Les Diables

Titre original : The Devils

1971
16
1h 51min

NOTE IMDb

7,7/10

19 k

MA NOTE

POPULARITÉ

4 833

2 199

Vanessa Redgrave and Oliver Reed in Les Diables (1971)

Dark Comedy Period Drama Biography Drama History

Au 17ème siècle en France, le père Urbain Grandier veut protéger la ville de Loudun contre la corruption du cardinal de Richelieu. L'hystérie survient dans la ville quand il est accusé de so... Tout lireAu 17ème siècle en France, le père Urbain Grandier veut protéger la ville de Loudun contre la corruption du cardinal de Richelieu. L'hystérie survient dans la ville quand il est accusé de sorcellerie par une nonne sexuellement réprimée.Au 17ème siècle en France, le père Urbain Grandier veut protéger la ville de Loudun contre la corruption du cardinal de Richelieu. L'hystérie survient dans la ville quand il est accusé de sorcellerie par une nonne sexuellement réprimée.

Voir les informations de production sur IMDbPro

NOTE IMDb

7,7/10

19 k

MA NOTE

POPULARITÉ

4 833

2 199

Voir les informations de production sur IMDbPro

Récompenses
- 4 victoires au total

Anecdotes
A major sequence in which the nuns tear down and ravish a life-sized icon of Christ in an orgiastic frenzy was cut from the film and subsequently vanished. Film critic Mark Kermode discovered the footage many years later. Ken Russell was keen to reinstate the scene but found that Warner Brothers were not interested in doing a director's cut. The footage can be seen in a documentary Kermode made about Russell and was subsequently included in an uncut DVD release.

Gaffes
Early in the movie when Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed) is seen grooming his hair. It is a close-up of him supposedly looking at a mirror in the upper left hand corner of the screen, behind the viewer. Obviously there is no mirror as he consistently misses combing the more egregiously messed up parts of his hair and instead repeatedly combs the portions that are already groomed. In fact when he is done, his hair is still messed up.

Citations
Grandier: Don't look at me! Look at your city! If your city is destroyed, your freedom is destroyed also... If you would remain free men, fight. Fight them or become their slaves.

Crédits fous
At the start of the film: "This film is based upon historical fact. The principal characters lived and the major events in the film actually took place."

Versions alternatives
In 2012 the BFI persuaded Warners to allow them to release the film on video in the UK. Warners refused to allow the director's cut at all and would only allow the BFI to release the original 'X' certificate version on DVD. Warners refused permission to allow a hi rez release. The BFI produced a superb DVD transfer for the first time in its proper 2.35:1 ratio. The Channel 4 documentary 'Hell on Earth' was included but the 'Rape of Christ' sequence was removed. They also cut a line of dialogue when one of the actors refers to Warners as a bunch of 'c**ts'. Before this in the USA the 'unrated' version appeared as an upcoming release complete with sleeve art. 24 hours later Warners stopped the release!

Connexions
Featured in Omnibus: Russell's Progress (1971)

Bandes originales
Bourrée d'Avignon
from Secretum musarum (1615)
Music by Nicolas Vallet.
Played as the king's dance in the opening.

Avis des utilisateurs154

Commenter

Commentaire à la une

10/10

Genius; The greatest film of church corruption ever conceived.

Cited by director Alex Cox and critic Mark Kermode as one of the ten greatest achievements in cinema of all time, The Devils is based on a true story set in France in 1634 about the evils of the union of church and state controlled by power hungry, perverse men who prey on faith and fear, and one priest, Father Grandier, who tries to protect the liberties and walls of his city, Loudun.

This film was met with great controversy and opposition due to its contents and depictions of blasphemy. Hardly available today, the current VHS release suffers from trigger happy censors with no desire to leave the plot intact. The video translation is appalling, with only a fraction of the resolution and quality of film, and the fullscreen framing mauls at least 60% of the compositions. If you can attain this on widescreen on DVD, you are a lucky person. Unfortunately, as is reflected by another comment on this board, most people see the crappy version and judge the film based on that.