Agnès de Dieu

This is a superb film. It has great performances, specially from Meg Tilly, as the young nun who has fallen from grace. Neither she, the rest of the sisters, or the psychiatrist sent to investigate the case, can find a satisfactory explanation. What really impressed me about this movie is the way it confronts religious beliefs with skepticism, confrontation that, in turn, is transmitted to the viewer with all its questions. Is what happened a big lie, just the product of the imagination -or distorted faith- of a young woman?. Is it all God's plan?. If it is so, did he make a mistake?. Is it all a miracle gone wrong?

Young nun in a convent, so enamored with her Savior that she seems to be in a lovestruck daze, may or may not have killed an infant. Anne Bancroft is the Mother Superior, Jane Fonda is the investigating psychiatrist (every movie should have one), and Meg Tilly is the enchanting yet frustrating nun whom nobody can budge with common sense. Adapted from the kind of stage-play that doesn't go over well in high schools, "Agnes of God" (terrible title!) is sort of the flip-side to "Rosemary's Baby", an unsettling, overwrought exercise for thespians to display their range. What's amazing is that these actresses carve out interesting characterizations within the hoked-up, hysterical scenario. They can't possibly believe these goings-on, but they give it conviction, particularly Fonda, sterling as usual. Bancroft shines in one particular scene, again hoked-up, where she sneaks a cigarette; it's a cliché, but it's the relief the picture needs. Tilly is aggravatingly bright and beguiling. By the third act, the film has pretty much self-destructed, yet there's not much satisfaction in the answers given to us. **1/2 from ****

A young nun (Meg Tilly, Oscar-nominated) is discovered one night with a dead baby and it appears that it is a new-born. How can this be though as the nun is supposedly a virgin and showed no signs of even being pregnant? Enter psychiatrist Jane Fonda who is sent to examine the highly mysterious and secretive Tilly. Fonda immediately locks horns with mother superior Anne Bancroft (Oscar-nominated) as Bancroft feels that the outside world has no right to disturb anyone in the convent. Fonda tries to help Tilly who appears to have a problem distinguishing between reality and fantasy. A really tense film that will keep you guessing until the very end. The screenplay is smart and Norman Jewison does another fine directing job here. The film is flawed in many areas and could even be considered very negative towards the Catholic Church, but it is still a production that is worth a look. 4 stars out of 5.

In one of her best performances, Jane Fonda plays a psychiatrist who is assigned to deal with a case involving a naive young nun(played by Meg Tilly) who allegedly gave birth to a baby and murdered it in the convent.

While slow and gimmicky at times, the acting and story are enough to keep the film worth watching.

Anne Bancroft also gives a very good performance as the Mother Superior at the convent who is highly skeptical of Fonda's character and profession.

Generally worthwhile.

After a nun gives birth, the baby is found strangled in a wastepaper basket. A psychiatrist is brought in to judge the woman's sanity. The film is "Agnes of God," based on the successful Broadway play and inspired by an incident that occurred in my home town of Rochester, New York. It unites three powerful actresses - Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft, and Meg Tilly in this intriguing story of belief, truth, and perception.

Fonda is the psychiatrist who comes to the idyllic, French Canadian convent setting and first meets the mother superior (Bancroft), a nun with a few secrets, who is opposed to having Agnes, the young woman who had the baby, questioned. Agnes is a pure, childlike girl who hears voices, talks to spirits, doesn't know how babies are born, and claims she never had one. Is she delusional as the result of abuse as a child? Was she raped? Is she insane? The performances in "Agnes of God" are extraordinary. Fonda is brilliant as a woman of science who has long ago turned her back on God, and Meg Tilly gives a breakout performance as the translucent, innocent Agnes. The dramatic scene which ends with Fonda saying, "I love you...As much as God loves you" was one of the most moving in the film.

The powerhouse role, played on stage by Geraldine Page, is that of the mother superior, and what better actress for this than the fantastic Anne Bancroft. She is tough, vulnerable, funny, fierce and warm as a woman trying to protect her delicate charge from the horrors of the world. She and Fonda play beautifully together, whether bonding or fighting, as Fonda strips away the layers to find the truth.

It's so rare to see a film with three great female roles, and to see them all essayed so well in an excellent story. For this reason, Agnes of God is a great, provocative film that will keep you thinking about it long after it's over.