I am no doubt in the minority in believing the French Revolution to represent one of the peaks of human insanity and proof positive that when something undesirable is overthrown it is succeeded by something infinitely worse. The 'realists' of course will say that one cannot make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.
The 'broken eggs' in this case are the seventeen thousand odd who were guillotined during the Reign of Terror, not to mention the countless numbers who were executed without trial, died in prison or who were massacred by 'les citoyens'.
In 1794, as a result of the process known as 'de-Christianisation', sixteen Carmelite nuns were publicy executed for refusing to renounce their faith. Many will be aware of the powerful opera based on this event by Poulenc and some might even have seen it! The novel by Gertrud von Le Fort was adapted for the stage by the esteemed Georges Bernanos and this film version has been adapted by Philippe Agostini and Raymond Leopold Bruckburger, an ordained priest. This has been co-directed by Agostini and Bruckburger but who directed what and to what extent, is unknown.
Agostini began as a cinematographer and his cameraman's 'eye' is very much in evidence here although it is officially shot by Andre Bac.
Excellent score by Jean Francaix and art direction by Maurice Collason.
The cast is uniformly excellent. I would hazard a guess that artistes of the calibre of Jeanne Moreau, Alida Valli, Pierre Brasseur and Madeleine Renaud are pretty bomb-proof and shine regardless of direction but one cannot help but feel that the film itself is missing the touch of a really first rate director. Considering his successful collaborations with Bernanos and that Bruckburger wrote his first film 'Angels of Sin', Robert Bresson would seem the ideal choice to direct but he had already disdained to work with professional actors. The name of Georges Franju springs to mind also. Although the piece is lacking in some respects, it is the strong performances, sense of period and highly emotive material that carry it through. The final scene is devastating and is made even more so by the directors' decision to allow us to use our imagination by showing us neither the instrument of execution nor to hear the horrible sound of the blade descending.
Not a great film but a very good one which serves to remind us that when fanaticism is on the march, nothing and no one is sacred.
