Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Ken Russell's historical drama shocked the world with raw violence and mass orgies It is a tour de force that deserves to be seen in full The late film director Ken Russell was the embodiment of outrageous cinema From his early documentaries and biopics about famous composers for the BBC to feature films such as Women in Love (1969) Russell became one of Britain's most unique screen artists –      The history of 'shock' cinema –      The most outrageous film ever made? –      What makes a cult film? one film of his above all others is still considered controversial: 1971's The Devils Based on real events that occurred in a 17th-Century French town it caused more than a few sleepless nights for the censors a self-governing town under the temporary protection of the debonair womanising priest Father Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed) Cardinal Richelieu (Christopher Logue) plots with King Louis XIII (Graham Armitage) to take control led by Baron De Laubardemont (Dudley Sutton) the obsessive lust for Grandier held by the town's abbess Sister Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave) leads to the nun making a false accusation that he has possessed her which the establishment exploit in order to oust him Hysteria then unfolds among Loudun's Ursuline nuns Charged with heresy and cavorting with devils he undergoes a show trial which will only ever go one way Russell became aware of the filmic potential of the story of the so-called "Loudon Possessions" through a 1960 play by John Whiting based on the same historical events "He first saw it when it was on the London stage," Russell's partner Lisi Tribble Russell tells BBC Culture "It inspired him to immediately research the text that the play was based on: Aldous Huxley's [novel] The Devils of Loudun." Impressed with Huxley's detailed interpretation Writing to the soundtrack of Krzysztof Penderecki's opera based on the same events (as well as Sergei Prokofiev's The Fiery Angel another work about religious hysteria) he adapted the story with equally fiery aplomb Reminders of certain reviews would make Ken bitterly wince for the rest of his life – Lisi Tribble RussellFifty years on from its release The Devils is a film rightly celebrated for its artistry are some of the best British cinema has to offer The film's score by British composer Peter Maxwell Davies is unique and haunting and especially great considering it was his first The visual style of the film is also stunning in particular the sets designed by a young Derek Jarman inspired by the Huxley line about Sister Jeanne's exorcism being akin to a "rape in a public lavatory" The Devils is a white-walled nightmare of a film with a horrifying wipe-clean aesthetic political and sexual content that landed Russell in hot water The film's mixture of demented sexuality raw violence and religious imagery was a heady mix Scenes of torture and death linger long after viewing as does the pervading nihilistic atmosphere Sex and death become so intertwined with the film's theological imagery that they feel inseparable by the end And this is before considering the film's portrayal of the allegiance between the state and the church in achieving their violent such that the Warner Bros studio has never released the full director's cut the London Evening Standard critic Alexander Walker famously decried the film as looking like the "masturbatory fantasies of a Roman Catholic Schoolboy." Such was the vitriol of Walker's review that he ended up on the BBC alongside Russell to discuss the film only for the director to roll up a copy of Walker's own review and hit him over the head with it Roger Ebert wrote one of his most sarcastic reviews "Ken Russell has really done it this time" "He was stoic (with effort) in accepting that the critics attacked it but reminders of certain reviews would make him bitterly wince for the rest of his life." Russell's frustration is understandable The Devils is about many things but is chiefly a critique of power Russell described the film as a conscious political statement Its political zeal is also what saved it from an outright ban the censors in the UK at least recognising the creative and intellectual aspects of the film author of the monograph Devil's Advocate: The Devils agrees that it is a work of real intellectual value "Russell liked a bit of mischief and wasn't afraid to push a few buttons," he tells BBC Culture The Devils contains a powerful and sincere message." The message is that outrage and heresy can be easily weaponised by the powerful ironically became a meta-comment on its own hysterical treatment as a blasphemous piece of work The threat of violence towards any who disagree with the state authorities leads to many characters' collusion pretending Grandier deserves his subsequent torture and public execution It is a story of the gullible descending into a mob "You have seduced the people in order to destroy them," shouts Grandier to the court when facing his charges Truth is a scarce commodity in times of strife death was already normalised in the town at the time of these events: Loudun was weakened by plague inoculating people to the suffering of others decadence and destruction," as Russell suggested in a 2012 DVD commentary on the film It laid the way for a more organised political violence Grandier's biggest mistake is to admit his imperfections especially regarding his marriage to Madeleine (Gemma Jones) such an act of undiluted love is deemed just as blasphemous as the admittance of simpler carnalities Flaws are utilised by those who cynically