Diary of A Country Priest [DVD] [1951]

 

 

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A young Priest goes to a French rural village and is disliked by the villagers.He has an unknown stomach ailment and is weak and ailing,living on a diet of bread, soaked in sugar and wine.Being austere and idealistic he wants to save souls.People want things for nothing,like a rich farmer,old Fabregars, who wants a cheap no-cost funeral for his wife.The aristocratic family draw him in to their web of problems,the wife,the mistress,the daughter.He is told by a priestly mentor to change his eating habits.He is often faint and morose.He needs to toughen up and not expect to be loved but give spiritual discipline.He has the masochistic misery of a martyr.

He identifies with Christ at Golgotha.Bresson shows the priest as isolated and lonely,in need of love, and approval.He highlights this aspect, by showing him behind glass,seen through window frames.It may be raining or snowing outside but he is trapped in his cell,imprisoned in his own mind.He is drawn to similarly lonely people: the Countess,Seraphita,Chantal and Dr.Delbende.The Journal and the voiceover are Bresson's primary means to detail the Priest of Ambricourt's inner life.The very real writing of pen on paper, is a repetitive ritual throughout the film, blotting, scratching, closing: capturing the soul's immaterial thoughts,ideas and emotions.Similarly the raking of the ground outside mirrors the lining of his stomach.He is a psychological misfit.

He is mocked and tormented by his favoured student,Seraphita,at catechism classes.The Count dislikes him interfering with his family.He tells the Count his barn is empty and field is barren, and could be put to more productive uses for the villagers.He has been asked by the Governess, Louise,to intercede in a conflict involving her pupil,Chantal,the Count's daughter.Chantal tests the priest's compassion, by threatening suicide,she is manipulative, and pours scorn on the priest.In the film's most central scene, he is drawn into ministering to the Countess, imparting his suspicions about Chantal.He admits he fears death, but says he fears her death more.She is tormented and grieves for the loss of her son.He succeeds in helping her find inner peace.He admits the miracle of being able to give what he doesn't have himself.Chantal,unable to comprehend the change in her mother, misinterprets his actions as cruel,and begins to denounce the idealistic priest.

Bresson's film shows a visual metaphor of the spiritual life through his physical malady and the journal entries, the use of long and short shots,the harsh reality of the existence of a man of faith in a secular world.He is slowly consumed by stomach cancer as we learn later. The emotional power builds up through use of minimal dialogue and camera- in- face shots-the man's final moments distilled and captured in a single shot. The final image of an isolated cross encapsulates the profound suffering of this nameless priest.His last words:"What does it matter?All is grace".The priest is free at last.Based on a novel by Bernanos,given treatment of a high order.

In the end it just might be the best film by Bresson. You might not think it first few minutes into the film watching in disbelief Claude Laydu's anemic sickly performance and speech. One might only adjudge it so from our point in time. But a man's life was not always hard-paced with cell phones and spent dodging bullets from aliens. At a point in time there used to be such a thing as a soul and all kinds of worries that went with it. Gene splicing put an end to it but there is always such a thing as nostalgia. Modern age might have killed the soul but the yearning for it in humans cannot be erased. Having seen this film several times I may say it never failed to move me deeply.

Bressons ekes out of his sparse material a deeply moving story of faith and loneliness. It is a completely original film in that the performances come about before one's eyes but seem to have no celluoid permanence, and on next viewing will reveal new and different motivations and nuances. The sufferings and yearnings of the characters are real and powerful enough, but mainly as a result of Bresson's ability to get us, the audience, to project our feelings upon the drama, investing the minimal action with rapidity and purposefulness, and so propel it to its destination. The film is one of several that, to my mind, establishes this director among that handful of all-time greats.

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1.0 out of 5 stars The King's new clothes
I had high hopes for this film, having read rave reviews. But I confess that I found it to be tripe dressed as art. What was the point of the whole thing? Read more

Published 4 months ago by Mr. T. Heald

1.0 out of 5 stars Boring
I've read rather a lot about the work of Bresson over the years and this film in particular. My expectations couldn't have been much higher. Read more

Published on 29 Jun 2009 by L J Thomson

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