Diary of a Country Priest (1951) Journal d'un curé de campagne (original title)

Director:

Robert Bresson

Writers:

Robert Bresson
Georges Bernanos (novel)

Release Date:

5 April 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A young priest taking over the parish at Ambricourt tries to fulfill his duties even as he fights a mysterious stomach ailment.

Plot Keywords:

Priest | Stomach | Parish | Disease | Wound

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 7 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)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Serge Bento	...	Mitonnet (as Serge Benneteau)
Germaine Stainval	...	La patronne du café (uncredited)
François Valorbe	...	Bit Role (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Bresson

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Georges Bernanos		novel
Robert Bresson

Original Music by
Jean-Jacques Grünenwald		(as Jean-Jacques Grunenwald)

Cinematography by
Léonce-Henri Burel		(as L.H. Burel)

Film Editing by
Paulette Robert

Art Direction by
Pierre Charbonnier

Set Decoration by
Robert Turlure

Production Management
Léon Carré	....	production manager
Robert Sussfeld	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Guy Lefranc	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Paul Colin	....	poster designer (uncredited)
Defo	....	poster designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Jean Rieul	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Roger Corbeau	....	still photographer
Robert Juillard	....	camera operator

Other crew
Michel Choquet	....	general manager
Odette Lemarchand	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Union Générale Cinématographique (UGC)

Distributors

• L'Alliance Générale de Distribution Cinématographique (1951) (France) (theatrical)
• C. F. P. (1951) (France) (theatrical) (16 mm)
• Oefram Filmgesellschaft (1953) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Brandon Films (1954) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Aito Mäkinen & Co (1961) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Cineteca Griffith (????) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Interama (????) (USA) (theatrical)
• Rialto Pictures (2011) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Film Office (????) (France) (VHS)
• Kino Video (USA) (VHS)
• Studiocanal Vidéo (2002) (France) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Journal d'un curé de campagne" - France (original title)

Runtime:

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

Filming Locations:

Château, Equirre, Pas-de-Calais, France

Company:

Union Générale Cinématographique (UGC)

Trivia:

The main character's bizarre, unhealthy eating habits, not to mention his obsessive isolation and loneliness, were reportedly an influence on the character of Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (1976).

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 The Last Alchemist, or How Wynn Albright Got His Comeuppance (2004)

How to do a religious film without mentioning God.

How does one write about religion without hardly even mentioning God? This masterpiece shows better than any other film that religion is not about God, but about us. Religion is a box into which we try to put God. As Voltaire said or wrote, "God has created us into His image , but we have returned the compliment." I am a deeply religious man, yet I have not set foot in a church for the past 30 years or so, except for marriages, baptisms, funerals and the like. In that sense, this is a deeply religious film. However, it is about religiosity, not strictly about religion. It is about the wife who will speak about the sins of her husband for an hour during confession, and where the priest has to interrupt her and tell her "Now that I have heard the confession of your husband, may I hear your own?" How such a movie could have been made by an avowed atheist is beyond me. In that sense, I feel a deep kinship with Robert Bresson and with the writer, Georges Bernanos. In short, this is a blue-blood MASTERPIECE !!! Buy it, steal it, rent it, lie for it, but see it, please !