Las Carmelitas

Cinema has not been insensitive to Georges Bernanos , who ranks alongside with other great Catholic 20th-century writers, most notably Graham Greene, André Gide and Paul Claudel. One of Robert Bresson's masterpieces, 'Mouchette,' was adapted from Bernanos. 'Sous le soleil de Satan' turned out to be another interesting adaptation . But his most famous play is this Dialogue, a period piece which is an eloquent libel against repression on any cult freedom, no matter what kind of creed. Though the picture cannot be compared to the magnificent opera that composer Francis Poulenc extracted from the same text, it does record, with sincerity, the tragic episode when nuns, during the Terror regime, in the French Revolution, willingly became martyrs in the name of Christian faith and freedom of belief. Maybe revolutions cannot help being gruesome, but must they suspend belief beyond the rescue of the soul(s)?

George Bernanos, the royalist French writer, prepared in 1947 a screenplay for a film that never was made, Les Carmélites. (Bernanos' screenplay was based on a 1931 historical novel by Gertrud von Lefort, Die Letzte am Schafott.) The old-fashioned word for screenplay in French is "Dialogue." This "Screenplay for The Carmelites," (Dialogue Des Carmélites) was published shortly after Bernanos' death in 1948.

Francis Poulenc wrote an opera, which premiered in 1957, using Bernanos' very words (but not all of them). Poulenc's opera is one of the most important of the XX Century, and it is an intoxicating blend of austere religion and sensuous music. The opera is mostly about fear: the fear of a young girl, Blanche, who enlists as a Carmélite novice to find a refuge from crippling anxiety, just when religious orders are threatened during the French Révolution. The opera is called Dialogues des Carmélites (plural), and it is available on DVD in many versions.

Now, back to the movie. This is NOT the aborted movie that Bernanos wrote his dialogue for. Actually, the text of this screenplay is not faithful to Bernanos' stylized words. This movie - which was shot after the opera's première - is much more realistic than Bernanos' screenplay, or than the opera. This is not a great movie. Seen on its own, it is almost dull. But it helps one appreciate the opera better. One understands more clearly than in the opera why Mother Marie does not join her sisters during the final slaughter, for instance. Where the opera is very much about Blanche, and very much about anxiety, the film is about the loss of religious freedom during political upheavals (less gripping, but interesting too). The idea of "exchanging deaths" which is capital in the opera and in Bernanos' text, is not as primordial in the film.

The movie helps us detect an unfortunate recent tendency to camp up the opera. The atmosphere of the earliest recording of the opera (Dervaux - EMI) is quite similar to that of the film: restrained, dry-eyed. Nowadays, the opera is often closer to the hysterical atmosphere of Queen of Spades, or even Elektra, if you follow me. Nowhere is it more apparent than with the character of the old prioress. In the movie, she is underplayed by sweet and poignant Madeleine Renaud. In a 3,000 seat opera house, she is often played as a hammy grotesque these days (great singer-actresses such as Helga Dernesch and Anja Silja were particularly awful this way). If I were to stage the opera, I would have the cast sit through the movie, for sure, to help them ensure balance.

Back to the movie: Madeleine Renaud is wonderful, as I said. Jeanne Moreau is compelling in the role of Mère Marie (a larger, more fleshed-out role than in the opera). Alida Valli, with her whiskey and cigarettes voice and her sensuous gaze is an odd choice for the new prioress. (Her scenes with Pierre Brasseur bring back memories of Eyes without a Face.) Pascale Audret is not as good as Blanche: too pretty, too sane.

This movie will be of great interest for those who love Poulenc's opera, and for fans of Jeanne Moreau and Alida Valli. Otherwise, it is low-key historical entertainment with a simplistic anti-revolutionary message.

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.

Please note that movie, book and opera are based on the Novel "Die Letzte am Schafott" ("The Last at the Scaffold" or "The Song at the Scaffold") by Gertrud von le Fort.

The German writer and poet lived from 1876 until 1971. She has written many books (for details check www.gertrud-von-le-fort.de).

Some of her other works have also been rewritten as movies or theatre plays, e.g. "Das Schweigen am Himmel" by Dallmayr, which you can also find in the IMDb database. This film is based on her book "Am Tor das Himmels".

If you liked the movie - as I am sure you undoubtedly will - you may want to check for a performance of the opera. Not surprisingly, this opera is staged quite often.

Based on a true story (as well as a book and a play): In 1794, during the Reign of Terror phase of the French Revolution, Carmelite nuns in the city of Compiègne are threatened by revolutionaries to either renounce their faith or face prosecution.

The opening credits are shown against a caged wall in a cathedral behind which members of the convent live. This is a reminder that we, as viewers, are outsiders of a cloistered convent where only the residents are allowed to set foot. Even when higher members of the Catholic Church want to speak to a Carmelite nun, they can do so only from behind this wall.

From this point, the viewer is taken inside the exclusive area and sees the daily convent life within a beautiful and peaceful setting of cloistered halls, small-sized rooms, and a collective commitment of a dedicated, spiritual life. The beautiful black-and-white cinematography (by André Bac) enhances the experience.

While the greater drama happens in the later half, directors Raymond Léopold Bruckberger and Philippe Agostini still manage to keep the viewer intrigued in the earlier section even with routine activities that are the opposite of dramatic. This is a great setup for the grander drama of events that happen later on. The directors also succeed in creating a beautiful and soulful atmosphere of not only another time and place but with a specific religious mindset which would not exist today even within the same religion.

"Dialogue of the Carmelites" has a dramatic finale that raises the bar for all dramatic finales. Its melding of a well-known period of history with a spiritual community whose faith is strong enough to overcome fear of death is utterly fascinating in its uniqueness. With a fine cast lead by Jeanne Moreau and Alida Valli, this film qualifies as an under-rated gem. - dbamateurcritic

RATING: 9 out of 10

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT: Directing by Raymond Léopold Bruckberger and Philippe Agostini