The Devils
The Devils
The Devils (Ken Russell) 1971 rated 18
Remastered to 4K standard and fully uncut ‘The Devils’ is re-released onto an unsuspecting public once more in UK cinemas from 30th October.
Based on actual events in 17th Century France and adapted from Aldous Huxley’s novel ‘The Devils of Loudon’, The Devils’ is Ken Russell’s finest film, a tour de force tackling such weighty, controversial subjects as local and national political power struggles, charismatic politicians and clerics, hypocrisy and bigotry within the Roman Catholic Church and the power of hysteria among cloistered communities.
The action opens with the relatively secure life of people within the fortified French town of Loudon, largely overseen by the appropriately named Urban Grandier (Oliver Reed in an overpowering performance only he could have delivered) a philandering priest who is far from popular with the wider clergy and political authorities. The peasants go about their daily business and the nuns of the Ursuline convent attend to their devotions, sometimes lapsing into hero worship of the formidable Grandier, as he passes the convent on horseback, the picture of aggressive manhood. The convent is headed by Mother Superior Jeanne des Anges, Vanessa Redgrave putting out a crazed performance in her tragic, sexually frustrated state, obsessed with Grandier, her body congenitally twisted and neck crooked.
The ambitious Cardinal Richlieu has ordered the destruction of the town fortifications and dispatches his minions under Baron De Laubardemont (Dudley Sutton, an appropriately weaselly performance) to give effect to this. Initially frustrated in their attempts by Grandier, they resort to ever more subversive and dangerous methods to topple Grandier and the walls of Loudon. The vertiginous walls and buildings of the town were designed by the young Derek Jarman, with white dominating the palette.
De Laubardemont’s plans go into action with a direct attack on the morals of Grandier, who has by now performed a marriage ceremony for himself and a young village girl, Madeleine de Brou, (Gemma Jones, a subtle, sweet performance). Questioned by the authorities about his many sexual conquests and possession of considerable wealth and much seditious material, he is taken away to be tortured in what must surely be the most graphic manner ever seen on cinema screens.
The most notorious scenes in ‘The Devils’ takes place in the Ursuline convent, when Mother Superior has lost her mind and the nuns go into a crazed sexual frenzy, with each other and any who comes within touching distance of them. The strict historical accuracy of these extraordinary scenes may well be what saved the film from a UK ban.
There is hardly a moment when the screen is not filled with unhinged, dynamic action, when the soundtrack is not howling out its message of injustice; performances are superb throughout.
On its original release, ‘The Devils’ caused a storm of controversy that resulted in fierce condemnation by the Vatican, an outright ban in Italy and an ‘X’ rating in the UK. This was only after cuts were forced on the film by executives of Warner Brothers at the climactic ‘rape of Christ’ scene and later, British Board of Film Censors cuts to the juxtaposition of sexual activity and religious devotion and the public torture and execution of Urban Grandier. Cuts to the US print were even more swingeing than this.
There have been many good directors and a few great ones, but there has been only one Ken Russell.
‘The Devils’ is screening at UK cinemas as from 30th October.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_LVe_dUWKg
Scenester
22/9/26
