Diary of a Country Priest
February. 07,1951An inexperienced, sickly priest shows up in the rural French community of Ambricourt, where he joins the community's clergy. But the locals don't take kindly to the priest, and his ascetic ways and unsociable demeanor make him an outcast. During Bible studies at the nearby girls school, he is continually mocked by his students. Then his attempt to intervene in a family feud backfires into a scandal. His failures, compounded with his declining health, begin to erode his faith.
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From my favorite movies..
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.
Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
A young priest unknowingly dying of stomach cancer inherits a church in a village that has seemingly turned its back on the Catholic faith. Instead, the priest is scorned by the locals as a drunkard, and his lack of food intake is considered a questionably odd way to live (his stomach can't hold much beyond wine-soaked bread). Yet, no matter how ill, miserable, or persecuted he is (the suffering this poor kid endures would make most men throw their hands up and quit the ministry or leave the village), this priest holds onto his integrity and refuses to give up on those who live near his church.I think this will be an endurance test for some viewers. The lead character goes through so much that I can just imagine many will ask themselves, "Can something good happen to this guy???" The film techniques applied by director Robert Bresson might also be questioned. Constant narration is used repeatedly as is the reference to the priest writing in his diary (hence, the title of the film and how its writer uses this as a means to open candidly and honestly about what he goes through on a daily basis) as he contends with ordeals not of his own making as much as his pious, dedicated ministry (unorthodox, his methods might be, he holds onto his principles and never fails to allow those that might provoke him gain advantage; his struggle is real, though, as his suffering does weaken him spiritually at times) seems to attract attention from those who might like to see him falter and fail.If anything, he might have died in the little impoverished room of his seminary pal and buddy's scrubwoman girlfriend, but at least in this place he was in the company of folks who cared about him. I think the key scene that rings so real and powerful is the priest's visit to a wounded and broken soul, a Countess who lost her child and has isolated herself in her manor, detached from her adulterous husband and vicious daughter. Undaunted in his faith (even though he himself has went through rigorous trials which have tested his own), the priest confronts the Countess on her unyielding rift with God, and the two eventually find peace. The Countess' daughter and husband, on the other hand, continue to denigrate and diminish the priest's reputation and value to the area. One night shatters this when the priest visits home after home despite the stomach cancer rendering him gaunt and bereft of strength. He collapses and this little girl that had often been a repeated nuisance to him helps to look over him until the priest could arise.Claude Laydu is a haunting figure, and the starkest of stark B&W village photography—whether up close or at a distance—often emphasizes his "aloneness" in Ambricourt. Jean Riveyre is the Count who uses his influence to demean Laydu as the priest just isn't like the others before him. Laydu isn't helped by Nicole Ladmiral, the Count's conniving, scheming daughter, looking to gain total attention in the family. Adrien Borel as Laydu's sympathizer, a priest in Torcy, often both scolding him and admiring him in conversations because he is a most unusual priest...he does consider him of great value to the church. Rachel Bérendt is the Countess, the priest's worthy opponent in the "lessons of faith". This is indeed a tough journey to experience along with Laydu due to how much he tolerates for his faith. Heart-wrenching, but the performance by Laydu is worthy of the time invested. The minimalist score isn't overbearing but touches / punctuates the drama.
I found this French film in the book of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, with it being rated five stars out of five by critics I was hoping I would agree with that recommendation as well, from director Robert Bresson (A Man Escaped, Pickpocket, Au Hasard Balthazar, L'Argent). Basically a young Priest (BAFTA nominated Claude Laydu) arrives at his new parish in Ambricourt, he is shunned and ridiculed by people in the village who do not accept his lifestyle and dietary choices (bread and wine). The older Priest of Torcy (Andre Guibert) talks to his younger colleague, his diet is becoming poor and he has a lack of prayer, this is because he is suffering serious stomach cancer, and the disease is causing his health to worsen. The young Priest is inexperienced and frail, but he wants to help dwellers, and he has got into a situation with a wealthy family of the recently deceased Countess (Marie- Monique Arkell), in the end of course the Priest dies from his cancer, but before dying he is absolved by a colleague. Also starring Nicole Ladmiral as Chantal, Nicole Maurey as Miss Louise, Jean Riveyre as Count, Jean Danet as Olivier, Antoine Balpêtré as Doctor Delbende, Martine Lemaire as Séraphita Dumontel, Gaston Séverin as Canon and Léon Arvel as Fabregars. To be honest, either I did not pay the fullest attention to film, or I just naturally did not find it as interesting as I hoped it would be, I certainly understood the basic parts of the story, and the leading actor was good, I'm not sure if I would watch it again to try and get it better, from what I did get out of it I found it an alright drama. Worth watching, in my opinion!
