The Devils (1971)

In 17th-century France, Father Urbain Grandier seeks to protect the city of Loudun from the corrupt establishment of Cardinal Richelieu. Hysteria occurs within the city when he is accused of witchcraft by a sexually repressed nun.

Director:

Ken Russell

Writers:

Ken Russell (screenplay), John Whiting (based on the play by)

Stars:

Vanessa Redgrave, Oliver Reed, Dudley Sutton

4 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Cardinal Richelieu and his power-hungry entourage seek to take control of seventeenth-century France, but need to destroy Father Grandier - the priest who runs the fortified town that prevents them from exerting total control. So they seek to destroy him by setting him up as a warlock in control of a devil-possessed nunnery, the mother superior of which is sexually obsessed by him. A mad witch-hunter is brought in to gather evidence against the priest, ready for the big trial.

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Plot Keywords:

priest | france | 17th century | mother superior | nun | 

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Taglines:

Never had there been exorcisms like this.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Latin

Release Date:

16 July 1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Devils of Loudun

Filming Locations:

Bamburgh Beach, Bamburgh, Northumberland, England, UK

Box Office

Gross USA:

$2,000,000, 31 December 1971

Company Credits

Production Co:

Russo Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min 117 min (restored)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A major sequence in which the nuns tear down and ravish a life-sized icon of Christ in an orgiastic frenzy was cut from the film and subsequently vanished. Film critic Mark Kermode discovered the footage many years later. Ken Russell was keen to reinstate the scene but found that Warner Brothers were not interested in doing a director's cut. The footage can be seen in a documentary Kermode made about Russell and was subsequently included in an uncut DVD release.

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Goofs

Early in the movie when Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed) is seen grooming his hair. It is a close-up of him supposedly looking at a mirror in the upper left hand corner of the screen, behind the viewer. Obviously there is no mirror as he consistently misses combing the more egregiously messed up parts of his hair and instead repeatedly combs the portions that are already groomed. In fact when he is done, his hair is still messed up.

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Quotes

[to Grandier]
Baron De Laubardemont: Hell will hold no surprises for you.

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Alternate Versions

The heavily cut R-rated version runs 103 min.

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Connections

Referenced in Ban the Sadist Videos! Part 2 (2006)

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Soundtracks

Bourrée d'Avignon
from Secretum musarum (1615)
Music by Nicolas Vallet.
Played as the king's dance in the opening.

User Reviews

A Beautifully disturbing film

Ken Russell is one of those filmmakers whose work you can immediately identify. Whether your first was "Altered States" or (like me) "The Devils," you learn early on that if Mr. Russell's name is listed as director and/or writer, you can expect to be at least a little disturbed.

"The Devils" is, in my humble opinion, one of the best films ever made. I wish I hadnt been born so late because I can imagine how truly intense an experience it must've been to view "The Devils" in theater.

This film is the only film I've ever seen, regardless of genre, to take the viewer into the pit of hell and to hold her/him there unrelenting, uncompromising, and to make the viewer feel as s/he has actually experienced hell. I can only imagine how much difficulty Mr. Russell must have had when MPAA members saw this film. It's bleak, horrifying, shocking, disgusting and thoroughly delicious. Aldous Huxley (the author of the book on which this film was based) would have been proud to see that his true story of a Satanic Catholic church translated very well to film.

One last thing: I have never really been able to sit through the entire film since the first time I saw it. That is, odd as it sounds, extreme praise. What kind of hell would it be if I could sit comfortably?

Thank you, Ken Russell!