Das Hohelied der Liebe

Robert Bresson's first feature film, ANGELS OF SIN examines the power of religious piety and sets the story within a Dominican convent where female ex-cons are rehabilitated, and makes great play of a professional cast.

Our angelic protagonist is Sister Anne-Marie (Faure), hailed from a well-to-do family, but resolves to devote herself to the noble work of reforming the sinner, and her prime object is Thérèse (Holt), a prisoner claims that she is innocent, and right upon her release, she takes her revenge to the man who should be accountable for her imprisonment and then joins the convent to dodge the punishment, much to Anne-Marie's delight (who doesn't twig her true purpose), who takes Thérèse under her wing.

But Anne-Marie's beneficent intention and zealous alacrity is brushed aside by Thérèse's penitence-free lying-low stopgap, who in turn, cunningly stokes discords between a naive and vivacious Anne-Marie and the more stolid and jealousy-inflamed ones whose telling opinions of the former are at once self-revealing and acrimonious, after a squabble about a black cat, its fallout has Anne-Marie ousted from the convent, but it takes her sacrificial final act (a bit sickly though) to finalize her lofty mission, redemption is achieved with haunting clarity in its solemn coda.

A rigid exercise in his craft of shaping up a spiritual parable, Bresson's self-disciplined style is in its inchoate state, stunning chiaroscuro and beatific soft focus compositions notwithstanding, the story has been retouched with a sentimental glamor mostly owing to Renée Faure's virtuous performance in the center, an effect soon Bresson would ditch roundly after THE LADIES OF THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE (1945), whereas a fiercely snarky Jany Holt manifests more stamina and inscrutability which is more likely consonant with Bresson's aesthetics.

The internal power play and peer pressure inside a convent is only scuffed without patent virulence, which saves us from another nun-demonizing diatribe and grants Bresson a more sagacious eye on religion and humanity, although ANGELS OF SIN can be hardly extolled as a groundbreaking jumping-off point from a future auteur.

An absorbing melodrama with great performances from Renée Faure, Sylvie and Jany Holt. Novice nun Anne-Marie, slightly worryingly over-confident, embarks on a fervent mission to redeem a particularly troubled convict, Thérèse.

The script is really strong, and particularly as it portrays the life of the convent. The saints'-wisdom-tombola and the conversation in the laundry are charming, and the ceremonies and submissions quietly powerful.

Anne-Marie's urge to do good becomes increasingly insufferable, and then unhinged to the point where she denounces the sisters' pet cat. The cat, rather than her thankless protégé Thérèse, whose response to Anne-Marie's selfless love, or perhaps her foolish religious pride, comes increasingly to the fore in a deeply moving ending.

This first Bresson effort has not worn well.The director himself did not like it,and it is sure easy to see why.A non -French audience will not notice it,but the actresses here are professional,some of them were stars of the era.The great Sylvie,Renée Faure,Jany Holt were famous in France when they starred in "les Anges du Péché" .Some were to become ,like Silvia Montfort,whose whining acting is in direct contrast to everything RB would do afterward .

Can today's audience relate to those characters?I have my doubts.This is an excellent documentary : a nun's life is no laughing party (for that matter,see also Zinnemann's "a nun's story" and Alain Cavalier's "Thérese").But the nun from the bourgeoisie who tries to redeem a criminal 's soul will not convince anybody,unless he absolutely loves the director.

It's little more than a Sulpician melodrama.

Script and dialogues by the director, Raymond Bruckberger and the playwright Jean Giradoux. Accurate and moving description of a Dominican convent (Bruckberger was a Dominican monk). The story centers on the difficulty of setting precise limits between Christian charity and pride. Unfortunately, the script veers needlessly (and distractingly) into overly dramatic territory midway through the movie. This affects negatively the quality of the acting as well. Music is a little too emphatic at times.

On the positive side, well paced direction and excellent cinematography. This is the first feature film by Bresson and there are some inklings of the minimalist style that would mark his later work.

1st full-length feature by the self-described Christian-atheist, it was made in occupied France after Bresson had done a year in a prison camp.

There's nothing ostentatious i his style. It's sparse, no flashy camera-acrobatics or editing tricks. I always feel the best directors are those whose work you hardly notice.

The story is set in a convent, Sisters of Bethany, it's purpose is to help women in prison rehabilitate. In it we find Anne-Marie, a somewhat proud & middle-class woman who comes to logger-heads w/Mother Superior & this leads to problems. Along the way she connects w/one of the more recalcitrant prisoners & recognizes her pain & need to be reached out to. Upon release the prisoner returns to join the convent under suspicious circumstances.

What we have is a contrast in characters who come to the convent for different reasons & an exploration into spiritual matters. Well worth watching...