claim evangelical purity The braying mob merely strengthens as he admits his human fallacy Only an ultimate act of destruction will satiate their mania It is a theme which feels depressingly timeless from the countless historical scandals generated by art and culture in centuries gone by Thankfully Russell's sincerity wasn't lost on the British Board of Film Censors else we may not have seen the film at all – Darren ArnoldAnother factor to consider in the narrative is sexual repression Sister Jeanne's lust deranges her to such an extent that her playacting at possession may as well be genuine Her desire is distorted into a destructive power She responds easily to the lies she is fed in particular those of Father Barre (Michael Gothard) a proto-hippy shaman deployed by Laubardemont to exorcise the nuns He gains his own pleasure from the spread of deranged untruths and is a dark cipher of the hang-ups from the period of the film's production; a predatory cult leader akin to Charles Manson or Jim Jones The momentum of violence grows beyond the control of those who stoked it Grandier is put on a pyre and refuses to confess his decreed sins to Father Mignon (Murray Melvin) in spite of the merciless destruction of his body collapses with the walls of the city which are destroyed on Laubardemont's orders Grandier's damnation was all a ruse to destroy Loudun's independence Malice succeeds by veiling itself in piety and social sanctity as the film's stunning final shot shows with Madeleine stumbling through the debris of what little remains The ultimate testament to The Devils' power is the fact that Russell and his collaborators were to face an equally gruelling inquisition that exemplified exactly what the film was trying to explore Russell caused as sensational a furore as the priest did with his defiance a strange parallel grew between Grandier and Russell It seemed that their heresy became one and only their final paths differed Where Grandier's body was the required sacrifice to appease the outraged on screen Russell's control of the film was the victim Even before The Devils found its way onto screens its various edits were already raising concerns Russell had an array of people to satisfy and editing it was a huge and tortuous undertaking considering the button-pushing nature of his filmmaking The director had to keep the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC) and the American producers at Warner Bros content Russell found an unlikely ally in John Trevelyan Trevelyan was shown rough edits at Russell's request in the hope of it being passed with their amendments Though uncertain about several of the film's more extreme segments Trevelyan saw the earnest aims of Russell's project "Thankfully Russell's sincerity wasn't lost on Harlech and Trevelyan – else we may not have seen the film at all," says Arnold Russell reluctantly agreed to their suggested cuts in order to achieve the X certificate for British distribution This made the film just possible to release in the censorious climate in the UK at the time created in part by evangelical groups such as Mary Whitehouse's National Viewers' and Listeners' Association Whitehouse had already caused Russell trouble around his BBC play Dance of the Seven Veils (1970) which was subsequently banned for its satirical portrayal of Richard Strauss' association with Nazism thanks also to pressure put on BBC by the composer's estate Ken was devastated by America's decision to release a butchered version of the film – Lisi Tribble RussellAnother of Whitehouse's projects the anti-permissive group The Festival of Light quickly objected to the passing of The Devils by the BBFC and protested its screenings organising an effective letter writing campaign to the new chief censor Stephen Murphy who had taken over from Trevelyan with several local authorities banning screenings in spite of the BBFC’s approved rating "The thing I thought about The Devils is that the worse the blasphemy could have been," Whitehouse suggested in the 1995 documentary Empire of the Censors "High quality doesn’t excuse blasphemy The Motion Picture Association of America cut further still for its US release The 111 minute British cut became the 108 minute US cut in particular removing any imagery showing pubic hair Such was the severity of the editing that Russell called the US release "disjointed and incomprehensible" The cuts were haphazard and in particular broke the tempo of the film's orgiastic centrepiece "He was devastated by America's decision to release a butchered version of the film," Lisi recalls "He felt their truncated version heightened the hysteria and destroyed much of the essential rhythm of the film." One scene that escaped neither British nor American intervention is the "Rape of Christ" sequence which sees a large statue of Christ assaulted by a variety of rampaging naked nuns a sequence in which Sister Jeanne masturbates with the charred femur of Grandier after his death was also removed in both US and UK versions were unearthed from an archive and reinstated by the film's original editor Michael Bradsell in spite of renewed pressure for this full director's cut to be released That's despite the fact that when members of the BBFC attended a special screening of the cut in 2002 they had no issue with the reinstated scenes Various petitions for Warner Bros to release it are ongoing in a 2014 episode of his video blog Kermode Uncut their last response suggested the film's "distasteful tonality" to be the barrier to its future re-release audiences have to make do with the truncated versions: in the UK the British cut can be viewed