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Mother Joan of the Angels (1961)

Matka Joanna od Aniolów (original title)
| Drama, Horror, Mystery | 9 February 1961 (Poland)
Mother Joan of the Angels Poster
A priest is sent to a small parish in the Polish countryside which is believed to be under demonic possession and there he finds his own temptations awaiting.

Director:

Jerzy Kawalerowicz

Writers:

Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz (novel), Tadeusz Konwicki (screenplay) | 1 more credit »

Stars:

Lucyna Winnicka, Mieczyslaw Voit, Anna Ciepielewska | See full cast & crew »
Reviews
1 win & 1 nomination. See more awards »

Photos

See all 33 photos »
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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lucyna Winnicka ... Mother Joan of the Angels
Mieczyslaw Voit ... Father Jozef Suryn / Rabbi
Anna Ciepielewska ... Sister Malgorzata / Margareth
Maria Chwalibóg ... Antosia / Girl at the Inn
Kazimierz Fabisiak ... Father Brym
Stanislaw Jasiukiewicz ... Chrzaszczewski / Squire
Zygmunt Zintel ... Wincenty Wolodkowicz / Innkeeper
Jerzy Kaczmarek Jerzy Kaczmarek ... Kaziuk
Franciszek Pieczka ... Odryn
Jaroslaw Kuszewski Jaroslaw Kuszewski ... Juraj
Lech Wojciechowski ... Piatkowski
Marian Nosek Marian Nosek ... Dominican Priest
Jerzy Walden Jerzy Walden ... Dominican Priest
Marian Nowak Marian Nowak
Zygmunt Malawski ... Exorcist
See full cast »
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Storyline

Set in the 17th century. A convent in a small town is being visited by high-ranking Catholic official trying to exorcise the nun supposedly posessed by demons. A local priest have been burnt for creating this condition by sexual temptation of the nuns, especially the Mother superior who bring on the collective hysteria of the group. There is another young priest who is to help with the exorcism. His first meeting with the convent head, Mother Joanne of the Angels, has her seemingly posessed by Satan - she yells blasphemies and incites the priest. She begs the priest to save her and to help her to be a saint. Written by Polish Cinema Database <http://info.fuw.edu.pl/Filmy/>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

priest | nun | convent | exorcism | mother superior | See All (34) »

Genres:

Drama | Horror | Mystery

Certificate:

See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

Add content advisory for parents »
Edit

Details

Country:

Poland

Language:

Polish | Latin

Release Date:

9 February 1961 (Poland) See more »

Also Known As:

Mother Joan of the Angels See more »

Filming Locations:

Józefów, Lódzkie, Poland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Film Polski Film Agency, ZRF "Kadr" See more »
Show more on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
See full technical specs »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Based on the same 17th century historical incident that was also the basis for Ken Russell's "The Devils". See more »

Quotes

Father Jozef Suryn: All redemption is in love. Love is as strong as death.
See more »

Connections

Version of The Bloody Judge (1970) See more »

Soundtracks

Theme Music
Performed by the Polish Radio Choirs
Conducted by Tadeusz Dobrzanski
See more »

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User Reviews

 
Polish nuns and priests
28 March 2017 | by sinful-2 – See all my reviews

This movie is a about a priest that comes to a small village to help in the exorcism of mother superior that is possessed by the 8 demons.

Camera: Everything looks fine and is sharp black and white pictures.

Characters: You do not really get any insight in any of the characters except the tormented priest that are there to save mother superior. You never feel any anguish or anything from all the possessed nuns. All the nuns are just happy. I am not sure it the village people at the inn was meant to seem like they were possessed too or just plain demented.

Story: Sorry to say but there was indeed very little of it. Most of the movie was spend watching people that did not tell what happened prior to the movie or moving the story along. Rest of the time was spend following the priest and his doubt in himself and his ability to save mother superior. The exorcism part was fine though but was never followed up on or commented on. The movie may approach some theological issues that could be interesting, but nothing that had not been seen or done better already in 1961.

Classification: Drama | Horror | Mystery - I am quite puzzled why this movie is classified as horror and mystery. There is no horror at all. Mystery I am not really understanding either as the movie do nothing really to tell what happened before and what is now going on. It is a pure drama following the priest

Verdict: Good idea but too long and unfocused. At least half an hour too long. In the end i felt they gave a solution to the priests troubled mind but not any story about the events there. If all being possessed by the devil means for a nun that she is happy singing and dancing then let us all be possessed to make a better world.

If you love old European movies about self doubt and finding yourself and god this may be the movie for you. Otherwise my recommendation is skip it.
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