Director and enfant terrible the late Ken Russell has a back catalogue of films that swing wildly in quality but perhaps his most controversial and arguably best film was, ‘The Devils’ (1971). Based on Aldous Huxley’s novel ‘The Devils of Loudun’ it is set in 17th century France where Father Grandier (Oliver Reed) protection of his country from a corrupt Cardinal Richelieu (Christopher Logue). But when a sexually repressed hunchback nun Sister Jeanne Des Anges (Vanessa Redgrave) obsessed with Grandier accuses him of witchcraft what follows are extraordinary sequences of the nuns driven to insanity when a kind of Witchfinder General Father Barre (Michael Gothard and his gleefully sadistic sidekicks (one of whom is Brian Murphy of TV sitcom ‘George & Mildred’ fame) torture their way into getting confessions that culminates in the infamous rape of Christ scene that the studio took against and cut on its initial release.
The devils restoration history…..
Film critic Mark Kermode having met Ken Russell and produced a documentary about the film was only too aware that the film was missing crucial scenes thought to be lost forever but studiously searched through Warners brothers archives and found it and some 55 years later has been able to restore the film to its directors original vision and it is quite something.
Russell has frequently been accused of being something of a shock jock sensationalist and in fairness that can be levelled at some of his output but, ‘The Devils’ is not that film – arguably the directors only political film about the state and church and the power of collective hysteria that in today’s unstable political climate seems more relevant than ever. The Devils has several uneasy scenes notably the violence perpetrated on women and it’s easy to see why some might perceive the film as blasphemous rather than it actually depicting blasphemy. And despite the film finally being restored and released almost six decades after its original release it’s a reminder that at his best Ken Russell was a great film maker.
related feature : ‘Holy Days reviewed
related feature : How do you get priests to have a shoot out in a church? Director Barnaby Thompson talks about his film ‘Pixie’
Here’s the trailer…..