thanks to the 2012 BFI DVD release the 108 minute cut Russell was so unhappy with is available to stream on iTunes America Despite its mistreatment by Warner Bros and The Devils continues to endure in the cinematic canon This is largely thanks to the passion of its fans from critics such as Kermode to filmmakers such as Alex Cox and Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro del Toro called the continued treatment of the film a "true act of censorship." "Ken made his peace with it," Lisi concludes "I imagine that from his greater vantage point in the cosmos he undoubtedly hopes against hope that it will someday be declared acceptable as a significant contribution to world cinema and an example of his Reed's and Redgrave's unique insight talents and bravura." The only real outrage today regarding Ken Russell's The Devils is that this unparalleled British masterpiece is still unavailable to see as its director intended Love film and TV? Join BBC Culture Film and TV Club on Facebook a community for cinephiles all over the world If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter And if you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called The Essential List. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday. 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In 1964, its director told the BBC why he broke every rule he could. one might not suspect the cities of Thibodaux and Loudun have much in common are in different hemispheres and speak different languages but to Marlene Breaux-Toups the people have similar stories About 20 local residents recently returned from a trip to see a group that Toups now calls family "They really have so much in common with us," Toups said Toups is president of the Thibodaux-Loudun Twinning Association representatives from one of the two cities make the trek across the Atlantic to visit their twin city Many of the people waiting to greet them in Loudun had traveled to Thibodaux so the vacation has the feel of a reunion at times "We meet people who remember people here and ask how everyone is doing," Toups said The group spent the week touring the area and the centuries old architecture But what make the trip special is not the foreign sights but the connection between the people and the language and it is awe inspiring," said Daniel Toups "But when you go into their house and see how they live and what they do," he said "That is something you don't get in a normal vacation." The travelers stay with French members of the twinning association friends within the group keep in-touch via Skype — an online video and text chatting application Marlene is fluent in French; Daniel is working on it They said being immersed in the language is one of their favorite parts of the trip going back and sitting on the porch with our own parents speaking French It is like going back in time," Daniel said Marlene said the trip is particularly special as many Cajuns can trace their ancestors back to the centuries-old city "We also have a deep appreciation for French culture but it's also special because of our roots there." the association presented Loudun officials with a bowl carved by Lafourche resident Brien Vegas The bowl's carvings celebrating the bond between the cities The association currently has about 40 members Marlene said it is open to both French speakers and those with no experience with the language "We welcome anybody interested in French culture," Marlene said For information contact her at mbreauxtoups@yahoo.com Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders Complete digital access to quality analysis and expert insights complemented with our award-winning Weekend Print edition Terms & Conditions apply Discover all the plans currently available in your country See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times Seeing Ken Russell’s “The Devils” on the big screen feels like a minor miracle or “3.5” for 35mm) somehow got one of those elusive U.K prints that tellingly looks as though nobody has watched it Save for a couple of red-shifts in the later reels And while the images onscreen remain lovingly intact what’s most frightening is how decades later The Devils feels more relevant than ever There’s too much of it about.” Given the opening of The Devils in which Louis XIII (Graham Armitage) emerges like Uma Thurman in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen one is inclined to take Russell at his world The opening seconds mark a swift departure from reality into a dream Like in one of Sister Jeanne’s (Vanessa Redgrave) ecstatic visions replaces Christ on the cross before descending to amorously embrace her While Ken Russell’s Devils might resemble our own world it is ruled by secret passions and unknown forces which conspire to consolidate France’s power under one rule Those forces just happen to be the Church and State a metaphoric fig leaf the only thing protecting his we see that this is all a show for Cardinal Richelieu (Christopher Logue) Botticell’s “The Birth of Venus” has been reduced to a drag show Later we will see the King casually shooting men dressed as blackbirds as though even human life has become mere sport for the powers that be Russell deftly explores the unhinged nexus of religion Both Church and State are reduced to two halves of the same coin Richelieu wants to consolidate the states power while Louis XIII is content to his parties Even when he does intervene in the madness that will come to consume Loudun where the bulk of the narrative will take place Offering an exorcist a vial of Christ’s blood to control the nun’s orgiastic convulsions the State and Church reduced to pure affectation That affectation is manifested in Derek Jarman’s surreal production design no grand arches or stained glass windows– in Russell’s world The inside of Grandier’s church is composed of matte black monoliths Jeanne’s convent is composed of white tiles like a subway station from hell Even Richelieu’s home looks like bureaucracy personified Caught in the middle as each vies for control of the country is the town of Loudun physically and metaphorically walled off from the rest of France A quick cut from Richelieu talking about driving out the Protestants to a bleached skull spilling maggots out of its mouth makes clear— this land is dying Of course what starts as a fever soon becomes much more.