Marie’s Story, directed by Jean-Pierre Améris, is based on real events in the life of Marie Heurtin, mostly known as the French Helen Keller. It is love at first sight for Sister Marguerite (Isabelle Carré) when she meets ten-year-old Marie (Ariana Rivoire) at the Larnay Institute, a convent in central France where an order of nuns teaches deaf girls Braille and sign language. Marie’s father has taken her to Larnay to avoid putting her into a mental institution. The Mother Superior initially rejects the child, unconvinced that the nuns can help Marie, who was born deaf and blind. With an unwavering conviction that she can reach Marie, Sister Marguerite, persuades the elder nun to allow her full responsibility for the young girl’s care.

Sister Marguerite is relentless in her pursuit to free Marie from the internal prison in which she has been confined her entire life. Filthy, with bruises lining her body, Marie’s parents have never been able to put shoes on her, let alone wash her hair. On the surface, Marie seems ferocious, but she is simply a terrified child with no concept of what is going on around her. Sister Marguerite immediately takes on the task of teaching Marie sign language. But the process to influence her requires laborious effort, patience and strength to physically restrain the feral girl. Marie seems to get worse before she gets better.

Marie's journey takes shape in three ways: the struggle to break through, the breakthrough and the understanding of abstract concepts like God and death. First Sister Marguerite must teach Marie how to behave, co-exist with others and connect the meaning of words to objects. Slowly, the young nun is able to get Marie to understand that there is a connection between objects and words by continually teaching her to sign the word for her favorite object, “knife.” Finally, Marie must learn to exist without Sister Marguerite.

When the sister falls ill, Marie’s progress is threatened. Throughout the movie, until the final scenes, Marie is in constant danger of regressing to her wild ways in the face of Sister Marguerite’s impending absence. Their bond has grown over time into an unbreakable love. Marie’s Story, like The Miracle Worker, is an inspiring tale of the triumph of the human spirit. One woman's enduring love and devotion saves the life of another through the gift of communication.