There was a time when seeing the original cut of Ken Russell’s 1971 film The Devils was thought to be an impossibility. When Russell’s film was first made, it was deemed far too intense. With its depictions of lust, brainwashing, naked nuns, and sacrilege, paired with Russell’s already maximalist bravado, The Devils was doomed to fall victim to 70’s censorship. It was a piece that was chopped up, buried, and thrown into a vault, never to be seen. Before his death in 2011, Russell screened his director’s cut at the National Film Theatre in London in 2004. Still nobody had the guts to release it. Until now.
In short, The Devils is a masterpiece. A daring, visceral examination of power and corruption that is just as relevant today as it was upon its troubled release. The setting is 1634 France. The Catholic Church, represented by Cardinal Richelieu (Christopher Logue,) is courting King Louis XIII (Graham Armitage) to convince him to purge the land of any other religions. Meanwhile the fortified French city of Loudun has found balance. Within its pristine walls, Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed) has guided the town’s population to tolerance and harmony. When Baron De Laubardemont (Dudley Sutton) rides in to tear the walls of the city down and to remove Protestants, Grandier chases him and his forces off. Thus begins the church’s merciless fight to control a peaceful town.
Grandier himself is complex and flawed. At once a religious figure, womanizer, and civic leader, he has his own collection of admirers and enemies. Chief among them is Sister Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave) in the town’s convent. She rules her order with a fierce grip and a vindictive nature. After chasing her charges from a window to see a funeral procession led by Grandier, Sister Jeanne then sneaks into a small enclave to watch the parade go by. More importantly she wants to catch a glimpse of Grandier himself. Smitten, she hopes that Grandier will become the convent’s new confessor. He declines and instead secretly marries Madeleine De Brou (Gemma Jones). Blinded by jealousy, Sister Jeanne soon makes the claim that an incubus named Grandier sneaked into her room at night and raped her. Her convent soon follows suit and with the arrival of professional witch hunter, Father Barre (Michael Gothard), the two-fronted assault on Grandier begins. The Catholic Church wants control of the country, Sister Jeanne wants control of Grandier’s heart.
Based on Aldous Huxley’s THE DEVILS OF LOUDUN, the events are historically true. But it’s the way that Russell depicts the events that highlight their absurdity. His style is impeccably visual and aggressively creative. Yet, I would dare say this is his most polished piece of work. He seems to find the balance here between the audacity of his style and the material he has to work with. Redgrave delivers a seething, maniacal performance as Sister Jeanne. Driven by madness, insecurity and jealousy, she is willing to burn the world around her if she can’t have what she wants. However it is Reed’s towering performance as Grandier that anchors our conflicted feelings to a moral compass. He is flawed. Very flawed, in fact. But he is easily the most reasonable. He is a man disinterested in power and more concerned with coexistence. His ultimate downfall.
Assembled from the original camera negative the restoration is, pun intended, a revelation. In the opening moments we see just what we are in for with the detailed textures of a rudimentary staging by King Louis XIII of the birth of Venus. The roughly painted sets are speckled with detail and the rich warm tones on King Louis’ golden costume light up the screen. Then we cut to the audience and Cardinal Richelieu in his robe and cap resplendent in crushed red velvet, that swarms with texture. It was then that I knew we were in for one hell of a ride. Every censored scene, every forbidden image, including the infamous “Rape of Christ” scene is here in glorious 4K.
It’s not the restoration, however, that makes The Devils magnificent. It’s the prescient warning of the corruption that power brings. Russell’s original vision has finally triumphed against the powers that contained it for 55 years and the message is as important today as it was in 1634.
