The Devils (1971)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Ken Russell

Writers:

Aldous Huxley (novel)
Ken Russell (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

16 July 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Horror

Tagline:

Hell holds no surprises for them.

Plot:

Ken Russell's disturbing account of the Spanish Inquisition, focusing on an outspoken priest and a group of sexually repressed nuns in 17th-century France.

Plot Keywords:

Priest | France | Nun | Disturbing | Cardinal Richelieu

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Vanessa Redgrave	...	Sister Jeanne
Oliver Reed	...	Urbain Grandier
Dudley Sutton	...	Baron De Laubardemont
Max Adrian	...	Ibert
Gemma Jones	...	Madeleine
Murray Melvin	...	Mignon
Michael Gothard	...	Father Barre
Georgina Hale	...	Philippe
Brian Murphy	...	Adam
Christopher Logue	...	Cardinal Richelieu
Graham Armitage	...	Louis XIII
John Woodvine	...	Trincant
Andrew Faulds	...	Rangier
Kenneth Colley	...	Legrand
Judith Paris	...	Sister Judith
Catherine Willmer	...	Sister Catherine
Iza Teller	...	Sister Iza
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Imogen Claire	...	Nun (uncredited)
Selina Gilbert	...	Nun (uncredited)
Alex 'Alien' Russell	...	(uncredited)
Doremy Vernon	...	Nun (uncredited)

Directed by
Ken Russell

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Aldous Huxley		novel "The Devils of Loudon"
Ken Russell		writer
John Whiting		play

Produced by
Roy Baird	....	associate producer
Ken Russell	....	producer
Robert H. Solo	....	producer

Original Music by
Peter Maxwell Davies

Cinematography by
David Watkin

Film Editing by
Michael Bradsell

Production Design by
Derek Jarman

Art Direction by
Robert Cartwright

Costume Design by
Shirley Russell

Makeup Department
Ramon Gow	....	hair stylist
Charles E. Parker	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Graham Ford	....	unit manager
Neville C. Thompson	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ted Morley	....	assistant director
Nicolas Hippisley-Coxe	....	second second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Terry Apsey	....	construction manager
George Ball	....	property manager
Derek Jarman	....	set designer
Alan Tomkins	....	assistant art director
Ian Whittaker	....	set dresser
Bryn Siddall	....	property buyer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Gordon K. McCallum	....	sound mixer
Terry Rawlings	....	dubbing editor
Brian Simmons	....	sound recordist
John Hayward	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
John Richardson	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Peter Ewens	....	assistant camera
John Swan	....	electrical supervisor
Ronnie Taylor	....	camera operator
Robin Browne	....	director of photography: second unit (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Tiny Nicholls	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Stuart Baird	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Peter Maxwell Davies	....	conductor
David Munrow	....	period music arranger and director

Other crew
Harry Benn	....	production controller
Terry Gilbert	....	choreographer
Ann Skinner	....	continuity
Geoff Freeman	....	unit publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Russo Productions

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1971) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1971) (France) (theatrical)
• Cinefear (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Ken Russell's Film of The Devils (UK) (long title)
The Devils of Loudun

Runtime:

111 min | USA:103 min (cut version)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Ontario) | Italy:VM18 (re-rated) | Finland:(Banned) (1985) (video release) | Finland:(Banned) (1971) (theatrical release) | Finland:K-18 (2002) (self applied) | France:-18 | Australia:M (video rating) | Australia:R (original rating) | Ireland:(Banned) | Italy:(Banned) | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R (edited for re-rating) (1979) | USA:X (original rating) | UK:X (theatrical rating, heavily cut) | UK:18 (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Bamburgh Beach, Bamburgh, Northumberland, England, UK

Company:

Russo Productions

Trivia:

This film was banned from Italy and its stars Vanessa Redgrave and Oliver Reed were threatened with three years' jail time if they set foot in that country. Reed described this as his best performance ever.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Judith Paris's character is referred to as Sister Agnes in the film but listed as Sister Judith in the credits.

Quotes:

Baron De Laubardemont: I also have a maxim, father: give me three lines of a man's handwriting and I will hang him.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Crucible (1996)

astounding

I love love love love love this movie. Ken Russell (along with Greg Araki) is probably my favorite director of all time. He is an absolute showboat! The Wagner of film. Russell never met a line he couldn't bend into a circle and a light bulb he didn't explode into a star burst supernova. Where most directors are ascetic, Russell is a glutton. Where many whisper their convictions with hushed words, Russell screams through a megaphone. This I adore about him.

And "The Devils" is (drum roll please) his masterpiece! Yes, this film is savage. It is shocking. It is perverse and violent and all of that. But it is also one of the greatest films ever made. Very similar to "The Crucible" (and if you haven't read that, stop what you're doing and read it instead of this).

A priest (brilliantly played by Oliver Reed) in rennaisance era France is caught in a political squeeze play and becomes the subject of a (literal) witch hunt. He is put on trial for being a demon and a group of nuns are bullied by a crazy exorcist into claiming themselves possessed. The whole thing plays out with the maximum amount of grotesque-ness imaginable. Even if one is used to Russell's films what is shown here could prove unwatchable for some.

We get: nuns ripping their clothes off and running around naked (pretending to be possessed), people burned at the stake, forced vomiting, nuns copulating with Jesus (just a hallucination though), physical torture of many different varieties. It's very in your face. However, the subject is topical (obviously) and it really deserves to be seen by more people.

Another great reason to see this movie is Vanessa Redgrave, who plays a hunchbacked mother superior. A very conflicted character attracted to Oliver Reed. I've never liked Vanessa Redgrave much, but she is magnificent in this movie. And her performance is one of the creepiest I have ever seen, rivalling Paul Smith's sweating smiling sinister jail-guard in "Midnight Express".

However, my selfish view remains: I hope this movie never ever gets released on DVD that way it will stay unknown and I (and the rest of the smart people on earth) will get to enjoy it as our treasure and ours alone. It will not spread to the masses and be diluted and trod upon and destroyed. This film is art. It is not junk put out by your local movie studio. This is a film of passion and meaning and sweat and blood. If you are reading this and you have no idea what I am talking about: stop reading and go away and never watch this film. Ever! You will merely dilute it with your stupid, reality-TV watching fingers.

Thank you.

Also, some of Ken Russell's other great beautiful films include: Savage Messiah, Altered States, The Music Lovers, Women in Love, and Mahler.