“Sin is caught as easy as the plague,” Father Barre (Micahel Gothard) an exorcist sent to rid Loudun of its devils later warns As a funeral procession for its departed governor takes too the streets we see the local nuns scrambling at the walls of their convent desperate to catch a glimpse of Father Grandier the local priest who is literally too hot for his own good In between bedding the governor’s daughter and marrying a local widow Grandier has developed quite the reputation in Loudun one which is further problematized when he stands up to a local Baron’s attempts to tear down the cities walls Meanwhile the head of the Ursuline Nuns has begun to suffer ecstatic the fair Sister’s thoughts always turn impure Jeanne’s story easily earns the film its X-rating as early on we see her violently masturbating to these images (which is later compounded when Grandier’s charred femur is thrown into the mix) They come to Sister Jeanne as she prays for relief from the hump that twisters her back images of Grandier affliction is a hump that has twisted her back resulting in her head hanging at a perpetual 45 degree angle as though the weight of her faith (and its resultant sexual repression) is literally crushing her manic laugh is haunting as she slowly gives in to her lust for the local Father the groping… there is love,” Grandier tries to comfort but as The Devils continues it is hard to see how he can have such faith are enthusiastically tortured until they give the only answer the authorities will accept: Grandier is guilty Never mind that despite Grandier’s earthly desires he represents the soul light in this dark world Russell’s film still represents a triumph of depicting how if anybody as pure and good as Jesus walked the earth today they would be strung up and burned at the stake By now many of the machinations the state employs are all too familiar Richelieu’s nationalist ideals need a scapegoat He he finds one in the one man trying to protect the sick and poor the either you’re with us or against us mentality we also see a nun licking the blood from Christ’s wounds before carnally rolling on the floor Sister Jeanne is left still trying desperately to purge a demon that never existed still tempted by Grandier’s lingering image (in one of the films most haunting moments she self-administers an exorcists’ enema) Like in recent additions to the horror canon this year’s Get Out and last year’s The Witch Russell is ultimately less concerned with the Devil without than the Devil within By the time we see a group of nuns forced into a shallow grave it should be clear that the scariest thing in The Devils are the horrors of the all too human heart And what could be more terrifying than that ruining “Singin’ in the Rain” for all of us scalding the face of a home invader with a pot of boiling water It’d barely been three years since the MPAA’s voluntary film rating system replaced the Production Code Decades of the Code’s “don’ts” and “be carefuls” must have bottled up urges in filmmakers—audiences Not only did filmmakers enjoy a newfound freedom to depict—explore—nudity and “sexual perversion,” studios and producers left directors alone to do it their way Antonioni’s enigmatic 1966 film Blowup was outperforming the latest formulaic Elvis flick: Spinout (The explicit sexual content in the former may have had something to do with it.) The more challenging with its loose plot and acid-soaked defiance of cinematic convention They were auteurs—artists whose vision needed honoring And they ought to be able to do so without interference from producers and studios It applied to Americans as well as Brits—like Donald Cammell and Nicholas Roeg whose 1970 film Performance shows Anita Pallenberg actually shooting heroin and included sex scenes the film-processing lab refused to develop; John Schlesinger Bloody Sunday from 1971 is as frank and progressive a look at homosexuality as Billy Friedkin’s American release The Boys in the Band in 1970; and Ken Russell shows Oliver Reed and Alan Bates wrestling naked Ken Russell enjoyed American studio distribution through Warner Bros in this revolutionary era—when the studio execs wore love beads and ate magic mushrooms too—but they were horrified when they screened a little movie he made in 1971 called The Devils For his (roll those r’s with me) rrrroyal bemusement he dresses people up like blackbirds and uses them as target practice blackbird.” Oliver Reed stars as the elegantly Van Dyked where peace between Catholics and Protestants prospers till Cardinal Richelieu (“And may the Protestant be banished from this land!”) gets involved When Baron de Laubardemont (Dudley Sutton) arrives in Loudun on Richelieu’s behalf he orders the destruction of the city’s fortifying walls But Grandier thwarts him by force and decree especially hunchbacked Reverend Mother Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave) “Take me