Léon Morin, prêtre (1961)
Country: FR/IT
Technical: bw 115m
Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
Cast: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Emmanuelle Riva, Irène Tunc
Synopsis:
During the Nazi occupation of eastern France an atheist single mother working in a print shop baits the young priest at the local church with her scepticism. He lends her books and soon they are having regular meetings in his rooms, but to her despair this exchange of minds cannot grow into the mingling of body and soul she earnestly craves.
Review:
An extraordinary film, apparently greatly reduced from a much longer script, and itself available in a longer 130 minute version in certain countries. In its extant state it tends towards short, inconsequential scenes punctuated by fades, together with a great deal of religious talk between the two voguish actors, who are cast, presumably, to give some commercial allure to the enterprise. It barely qualifies as an Occupation film, so peripheral are the Germans to the action, so harmless or benign those that we see. However, what does survive is the force of the scenes between the leads so that we share her sense of desolation when the relationship must end. Other details are left to flounder, such as the attraction to the secretary at the office and the identity of the boy she takes to be looked after with her daughter, the results of adaptation for the screen, no doubt, but making for an uneven film, one whose direction is unclear for some time. Belmondo just about gets away with being a brusque, farmboy and very physical priest; Riva still seems to be speaking lines from Hiroshima Mon Amour, so literary is Melville's script, but both are canny casting and bring qualities to their roles that convince. Meanwhile Melville mixes nouvelle vague outdoor shooting and sequence shots with more conventionally choreographed and edited indoor studio sequences.
Country: FR/IT
Technical: bw 115m
Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
Cast: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Emmanuelle Riva, Irène Tunc
Synopsis:
During the Nazi occupation of eastern France an atheist single mother working in a print shop baits the young priest at the local church with her scepticism. He lends her books and soon they are having regular meetings in his rooms, but to her despair this exchange of minds cannot grow into the mingling of body and soul she earnestly craves.
Review:
An extraordinary film, apparently greatly reduced from a much longer script, and itself available in a longer 130 minute version in certain countries. In its extant state it tends towards short, inconsequential scenes punctuated by fades, together with a great deal of religious talk between the two voguish actors, who are cast, presumably, to give some commercial allure to the enterprise. It barely qualifies as an Occupation film, so peripheral are the Germans to the action, so harmless or benign those that we see. However, what does survive is the force of the scenes between the leads so that we share her sense of desolation when the relationship must end. Other details are left to flounder, such as the attraction to the secretary at the office and the identity of the boy she takes to be looked after with her daughter, the results of adaptation for the screen, no doubt, but making for an uneven film, one whose direction is unclear for some time. Belmondo just about gets away with being a brusque, farmboy and very physical priest; Riva still seems to be speaking lines from Hiroshima Mon Amour, so literary is Melville's script, but both are canny casting and bring qualities to their roles that convince. Meanwhile Melville mixes nouvelle vague outdoor shooting and sequence shots with more conventionally choreographed and edited indoor studio sequences.
Country: FR/IT
Technical: bw 115m
Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
Cast: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Emmanuelle Riva, Irène Tunc
Synopsis:
During the Nazi occupation of eastern France an atheist single mother working in a print shop baits the young priest at the local church with her scepticism. He lends her books and soon they are having regular meetings in his rooms, but to her despair this exchange of minds cannot grow into the mingling of body and soul she earnestly craves.
Review:
An extraordinary film, apparently greatly reduced from a much longer script, and itself available in a longer 130 minute version in certain countries. In its extant state it tends towards short, inconsequential scenes punctuated by fades, together with a great deal of religious talk between the two voguish actors, who are cast, presumably, to give some commercial allure to the enterprise. It barely qualifies as an Occupation film, so peripheral are the Germans to the action, so harmless or benign those that we see. However, what does survive is the force of the scenes between the leads so that we share her sense of desolation when the relationship must end. Other details are left to flounder, such as the attraction to the secretary at the office and the identity of the boy she takes to be looked after with her daughter, the results of adaptation for the screen, no doubt, but making for an uneven film, one whose direction is unclear for some time. Belmondo just about gets away with being a brusque, farmboy and very physical priest; Riva still seems to be speaking lines from Hiroshima Mon Amour, so literary is Melville's script, but both are canny casting and bring qualities to their roles that convince. Meanwhile Melville mixes nouvelle vague outdoor shooting and sequence shots with more conventionally choreographed and edited indoor studio sequences.