Ken Russell’s The Devils (1971) has been a notorious prospect to me, a film that received considerable controversy on release, was a box office hit in the UK, yet was also banned in a few places and a director’s cut has still not been released by Warner Brothers despite its critical reappraisal over the years. As for me, finally watching it, I was surprised by the fact, that in spite of its provocative imagery and grotesque violence, it is a serious drama, and that Oliver Reed’s character, Father Grandier, was not quite the rule-breaking Caligula that the posters/images led me to believe. Actually, some of the most blasphemous imagery are found within the sexual fantasies of hunchbacked nun Sister Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave) who is obsessed with this moustached, rock star priest of the town. The film is based on historical events, and is more about how the cardinal of the Catholic church plans with Louis VIII in 17th century France to demolish all fortifications of towns in order to quash any uprising by the Protestants. One of the few permitted walled towns is Grandier’s home of Loudon, which Grandier is left in control of after the governor passed. All of this leads to a show trial of heresy using Grandier’s lusty reputation for affairs (and his support for religious freedom) against him, conspirators seizing Sister Jeanne’s jealousy and strange behaviour to force her and her convent to act “possessed” by Grandier’s “demonic” ways. It’s like The Crucible crossed with a Fellini bacchanal with plenty of over the top performances from the villainous, cackling forces. The Devils is a wild ride, even with its serious, political intent, with the impressive structures (apparently designed by Derek Jarman) and costuming as well as Russell’s bold direction, just the fact that a major studio produced such a dark movie, and the full-bodied, fervent performances by Reed (one of his best) and Redgrave. Definitely not for everyone’s tastes (some of it is quite unpleasant), but if you are up for the challenge, it is more rewarding than its illicit reputation suggests.
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