in your sacred arms; let the blood flow between us uniting us,” she says “Grandier—Grandier!” The nuns are overcome with impure thoughts about Grandier is overcome with impure thoughts about Grandier Baron de Laubardemont sends for witchfinder Father Barre (Michael Gothard; his shaggy hair and John Lennon glasses are here to remind you that you are watching a movie from the early 1970s) Heresy proves a convenient way for Richelieu’s regime to wipe this Huguenot sympathizer out and burn him at the stake Oliver Reed shows terror unparalleled on his face as it melts behind flames The principal characters lived and the major events depicted in the film actually took place.” So go the opening titles Historians agree that Urbain Grandier’s trial and execution were a sham designed to eliminate him for political reasons Historians also agree Loudun’s Ursuline nuns concurrently engaged in wild The most interesting one involves the nuns having eaten wheat tainted with ergot mold and lying on the floor lolling their tongues around as a Theater of the Absurd spectacle he wishes to imply: “Sexual repression has definitely got something to do with it.” Russell adapted his screenplay from Aldous Huxley’s work of nonfiction They seem unlikely sources for such a controversial movie with Vanessa Redgrave’s sexual fantasies in which she caresses Oliver Reed’s feet kisses and licks him all over as he climbs down from the Cross bloodied in a crown of thorns; a douche full of boiling water; and Louis XIII prancing in a skimpy metal bikini like a conductor interprets a piece of music Without the conductor unifying the players—advancing a vision—the melody is amorphous He got to realize the pictures in his head as he saw them and wished to present them; it was 1971 He enjoyed full artistic control of the production His interpretation of this metaphorical symphony The city of Loudun looks like something out of a German Expressionist film from the 1920s brick towers contrasted with tall silhouettes of crosses and pikes Russell wanted The Devils’ sets to look otherworldly And don’t forget Russell regular Georgina Hale face painted alabaster white like a marionette’s the duration of her screen time Russell did not push his period visuals as far into the ostentatious or psychosexual realm as he did later in 1975’s Lisztomania (no Vaudeville-esque musical numbers involving a penis the size of a baby dolphin here Let’s just get the “rape of Christ” out of the way because no discussion of The Devils is complete without it even though the full “rape of Christ” sequence can only be seen in a rare who looks more like a roadie for Led Zeppelin than a 17th century French priest the majority of whom are by this point totally naked Gothard clasps a nun by her habit as she walks upside down on all fours “I’m going to speak to you a name: Grandier!” That gets their attention; they scream and flail Others tackle a priest and rip his clothes off They bash Gothard over the head with a giant cross where he watches in terror as they rip a life-size statue of Christ from the wall and rub and writhe their naked bodies all over it zooming in and out and in and out as the icon is humped—defiled “We weren’t trying to afford anybody proper niceties…We were showing…the bigotry that goes on—that humanity is capable of.” He cites the Northern Ireland Conflict Even with the “rape of Christ” sequence extensively trimmed—even with the removal of Vanessa Redgrave shoving a fire poker between her legs before Dudley Sutton tosses her Grandier’s charred femur to masturbate with—Russell allegedly went too far Regardless of how deeply he felt the injustice Few held in high regard crucifixion sex fantasies It’s understandable. But The Devils, actually, is not your edgy-for-the-sake-of-edgy middle finger to the Church many at the time took it to be. It’s, in fact, a very religious film made by a Catholic artist trying to make sense of his own faith. In Russell’s own words: “It’s about the degradation of religious principles…and about a sinner who becomes a saint.” naked and post-coital with a “Latin pupil” (Georgina Hale She informs him she’s pregnant; he brushes his hair and enumerates half-assed platitudes to her while she sobs Grandier laughs him off and breaks his sword in half with a crocodile carcass he confiscated from two local surgeons (I love this scene.) But then it happens: the phenomenon that people say—and it’s a cliché—“I want to be my best self for you.” Grandier falls in love with Madeleine (Gemma Jones) pious young woman turned away from the nunnery he does not grow closer to the orthodoxy or to his priestly role “Saint Paul says that he who marries does a good thing but he who remains chaste does something better,” Madeleine says “Then I am content to do a good thing and leave the best to those that can face it.” sells wholesale the character’s devotion to her It’s in his face and in the way he looks at her: his philandering days are over He lowers his voice but in no way diminishes the fury in his eyes a simple act of committal done with my heart in the hope of coming to God through the love of a woman.” Grandier’s character arc is the opposite of Jack Nicholson’s Jonathan in another controversial film from 1971 and enchanted with life through sex and love callously collecting women and sexual experiences loses what little faith he ever had in romantic relationships As Carnal Knowledge’s concluding slideshow scene evinces left with as much spirituality as a bag of Doritos But at least he doesn’t have to get burned at the stake Romantic wanderings bring salvation just as easily as they bring ruination: the things you learn watching ’70s movies “images and sounds of such an obscenity as had never been seen before on the screen in order to accomplish a crude lynching of the Church of yesterday as a political instrument of oppression.” Rather mystifying question every person of faith should toil to answer: Why bind yourself to a religion whose institutions have caused this degree of suffering “and I think that’s what all my films are about.”   