Fresh
The chance to see Robert Bresson's Diary of a Country Priest... should not be passed up; it is an enterprise of great pith and moment in the history of cinema.
Anthony Lane, New Yorker
Diary of a Country Priest
A priest of humble origin, lost in the maze of worldiness
1951 · 1h 55m · Not Rated
Drama
Directed by
Robert Bresson
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Diary of a Country Priest
Overview
An inexperienced, sickly priest shows up in the rural French community of Ambricourt, where he joins the community's clergy. But the locals don't take kindly to the priest, and his ascetic ways and unsociable demeanor make him an outcast. During Bible studies at the nearby girls school, he is continually mocked by his students. Then his attempt to intervene in a family feud backfires into a scandal. His failures, compounded with his declining health, begin to erode his faith.
Director and cast
- Robert Bresson Director
- Claude Laydu as Curé d'Ambricourt
- Jean Riveyre as Le Comte
- Adrien Borel as Priest of Torcy
- Rachel Bérendt as La Comtesse
- Nicole Maurey as Miss Louise
- Nicole Ladmiral as Chantal
- Martine Lemaire as Séraphita Dumontel
- Antoine Balpêtré as Dr. Delbende
- Jean Danet as Olivier
- Gaston Séverin as Canon
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
95%
Tomatometer
Fresh
A film like Diary of a Country Priest gathers its strength as it continues. There's always the sense that Bresson knows exactly where he's going and the simplest way to get there.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Fresh
Bresson's third feature and in many ways his first major work.
Doug Cummings, L.A. Weekly
Fresh
A film that words fail.
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Fresh
The word 'sublime' has often been used to describe this Robert Bresson masterpiece, a slow-paced film of great purity that portrays the pain and occasional joy of the religious life.
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
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