Journal d'un curé de campagne (1951)

Director:

Robert Bresson

Writers:

Georges Bernanos (novel)
Robert Bresson (writer)

Release Date:

5 April 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery

Plot:

In Ambricourt, a young Priest (Claude Laydu) arrives to be the local parish priest. The community of the small town does not accept him...

Plot Keywords:

Priest | Parish | Stomach | Disease | Seminary

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 5 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Claude Laydu	...	Priest of Ambricourt (Curé d'Ambricourt)
Jean Riveyre	...	Count (Le Comte)
Adrien Borel	...	Priest of Torcy (Curé de Torcy) (as Andre Guibert)
Rachel Bérendt	...	Countess (La Comtesse) (as Marie-Monique Arkell)
Nicole Maurey	...	Miss Louise
Nicole Ladmiral	...	Chantal
Martine Lemaire	...	Séraphita Dumontel
Antoine Balpêtré	...	Dr. Delbende (Docteur Delbende) (as Balpetre)
Jean Danet	...	Olivier
Gaston Séverin	...	Canon (Le Chanoine) (as Gaston Severin)
Yvette Etiévant	...	Femme de ménage
Bernard Hubrenne	...	Priest Dufrety
Léon Arvel	...	Fabregars
Martial Morange	...	Deputy mayor (L'Adjoint)
Gilberte Terbois	...	Mrs. Dumouchel (Mme Dumouchel)

Also Known As:

Diary of a Country Priest (USA)

Runtime:

110 min | USA:95 min | Canada:122 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Tobis-Klangfilm)

Certification:

Finland:K-3 (new rating: 2001) | Argentina:Atp | Finland:S | USA:Approved | West Germany:12 (w) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Château, Equirre, Pas-de-Calais, France

Company:

Union Générale Cinématographique (UGC)

Trivia:

Reportedly, director Andrei Tarkovsky's favorite film.

Quotes:

[subtitled version]
Countess: Love is stronger than death. Your scriptures say so.
Curé d'Ambricourt: We did not invent love. It has its order, its law.
Countess: God is its master.
Curé d'Ambricourt: He is not the master of love. He is love itself. If you would love, don't place yourself beyond love's reach.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in De weg naar Bresson (1984)

it's hard to be a saint in the country

Alongside the biggest artistic achievements in French cinema of the fifties such as Henri-Georges Clouzot's "Les Diaboliques" (1955) or Julien Duvivier's "Voici Le Temps Des Assassins" (1956), one has to reserve a first-class place for Robert Bresson's third long-feature film where he proves that Georges Bernanos' universe is his. I've read Bernanos' novel and it was a perilous task to transpose it on the screen for it was a rich, undulating book. Bresson's piece of work makes it justice in its own special way and deeply involves the audience in the battle led by this young priest to keep the faith.

Although the filmmaker later disowned this jewel because it didn't really answer his cinematographic demands, the most constitutive elements of his cinematographic approach are already here: a straightforward style, an austere black and white cinematography, a rigorous, hieratic directing which give many shots, the form of little paintings. Before he revolutionized the Seventh Art, Bresson cut his teeth as a painter and kept some principles and techniques for his vision of cinema. The actors or should I say the "amateur models" answer to Bresson's demands and thus adopt a deliberately bland acting even if Claude Laydu was a professional actor. He'll hold a secondary role in André Cayatte's "Nous Sommes Tous Des Assassins" (1952) and will be later the founder of a popular TV program for children: "Bonne Nuit Les Petits".

Let's also hail the shrewd narrative process which sees the priest write down in a textbook, his actions and his thoughts and the next shot showcases the written action. Through the young priest's inner turmoil and his confrontations with the inhabitants of the village, it's quite easy to detect one of Bresson's recurrent themes: the opposition between a subjective mind and a cruel objectivity. The young priest of Ambricourt is rejected by all the inhabitants who later will treat him as an alcoholic whereas he only asks for integration. The Count who seems at first on his side will later dismiss him after the death of the countess. And in the calvary lived by the young priest with its grueling tests, one inevitably thinks of the Way of the Cross experienced by the Christ. It's all the more evident as there are strong analogies like the moment when the priest falls in the muddy country and is received in Seraphita's home. In the end, a spiritual dimension shrouds a film full of grace and an emotion seizes the audience.

You will never be able to exhaust all the treasures that Bresson's monument conceals. Like good wine, it improves with age and this is one that requires multiple viewings.