I doubt The Devils would meet any controversy whatsoever if released now Masturbating with a burned-to-death man’s charred femur Interpretable aspersion toward the Catholic Church Not to say movies no longer have the capacity to stir controversy—but I don’t know what The Devils shares with American Sniper or Joker Controversy is always relative to a given time’s mores Being shocking won’t cause much of a row anymore because movies have pushed our threshold for shock And here we encounter a peculiar situation Linda Blair already thrust a crucifix in her crotch; Divine already ate real dog shit The old taboos have transgressed themselves into seeming nonexistence a movie far less “extreme” than The Devils has the capacity to provoke serious controversy an evil protagonist resembling—allegedly—modern day pariahs was all it took The narrative universe will always be one of moral relativity American Sniper derived its controversy from telling the story of Navy Seal killing machine Chris Kyle You want to make a controversial movie nowadays You better start by writing a story about the “wrong kind of hero.” But Grandier…he is and hopefully will remain the right kind of hero for any time He learns that he must strive for a life that is moral and just and beautiful but Ken Russell’s indulgences—which he’s now known and celebrated for—no longer distract as much from what the movie is really about And The Devils is really about a right thing in a wrong world We’re in a better position—thanks to our desensitization—thanks to the cumulative cultural effect of Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom and A Clockwork Orange and Audition and Man Bites Dog—to let the simple and tragic power of The Devils’ right thing in a wrong world resonate Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site will adversely affect certain features and functions Your Ads Privacy ChoicesIMDb The Devils remains provocative enough to have rarely been screened in its entirety Warner Brothers has allowed the full cut to be shown at festivals most recently on 29 July 2011 at the BFI’s National Film Theatre The scene which so offended the financiers features a group of nude nuns dancing atop an overturned life-size icon of Christ while an otherwise timid priest looks on and masturbates which has become known as “The Rape of Christ,” is both a potent distillation of Ken Russell’s cinematic project and a contemporary example of the centralised power his “only political film” sets out to critique a man “well worth going to hell for.” He is a Catholic priest who becomes the temporary head of the fortified town of Loudun The walls allow the town to govern itself apart from the growing power of Cardinal Richelieu (Christopher Logue) and King Louis XIII (Graham Armitage) who is shown shooting captive Protestants dressed as black birds they send the Baron de Laubardemont (Dudley Sutton) to Loudun to dismantle the towering walls (expertly crafted for the film by Derek Jarman) a haven for Catholics and Protestants alike throughout the preceding religious wars Richelieu and Laubardemont need to remove Grandier from the picture and the good Father is just the type of progressive individual thinker the forces of centralised power strive to exploit Grandier elevates sensual pleasure to the spiritual plane he seeks to approach his own annihilation by taking possession of his lust even as it destroys him Grandier pursues a mode of loving heretical to the Church The lustful man nonetheless executes his office most seriously who shares his passion both for Christ and for sensual delights Reed here plays a character often employed by Russell for whom any earthly love is paired with a striving towards an eternal Remember Rupert Birkin’s (Alan Bates) response at the end of Women in Love when told that to have two kinds of love is “an obstinacy Against Grandier’s heretical love we bear witness to the repressive devotion of a convent of Ursuline nuns lead by Sister Jeanne des Anges (Vanessa Redgrave) The nuns are first shown scrambling for a view of Grandier as he passes by during the late governor’s funeral procession Jeanne denies them this look but is nonetheless conflicted She has a fantasy wherein Grandier walks on water before she dries his feet with her hair As with the seldom seen “Rape of Christ,” Russell brings together the ornately sacred with the sensually profane This does not sit easily with Sister Jeanne who constantly fights to keep her sensuality buried she flagellates herself after masturbating She first expresses her earthly desire before punishing herself in an orthodox she articulates her lust as something demoniac encroaching from outside When she gives this sensation the form of Father Grandier Laubardemont is gifted the opening he needs to generate his prosecution Desperate for the evidence he needs to depose Grandier the Baron brings in the witch hunter Father Barre (Michael Gothard) His task is to identify the devils possessing Sister Jeanne and to drive them out Barre brings in a surgeon to perform a grisly medical examination When the clearly invasive procedure proves that Jeanne has evidently had carnal knowledge Barre accepts this as proof of her