In seventeenth-century France, a promiscuous and divisive local priest, Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed), uses his powers to protect the city of Loudon from destruction at the hands of the establishment. Soon, he stands accused of the demonic possession of Sister Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave), whose erotic obsession with him fuels the hysterical fervour that sweeps through the convent. With its bold and brilliant direction by Ken Russell, magnificent performances by Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave, exquisite Derek Jarman sets and sublimely dissonant score by Sir Peter Maxwell... Davies, The Devils stands as a profound and sincere commentary on religious hysteria, political persecution and the corrupt marriage of church and state. [show more]
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THE DEVILS was the Ken Russell film version of the controversial play by John Whiting. The story, based on Aldous Huxley's THE DEVILS OF LOUDUN, concerns controversial 17th century French priest Urbain Grandier, whose radical political and religious notions and profligate sex life earn him many enemies. When a group of nuns appears to have been 'bewitched' by Grandier, his rivals feed on the resulting mass hysteria, using this incident as an excuse to have the priest arrested. Refusing to confess to being in league with Satan and to renounce his 'heretical' views, Grandier undergoes appalling tortures, and is finally burned at the stake. Vanessa Redgrave co-stars as the head nun.
Ken Russell helms this graphic 1971 adaptation of a documented witchcraft case, which took place in France in 1634. Outspoken priest Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed) finds himself accused of seducing a group of hysterical nuns while in demon form by Mother Superior Sister Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave), who is obsessed with Grandier and driven into a fit of envy when he marries another woman. With the involvement of charismatic exorcist Father Barre (Michael Gothard), the affair turns into a sordid mass exorcism of the tainted convent. With much controversy surrounding its subject matter of religion combined with violence and sex, many cuts were made to the film in order for it to attain certification.
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