simple beginning, she doesn't want to be a nun but believes God wants her to devote herself to him as she remains in the world.

Quickly, she gets the chance. As the bombing of the town commences again, she and two other girls who need her unrelenting, strong convincing, save a drunkard’s life, dragging him to the bomb shelter. There Chiara reads from the gospel. A fight starts; the rescued man starts singing a song to the Blessed Mother; Chiara joins in; soon everyone else follows. The peaceful singing quells the fight and restores brotherhood.

A friend tells her to read more: “There’s still time for the gospel.” Why? “It's nice when we try putting it in practice, like today.” There the seeds sprout. And quickly begin to grow.

In contrast, soon the five girlfriends and a newcomer go for a day into the mountains to take in the serenity. During the wonderfully happy moments of the afternoon’s mountain adventure, the girls wonder why they’re experiencing so much joy. Chiara opens the Bible and reads, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am in their midst,” then adds, “If that’s what’s written, then Jesus is here right now. Yes, here with us!” she exclaims. During further questions from one of the girls, she tells them, “I’ll live my usual life — it’s just that I’ll try to live what he taught us.”

One after another, scenes unfold with her giving the example of doing just that. The girls band together, read Scripture, and put Jesus’ words into action in their lives, helping the poor and downtrodden in some really joyous encounters and very poignant ones also.

One moving encounter comes with Chiara and her brother, a doctor who gave up his practice to fight with the resistance. She tries to convince him to give up taking revenge on those who turned enemy during the war. Contrasting that is a beautiful encounter with her friend Ines, whom she had not seen in years.

More than once Chiara reminds that we should live and work in a way that Jesus’ prayer to the Father may be fulfilled, “That all may be one” (John 17:21). That gospel passage summarized her mission of working for a universal brotherhood “as a prerequisite for dialogue and peace among men.”

One touching scene follows another in this Italian-made film. Leaving the dialogue in Italian (with easy-to-follow subtitles) keeps the story feeling quite authentic, as if we’re unseen observers watching Chiara’s life and movement develop. It’s the kind of human drama that most American filmmakers have forgotten about.

There’s quite a good reason why the story is captivating, compelling and moving. It was directed by award-winning Giacomo Campiotti — not exactly a household name, but a director who seems to understand the dimensions of the Catholic faith and has brought us stories of various saints such as Bakhita: From Slave To Saint and the award-winning St. Giuseppe Moscati: Doctor to the Poor, Saint Philip Neri: I Prefer Heaven, and also Mary of Nazareth.

He is a director who understands the human element in a story, and uses the camera in many close-ups for us to better understand characters, feel closer to them, and empathize with them. He draws emotion and thoughts out of the people without words in many instances. If we want to get technical, he uses the camera like a master artist would use a paintbrush, colors and composition to make the scene or portrait tell us its story.

Not being familiar with the major Italian actresses and actors also, in this case, enhances the film, bringing a greater reality to the true story, much more than what would happen with familiar actors. Every one of the actors and actresses is finely tuned, bringing out the nuances and the depth of their characters, making them real people and not cinematic cutouts. The focus becomes the story of Chiara itself — what we can learn about her and from her.

As Chiara waits for that 1952 verdict by the tribunal she holds a rosary. Only one thing seems underplayed, and that is something left unmentioned. The Focolare Movement’s real official name became “Work of Mary,” as noted by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, which states, “The Work of Mary was given this name because of its particular link with the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Christ and of all men and women, of whom it wishes to be a reflection on earth, as far as possible.”

Aside from the film, Chiara herself said, “We love Mary, we pray to her, and we have pictures of her in our homes. There are churches and monuments built in her honor. She is present in the Catholic church and in other churches, and in the hearts of the faithful. I think it is our duty to take Mary into our homes and live with her as John did. So great a mother can feed our undernourished Christianity and enlighten us with her advice.”

For the record, Chiara and her mission was supported by the popes in her life, and she had a very close collaboration with St. John Paul II. Her cause for beatification was opened in 2015.

Overall, Chiara Lubich: Love Conquers Over All is a beautifully made and memorable film with a story that touches the heart as much as it inspires.

Showing on EWTN on Saturday, July 9, 8 p.m. Eastern