claims regarding Grandier’s involvement with devilish forces Whenever Jeanne attempts to recant her claims as she does throughout the proceeding events the witch hunter and the Baron chalk this up as further evidence of possession the combined forces of Church and State manufacture the evidence needed against Grandier The richest – and most recognisably Russellian – sequence comes after Barre announces that the possession has spread to the nuns under Sister Jeanne’s charge is for them to act out the manias encouraged by the possessors The nuns strip bare and cavort within the walls of the cathedral One otherwise sober nun is shown stripping pages from a Bible to set them alight with a candle a further series of grotesque procedures are carried out on Sister Jeanne Each of these further prove Grandier’s guilt Juxtaposed against this are images of Grandier solemnly taking communion against a backdrop of rolling hills and serene rivers His is a personal relationship with the divine directly opposed to the union of Church and State sought by the so-called “New France” of Richelieu These romantic images are directly pitched against the frenzy whipped up by the witch hunter he finds the house of God turned into “a circus” and its servants into “clowns.” illustrates the concern State powers have with spectacle From the staged exorcism to the cavorting nuns the Baron’s case has been one made entirely in public The people of the city are drawn to the grotesquery on display as spectators to any scripted production we see the victims of a plague raging within the city This circus must then operate as a diversion from both the devastation wrought by the disease and the oncoming political onslaught The spectacle is made all the more conspicuous when taken against the solitary faith of Father Grandier He knows that his views on love are against the teachings of his Church and so carries out his activities with utmost precaution His justification is simple: he takes the “words of his creator as gospel it is not good for man to be alone.” That his reasoning is private sets it against the spectacular logic of the State for whom the Church (and vice-versa) is merely a way to consolidate power Laubardemont adds this to the already orchestrated evidence against the priest the priest’s private deviancy is a tool against his public influence in the documentary “Hell on Earth,” that he generally avoided “transitory” political subjects he found in the historical case of possession at Loudun a statement befitting a lasting testimony against restrictive political attitudes The script of the film was inspired by John Whiting’s play The Devils and Aldous Huxley’s meticulously researched “documentary-novel” The Devils of Loudun Derek Jarman’s production design contributes greatly to the sense that the experience of the film is contemporary Both he and Russell sought to portray a town that was modern to its own eyes Instead of producing a typical historical setting Jarman built a set whose gleaming white stones and clearly modern design suggest that the fortifications are as fresh to the citizens of the town as they are to us Russell sets his film apart from documentary by relying on the imagination We may instinctively know that Loudun could never have looked like this but the film generates the appropriate connection to what we are seeing The result is a palimpsest wherein we read new insights from old events And The Devils is undoubtedly the work of Ken Russell’s imagination The violence is explicit and the nudity celebratory Russell asks us to confront the events of the film without mediation The overall effect is kitsch and may well be in bad taste as composer Peter Maxwell Davies proclaims in “Hell on Earth,” thank God for that Russell approaches the material with musical verve who made his name with a series of films on composers for Monitor wrote and shot the film while playing Prokofiev’s Third Symphony also concerned with the demonic possession of nuns Russell’s feeling for music lifts the film above what might have otherwise been the stuff of high-collared costume fare His musical sympathies translate well into his direction of actors Michael Gothard plays Barre as something like a New Age zealot his costume as anachronistic as Jarman’s shiny fortifications The more attention he draws to the manufactured nature of the evidence against Grandier He can then piously step aside as Baron de Laubardemont played with devious relish by Dudley Sutton sets in motion the political machine designed to topple the priest Though the finest touch may just be the sight of Cardinal Richelieu being wheeled about by attendants through a giant door bearing a garish red cross They are aided by Father-Canon Jean Mignon (Murray Melvin) the man on the inside whose desire to take Grandier’s place opens an opportunity to strike Russell gives each actor the necessary space within the otherwise frenetic frame Reed and Redgrave equally dominate the frame They are the bodies around which the film turns and both give stunningly physical performances He is as charismatic and domineering here as he is anywhere else in his career Grandier embraces his sensuality and is proud of his body That this tips into vanity is made clear when He likes to look at himself and he knows that others are drawn to what he sees Vanessa Redgrave gives an equally compelling performance as the hunchbacked Sister Jeanne She is aware of her body in an oppositional mode Hers actively works against her as she spends the film contorted into extreme positions This can only make her more aware of her sexual repression The love and sex so exercised