In 1858 France, Bernadette, an adolescent peasant girl, has a vision of "a
beautiful lady" in the city dump. She never claims it to be anything other than
this, but the townspeople all assume it to be the virgin Mary. The pompous
government officials think she is nuts, and do their best to suppress the girl
and her followers, and the church wants nothing to do with the whole matter.
But as Bernadette attracts wider and wider attention, the phenomenon
overtakes everyone in the the town, and transforms their lives.