Diary of a Country Priest  

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Diary of a Country Priest (original French title: Journal d'un curé de campagne) is a 1951 French film directed by Robert Bresson, and starring Claude Laydu. It was closely based on the novel of the same name by Georges Bernanos. Published in 1937, the novel received the Grand prix du roman de l'Académie française. It tells the story of a young, sickly priest, who has just arrived in his first parish, a village in northern France. The novel has been translated to English by Pamela Morris and was published the same year as the French original.

Two other French scriptwriters, Jean Aurenche and Pierre Bost had wanted to make film adaptations of the novel. Bernanos rejected Aurenche's first draft, and by the time Bresson got around to the task, Bernanos had died. Bresson said he "would have taken more liberties" if Bernanos were still alive. The film had considerable influences on Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver.

Film plot summary

A young priest arrives at Ambricourt, his new parish. He is not welcome. The girls of the catechism class laugh at him in a prank, whereby only one of them appears to know the liturgical basis of the Eucharist so that the rest of them can laugh at their private conversation. His colleagues criticize his diet of bread and wine and ascetic lifestyle. Concerned about Chantal, the daughter of the Countess, the priest visits the Countess at the family chateau, and appears to help her resume communion with God after a period of doubt, but she dies during the following night, allowing her daughter to spread false rumors that the priest's harsh words had tormented her to death. Refusing confession, Chantal had previously spoken to the priest about her hatred of her parents.

The older priest from Torcy talks to his younger colleague about his poor diet and lack of prayer, but he remains unable to focus on doing so. After his health worsens, the priest goes to the city to visit a doctor, who diagnoses him with stomach cancer. The priest goes to a former colleague who has lapsed and is now an apothecary, and lives with a woman outside wedlock. He dies in the druggist's house after being blessed by him. Two famous lines from the end include "God is not a torturer" (Scorsese's favorite line) and "All is grace."

Selected cast

Awards

The film won eight international awards, including the Grand Prize at the Venice International Film Festival, and the Prix Louis Delluc. .




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Diary of a Country Priest" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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