Fri 25 at 8:00 Morton 235

Diary of a Country Priest (Le Journal d'un Curé de Campagne)

France, 1950, 110 mins, 16mm print
Director: Robert Bresson
Cast: Claude Layu, Armand Guiber


Robert Bresson's masterly adaptation of the Georges Bernanos novel about the suffering of a young priest (Claude Laydu) whose faith is neither understood nor accepted by his parishioners. A film of great purity and, at the end, a Bach-like intensity. The dialogue and the passages read from the diary are taken directly from the novel, though while you're watching you feel as if you were seeing a silent movie. (It's the effect of the expressive images and the general austerity.) This is one of the few modern works in any art form that help one to understand the religious life - which for this useless young man is a terrible one, yet with moments of holiness. Returning to the screen after a five-year absence, Bresson succeeds in capturing the literary spirit of George Bernanos' book and retelling it in a cinematic language. It is a brilliant adaptation, remaining faithful to Bernanos without resorting to harmful omissions or additions, allowing its audience to enjoy the identical spiritual experience as the reader of the novel. DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST shared the top prize at the Venice Film Fest with Kurosawa's RASHOMON. Short to follow: Night and Fog

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