Soeur Sourire

"Soeur Sourire" aka "the singing nun" was a one hit wonder but she achieved the incredible feat of taking the one and only French language song to number one on the billboard charts (the whole month of December 1963);the album did even better than the single,with a total of six weeks at the top (dislodged by "meet the Beatles");there was even a movie feat Debbie Reynolds ,but no follow up to the golden start with "Dominique" .

Soeur Sourire ,after her short moment of glory , was despised, shunned, bullied, ridiculed and persecuted or at least treated with suspicion .A -very mediocre - Neo Nouvelle Vague flick called "Les Idoles featured a caricature of the singer;we could follow the fall of the ex-nun in the tabloids ,the only 'refuge" for the has-beens in Europa.

Soeur Sourire,as depicted in the movie,was actually a woman ahead of her time ;influenced by Vatican II and ...Elvis Presley and rock and roll (we see her performing "Be Bop A Lula" in her convent),she was not prepared for the austere reactionary life among the nuns of the early sixties.Abetted by a young priest,she thought that pop music was a brand new way to get the Christian message across .She did not realize that she was adored as a "singing nun";even without the convent's disapproval ,she would never make it as a laywoman;and the fact that she left the holy orders to live with another woman did not help ,in th sixties when homosexuality -she only reportedly accepted her sexuality at the end of her life-was a taboo subject.(She became a nun just because she was ashamed of feeling like kissing another girl).The first sequence is revealing: a tomboy playing football;her attempts at "femininization" ,notably in Canada ,(making up,trying to have an affair with her manager) are doomed to failure.Her latter songs had nothing to do with the candid sanctimonious "Dominique" and dealt with modern subjects such as the pill,woman's lib,macho men,and the Church itself.

Cecile De France gives an outstanding performance as this unfortunate Belgian woman whose fall was hard.

Anachronisms : in the records shop ,circa 1963-64, you can see a France Gall sleeve which is actually from 1966;a man uses the verb "Niquer" (F....) whereas this word did not become "trendy" before the eighties.

what a beautiful picture! what a great cast! what a fantastic soundtrack! what a tragic loss! certainly because this world needs songs with lyrics like those of soeur Sourire, here fantastically portrayed by Cecile de France. congratulations Stijn Coninx! I know I keep repeating myself, but this movie is one of the best Belgium has ever made. I can't understand how it was possible to be made, this movie must have cost a lot.

I had no idea this movie was about being gay, so it surprised me. but the peaceful message put me back on the right track: peace and love is the most important thing in the world. yes, I can say this movie has changed my political thoughts completely.

I can't write very well, so I'm going to shut up, but I just want to end with telling how much this picture has got into my heart... no, I can't, you just have to see it for yourself. so bad luck for America, the chances they will see this movie gem are very... hey, wait a minute, let's nominate this with an academy award for best foreign picture 2009!

This film was obviously a labor of love... it's perceptible in every frame. I'm surprised it's not better known, because it works in every way. Truly Jeannine Deckers was a woman ahead of her time, even if that world wasn't ready for her. A gay icon, avant-la-lettre. And people ahead of their time sometimes must go through hell, and Jeannine did.

Exquisitely, stylishly photographed, elegantly and suavely edited, and superbly acted and directed, this will be a must-see for those immersed in Catholic theology, women's studies, sexual politics, those immersed in GLBT issues and history, 1960's history, and those who simply loved her 1962 hit, "Dominique" (even though her record was presented maniacally, as a source of bizarrerie in the recent episodes of American HORROR STORY, perhaps unfortunately.) The period details are stunningly accurate throughout... Belgium in the 1960's is flawlessly rendered... every prop, fabric, automobile and hairstyle is note-perfect.

The character obviously representing Ed Sullivan has been given a similar-sounding pseudonym in this film, almost surely because of permission rights in using his name. But anyone with any wit at all recognizes him and his TV show.

This is a film of great subtlety and emotion, and the tour-de-force performance given by the lovely and amazing Cécile de France is stunning. In fact, I feel slightly in love with her after seeing this.

Highly recommended. It is my hope that many GLBT folks worldwide will watch this, especially my sapphic sisters, even if they are less-than-comfortable with watching a foreign film with subtitles. See this! A magnificent gem of a film.