Cinema
Mother Joan of the Angels
Matka Joanna od Aniołów
Jerzy Kawalerowicz · 1961
Synopsis
In an isolated Ursuline convent on the eastern borders of old Poland, the nuns and their superior, Mother Joan, are thought to be possessed by the devil. Father Suryn, a Jesuit, arrives to exorcise them after other priests have tried. His meeting with the superior turns into a spiritual and moral duel, in which religious fervour, repressed passion and the desire for salvation mingle with the fear of sin, and a feeling grows between them that neither dares to admit.
Context
Tadeusz Konwicki, literary director of the Kadr group, suggested adapting Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz's novella, published in 1946, which transposed the affair of the possessed nuns of Loudun to an imaginary town, Ludyń, on the edge of Smolensk; the two men wrote the screenplay together, and Jerzy Wójcik photographed the film. They brought the action down to a single location and reduced the period details to bring out the psychological dimension; the director said he had made a film about human nature.
Who it is for
A black-and-white film with spare staging, which critics have compared to Dreyer's.
Prizes and reception
Special jury prize, or Silver Palm, at Cannes in 1961, and one of the most widely recognised Polish films abroad.
Sources for this page 7
The pages consulted to check this page.