Tim Cawkwell said that this story "defines French Catholicism," and that is basically true. Unsurprisingly it is truer of the semi-epistolary novel than of the film, but as one who was outside the fold of traditional Catholicism for most of his life and is slowly being brought in I think it is safe to say that Cawkwell is on to something.Robert Bresson's film strips out most of the (already spare) political context sprinkled into the original story--"democratic priests" (read: Jansenists, Gallicans, Revolutionaries/leftists), the Church in distress, a moribund and apathetic Christianity (and while it is often supposed that the French uninterested have simply abandoned the Church, in some quarters this apathy remains a serious problem among practicing and believing Catholics)--to focus on the spiritual battle of a pious priest who should have been completely unremarkable and these days would be remarkably controversial for reasons not related to those depicted in the film: the Curé d'Ambricourt (Monsieur l'Abbé... qui ? We are never given his name) is of course, as a man, a sinner, but a thoroughly CATHOLIC priest. He is faithful to the essential magisterium and committed to his parish and his parishioners.It is, however, these strengths which serve to alienate the Curé from the people he serves and to engage the disapproval of his superiors. His weaknesses--an ever-so-slight tendency toward alcoholism resulting from heredity and the need to cover a rapidly encroaching health problem--merely serve as the pretext for this scandal. In the original novel, the Curé remarks that, "the monks suffer for souls; we the priests suffer by the souls!" and this, as many other truths in the book, ring true in the film. It is fascinating to see the treatment of this character: a priest, as an imperfect man, acts as the rightful Vicar of Christ all along the Way of the Cross, right up to the bitter end, and without being sacrosanct, imitates his Master in a manner fitting, without parallel, his religious vocation.Claude Laydu, the lead actor, was not in fact an actor but a comedian for children. I am told Bresson made it a point to use a non-actor and to have this latter repeat scenes over and over to remove any desire to "act." Indeed, he succeeded: the spiritual torment, interior and exterior, is ever-present on the Curé's face and we have no doubt that he suffers by souls, as did our Master. I must cut this review short, for there simply is not enough space in the world to say all the good things about this work. In an era of low morale, apathy, and outright apostasy, it is good to return to some inspiration.
SYNOPSIS: The memories of a young Vicar in a rural French town document the shallow and callus lives of the adults in the community, set against the innocence and growing realizations of its youth.CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: Depression is the first thing that comes to mind. This isn't a very uplifting film, even on a spiritual level. It is extremely intimate, drawing the viewer into the mind of the priest and his discovery of the pain and angst of the townspeople that he is sent to over-see. Hollywood has rarely made this type of film. It has to do more with the examination of the soul and the complexities of the human experience.PROS AND CONS: This film is interesting because it is different from most American cinema. It shows that cinematic story telling can be a personal and introspective art as opposed to a neat plot that is resolved in 90 minutes. For anyone struggling with the complexities of life this would be a good film to see and ponder. In the end, all the things we fuss over have little bearing on the big picture.The soft focus black and white print gives an almost impressionistic tone at the beginning of the film. The story moves smartly with short direct scenes that build characters and set the mood. There are no long takes or establishing shots. It is a very terse film, with minimal dialog. The lives of the rural French community are woven together/discovered by the timid priest who is thrust into their midst. The film shows how other cultures think and what they find important and meaningful.In the film's setting the priest is a standard figure of society, much like a postman or fireman, he is the living conscience of the community. The central character is similar to the Catholic Priest played by Spencer Tracy in "Boy's Town", only less dynamic and more introverted. He searches for the meaning of life amongst the cynical souls of rural France where gossip and back stabbing appear to be the norm. All in all a depressing film with a very thin plot. Mostly an introspective character study of the lives of troubled people and their failure to find salvation. There isn't a lot of resolution in the story, just a certain amount of realization on the part of the characters.