Les Diables

Original title: The Devils

1971
16
1h 51m

IMDb RATING

7.7/10

20K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

4,416

545

Vanessa Redgrave and Oliver Reed in Les Diables (1971)

Dark Comedy Period Drama Biography Drama History

In 17th-century France, Father Urbain Grandier's protection of the city of Loudun from the corrupt Cardinal Richelieu is undermined by a sexually repressed nun's accusation of witchcraft.In 17th-century France, Father Urbain Grandier's protection of the city of Loudun from the corrupt Cardinal Richelieu is undermined by a sexually repressed nun's accusation of witchcraft.In 17th-century France, Father Urbain Grandier's protection of the city of Loudun from the corrupt Cardinal Richelieu is undermined by a sexually repressed nun's accusation of witchcraft.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.7/10

20K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

4,416

545

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 4 wins total

Videos2

Trailer 2:24

Trailer [EN]

Interview 1:48

'Apostle' Director Gareth Evans on the Dark Films That Inspired Him

Interview 1:48

'Apostle' Director Gareth Evans on the Dark Films That Inspired Him

Photos111

+ 105

‘Snow White’ Stars Test Their Wits

Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, and director Marc Webb take our Ultimate Disney Quiz.

Watch now

9:57

More like this

6.9

6.9

7.1

7.0

7.2

Music Lovers - La Symphonie pathétique

9.3

Closure

6.1

Le Repaire du ver blanc

6.8

6.4

9.6

8.0

7.5

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
Derek Jarman's sets are modeled on the sets of Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927). Ken Russell wanted to avoid the clichéd look of period films and insisted on anachronistic, even futuristic, design. Russell's guidance to Jarman was that it should echo the 'rape in a public toilet' line from the Huxley novel that inspired the film.

Goofs
Early in the movie when Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed) is seen grooming his hair. It is a close-up of him supposedly looking at a mirror in the upper left hand corner of the screen, behind the viewer. Obviously there is no mirror as he consistently misses combing the more egregiously messed up parts of his hair and instead repeatedly combs the portions that are already groomed. In fact when he is done, his hair is still messed up.

Quotes
Grandier: Don't look at me! Look at your city! If your city is destroyed, your freedom is destroyed also... If you would remain free men, fight. Fight them or become their slaves.

Crazy credits
At the start of the film: "This film is based upon historical fact. The principal characters lived and the major events in the film actually took place."

Alternate versions
In 2012 the BFI persuaded Warners to allow them to release the film on video in the UK. Warners refused to allow the director's cut at all and would only allow the BFI to release the original 'X' certificate version on DVD. Warners refused permission to allow a hi rez release. The BFI produced a superb DVD transfer for the first time in its proper 2.35:1 ratio. The Channel 4 documentary 'Hell on Earth' was included but the 'Rape of Christ' sequence was removed. They also cut a line of dialogue when one of the actors refers to Warners as a bunch of 'c**ts'. Before this in the USA the 'unrated' version appeared as an upcoming release complete with sleeve art. 24 hours later Warners stopped the release!

Connections
Featured in Omnibus: Russell's Progress (1971)

Soundtracks
Bourrée d'Avignon
from Secretum musarum (1615)
Music by Nicolas Vallet.
Played as the king's dance in the opening.

User reviews156

Featured review

10/10

Genius; The greatest film of church corruption ever conceived.

Cited by director Alex Cox and critic Mark Kermode as one of the ten greatest achievements in cinema of all time, The Devils is based on a true story set in France in 1634 about the evils of the union of church and state controlled by power hungry, perverse men who prey on faith and fear, and one priest, Father Grandier, who tries to protect the liberties and walls of his city, Loudun.

This film was met with great controversy and opposition due to its contents and depictions of blasphemy. Hardly available today, the current VHS release suffers from trigger happy censors with no desire to leave the plot intact. The video translation is appalling, with only a fraction of the resolution and quality of film, and the fullscreen framing mauls at least 60% of the compositions. If you can attain this on widescreen on DVD, you are a lucky person. Unfortunately, as is reflected by another comment on this board, most people see the crappy version and judge the film based on that.