The Devils, 1971
In 17th Century France, a charismatic and worldly priest named Grandier (Oliver Reed) oversees the town of Loudun. While not above callously sleeping with and discarding the women in his orbit, Grandier sincerely defends the town's autonomy, something that earns him some powerful political enemies. When a nun named Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave) speaks of Grandier's hold over her--she is erotically obsessed with him--this claim easily gets twisted into a witch hunt and Grandier is investigated for witchcraft.
Right up front I want to say that I have, of course, heard about this film for many years. I have never read too much about it out of fear of spoilers. If you are in the same boat, I want to say one thing: this movie is indeed crazy and intense, but it is not
fun crazy and intense. It is darkly, darkly comic and upsetting crazy and intense. It is kind of brilliant, but know what you are getting into.
In terms of quality,
The Devils mostly lived up to my expectations, which after so many years were pretty high. Having already seen and liked Russell's
Women in Love, I knew that I appreciated his craft. In this film, which is incredibly intense and violent, he displays the rare ability to take a film past the normal boundaries of comfort and "decency" while still retaining a heart of humanity. "Nuns having orgies" is such a pseudo-porn premise and one that could easily have devolved into very cheap exploitation. While the film is obviously, notoriously graphic, it resists the easy objectification of its characters.
This is the kind of movie I could say a lot about. The main thing that sticks out to me at this point in terms of what I most liked about it was the parallel entrapment of the main characters. What happens to Grandier is for the most part straightforward. He is being railroaded in a sham trial for political purposes. Maddeningly, the more reasonable he is in the face of everything, the worse it gets. But there's an arc to what happens to Sister Jeanne that is not all that different. Her role as someone who is possessed gives her power and care and attention. Like Grandier, even in her moments of clarity and honesty, her words are twisted. If she says Grandier is actually innocent, this is simply reported as a sign of her continued possession. As Grandier's trial brings him a certain clarity about the kind of life he has led to this point, Jeanne's experiences drive her to madness. While I found both main characters off-putting in their own ways, it is admirable that the film finds space for empathy for both of them.
In terms of criticism, I thought it was a little convenient that the woman Grandier impregnates and then dumps turns out to be so awful. It feels a bit like letting him off of the hook for some horrendous behavior. While I liked the fantasy sequences in which Jeanne imagines herself and a Christ-like Grandier as lovers, the conceit of every woman in the whole town being gaga over Grandier felt like a bit much. I also thought that some of the characters looked distractingly modern, especially Michael Gothard, who plays a witch hunter whose main specialty seems to be torture and humiliation. His performance was fantastic, but I found the styling of his character distracting.
I'll also admit that there were some parts I didn't watch and, in the case of a sequence later in the film, just ended up fast-forwarding past. Torture is hard for me to watch, and the second half of the film in particular is pretty rough on this front.
Overall a really powerful and intense viewing experience.
Reply to Topic
Check out my podcast: 
