Leon Morin, Priest (Melville, 1961): Prince Charles Cinema, 6.10pm
This is a 35mm presentation.
Chicago Reader review:
Aiming successfully for a wider audience in 1961, the neglected French independent Jean-Pierre Melville (Le Samourai)
adapted Beatrix Beck's autobiographical novel, set in a French village
during World War II, about a young woman falling in love with a
handsome, radical young priest who's fully aware of his power over her.
For the starring roles Melville, godfather of the New Wave, ironically
selected two talented actors catapulted to fame by that
movement—Emmanuele Riva (Hiroshima, Mon Amour) and Jean-Paul Belmondo (Breathless).
The poetic results are literary and personal; the heroine's offscreen
narration suggests the pre-Bressonian form of Melville's first feature, Le Silence de la Mer,
and sudden subjective shots convey the woman's physical proximity to
the priest as she undergoes an ambiguous religious conversion. Not an
unqualified success, the film remains strong for its performances, its
inventive editing and framing, and its evocative rendering of the French
occupation. The eclectic and resourceful nonjazz score is by jazz
pianist Martial Solal.
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Here (and above) is the trailer.
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