Christianity has a dark past. It's France in the 17th century, witch hunt and exorcism are happening. After a convent allegedly was visited by demons, inquisitions are taking place. Father Urbain Grandier, a man of honesty and true love, gets caught up in the proceedings...
This is a review of the original UK release of "The Devils" with a runtime of ~106 minutes. Other releases are considerably toned down, by cuts, and alternate shots (e.g. US).
Holy Moses. If you're the sensitive kind of person, then this movie is really not for you. Even if you're not the sensitive kind of person, "The Devils" will probably leave you a bit speechless.
That's because not only is "The Devils" grotesquely brutal, and probably quite accurate, in its depiction of medieval conditions, medical practice, and torture, but - in stark contrast to many other transgressive films - is also a multi-layered, razor sharp statement on imposed morale, social dynamics, politics, religion, freedom, and love.
In a sense, it takes the same approach as "Dawn of the Dead" (1978) does: It slaps you in the face so often and so hard that you can't help start thinking about it. "The Devils" can be seen as blasphemy - but only if you forcibly ignore Jesus' words: 'Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone' (John 8:7) Any even just remotely decent person will obviously not ignore these words, and at least for a second think about how social rules applied to the collective inherently apply to the individual, and as a result to the person itself.
The hard part, of course, is getting through the onslaught. The superficial viewer will probably switch off "The Devils" pretty quickly, and put it aside as some crazy, arty, noisy piece of anti-culture. One might argue that it's unnecessary to go to such drastic lengths, when a more consumer friendly version of the film could've conveyed the same message. But it isn't. Looking at Christian crusades, inquisition, and, more recently, cases of child abuse in clerical circles, it is good practice to every now and then name things precisely for what they are.
Some of the actors in this movie probably went out of their comfort zone during filming. Most notably, the performance of Vanessa Redgrave as the most devout, and most guilty of nuns, is genuinely breathtaking - she goes from frantically insane to fragile in an instant, with all shades in between, giving scary credibility to a character that might turn out laughable in other films. Oliver Reed is perfect for his role, with his powerful physical presence, and nuanced acting skills, ranging from cool self-discipline to extreme outbursts, again creating an actual character. Some of the smaller roles are played by equally acclaimed top actors, there are a couple of scenes which involve a large number of extras, and some scenes are so crowded and wild, it becomes frightening. And so on - "The Devils" plays in a league of its own, everything about it is fine-tuned to perfection, from the wild editing to the sometimes larger-than-life sets, it's on a whole different level than for example "Witchfinder General" (1968) or "Mark of the Devil" (1970).
Tinto Brass'/Bob Guccione's "Caligula" (1979) was ambitious, but with conflicting goals during production became pretty much a train wreck that went nowhere, and is mostly remembered for outrageousness only. That certainly isn't the case with "The Devils". The movie's censorship and release story is a legend in itself. This movie has one goal, one director, and he fought hard to keep his artistic vision intact.
Ken Russell's "The Devils" is a very hefty one. The production quality of this movie is insane, and its impact is... spectacular. It's The Exorcist, only with The Devils instead, and way bigger. It's psychology, lessons one, two, and three - at least. It's a masterpiece.
Verdict: Extremely well made, shocking, and eye-opening. 9.5/10
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devils_(film)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066993/
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