Léon Morin, prêtre (1961)

Director:

Jean-Pierre Melville

Writers:

Béatrix Beck (novel)
Jean-Pierre Melville (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 September 1961 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A little French town during the Occupation. Barny is a young sexually frustrated widow, living with her little girl France...

Plot Keywords:

Religion | Clergy | Based On Novel | Character Name In Title

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Jean-Paul Belmondo	...	Leon Morin
Emmanuelle Riva	...	Barny
Irène Tunc	...	Christine Sangredin
Nicole Mirel	...	Sabine Levy
Gisèle Grimm	...	Lucienne
Marco Behar	...	Edelman
Monique Bertho	...	Marion
Marc Eyraud
Nina Grégoire
Monique Hennessy	...	Arlette
Edith Loria
Micheline Schererre
Renee Liques
Simone Vannier
Lucienne Marchand

Also Known As:

Leon Morin prete (Italy)
Leon Morin, Priest (International: English title) (literal title)
The Forgiven Sinner (USA)

Runtime:

Sweden:130 min | UK:115 min (2003 re-release) | Argentina:130 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival) | USA:117 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S (cut) (1962) | Argentina:13 | UK:PG (2003 re-release) | West Germany:18

Company:

Concordia Compagnia Cinematografica

Movie Connections:

Featured in Le fils de Gascogne (1995)

Melville's least accessible work.

I generally do not go much for Melvilles's works:a lot of them deal with manly friendship among hoodlums ;they were influenced by the American film noir genre ,as for instance Robert Wise's "odds against tomorrow" but they do not equal them.There are sometimes gigantic metaphysical pretensions ("le cercle rouge" (1970);"le samouraï (1967)).Besides, these works are overlong,slow-moving and dull.

Paradoxically,his works I find the most intriguing and interesting are his non-gangsters movies:both "le silence de la mer" (1948) and "l'armée des ombres" (1969) deal with French resistance during WW2 and they are both commendable."Les enfants terribles" (1950)perfectly captures Cocteau 's spirit .And then there's "Leon Morin prêtre".

This movie is a different matter ,because its main purpose is religion.A cast against type Jean-Paul Belmondo (whom Melville would direct again the following year in "Le doulos" )rises to the occasion and thus shows he could have been more ambitious in his future career.But facing Emmanuelle Riva ("Hiroshima mon amour" ) was not an easy task,because ambitious she definitely is:one of the subtlest actresses French cinema had ever known,she never had the career she deserved because her playing was too brilliant and probably scared most of the directors .Here she delivers the goods:her part of an atheist who meets a priest during WW2 is very austere and may repel some,but her performance is thoroughly fascinating.The first line she says to priest Morin is "Religion is the opium of the people:then begins a bewildering story,during which she regains faith.And this renaissance is ambiguous:is-it because of the tragical events that stem from the war that surrounds them -one of her friend's son is sent to a concentration camp ,and he'll never return-? Is it because she is madly in love with the priest -one scene shows her try to get him into her bed-?Is it because hers is such an unfulfilled life -a daughter,but no partner-?Is it because of the priest's convincing words ,now simple,now very intellectual?The movie consists of very long conversation about faith -a whole scene revolves around Christ's famous words :"my God why have you forsaken me?"-.

That's why I would recommend the movie to people interested in theology ,or simply to believers.The others may yawn their head off.