by Grandier is forbidden Sister Jeanne Despite the manner in which their lives become intertwined they are only in the presence of one another briefly at the closing of Barre and the Baron’s orgiastic circus They are brought together only in death when Jeanne masturbates with a phallic piece of the Priest’s charred skeleton The opulent style of Ken Russell finds a natural expression within the film through the presence of theatre The opening image of the film is an androgynous Louis XIII portraying the birth of Venus are a retinue of men heavily made up and tightly corseted One of these men kisses a nun on the cheek a pantomime of the offending events is staged just off the burning pyre we are given a series of scenes depicting political theatre in the round The Loudun town square provides ample room for the citizens to spectate events from on high we witness the funeral procession of the late governor Grandier’s oratory in defence of the town’s fortifications and the burning on the stake of Father Grandier Each of these scenes features individuals addressing the crowd in an effort to win public opinion This is likewise seen in the circus in the cathedral and Grandier’s trial itself the citizens of the town sit on raised benches and look in on the action consists of Laubardemont exposing love letters and other private correspondence written by Grandier The priest does not deny that he loves a woman who he has married but the Baron has no particular concern with this The point is to whip the city into a distracted frenzy so he can justify killing Grandier Grandier’s pyre still burns as the Baron blows up the ornate fortifications The self-governing Loudun is now split open to central administration During an examination to prove his allegiance to the devil The record is written to corroborate the evidence sought by the Baron a form of centralised judgement is handed down The seat of power requires a publicly orchestrated outcome is altered to appeal to the calls of mass hysteria That nobody outside saw the bleeding tongue means anything can be written about it is practiced in the trial of Urbain Grandier This is what The Devils asks us to consider in the political reality of the spectator That the historical account is presented in an act of imagination means the weight of this problem remains untouched by time The Devils is as vital as it was on its initial run that the overwhelming majority of us have not seen the full version echoes the conniving cowardice of Cardinal Richelieu’s marriage of Church and State Featured Image Credit he's probably off watching films somewhere document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute("id","afd5b91c9e2c3bfdb800b81b4dbc686e");document.getElementById("fc3eab9813").setAttribute("id","comment"); and website in this browser for the next time I comment DMCA Request HeadStuff.org is a collaborative hub for the creative and the curious We all spend so much of our time clicking through reams of content and sometimes not reading anything of interest at all HeadStuff is all about putting buckets of interesting stuff in one place So it's easy for you to find and enjoy high quality content from our wonderful contributors We get up every morning to make your daily journey through the internet more interesting and productive Discover how Paris 2024 became the most media-covered Olympic Games in history See how the Olympic Games’ communications team supported by Wiztrust’s tailored PR platform overcame complex challenges-from synchronizing teams and managing thousands of journalists to ensuring top-level security Learn how innovative digital tools and expert support enabled Paris 2024 to achieve record-breaking visibility and flawless brand protection Download the full Paris 2024 Success Case now and get inspired by the strategies behind this record-breaking achievement For further information and other cases please visit Wiztrust.com protect your company and its directors from disinformation and adopt the “trust mark” of the market leaders plan campaigns targeting your audiences through all channels (e-mail social media) and organise your activities and events improve results by exploiting your data's true depth Discover the best way to manage your PR & Marketing efficiently: Wiztrust is THE integrated communication platform for corporate professionals Prioritise your activities thanks to a clearer view on your assets Manage your communication thanks to a collaborative platform for you and your team Certify your corporate communication thanks to our blockchain-backed technology Save your team and yourself some precious time Learn more about Wiztrust in our case study THIBODAUX — Both mayors worked the crowd in their own ways City officials and residents welcomed 33 delegates from Loudun at Peltier Park on Thursday morning the first part of a celebration to mark the twin-city relationship between Thibodaux and Loudun that started more than 30 years ago It's in the area where many of the Cajuns come from,” said Michele Bailliet who started the twin-city arrangement when she was head of the Thibodaux Chamber of Commerce in 1978 Eschete said meeting his French counterpart was a great experience “I wish I could speak French as well as he can speak English,” he said This was Benas' first time in the United States “It's nice to have a view from the other side of the Atlantic,” he said “This is the beginning of a big cooperation between our towns.” The French delegates will be housed with residents until they depart on April 29 treated to a crawfish boil and will visit New Orleans they will head to Kraemer for a ride with Torres' Swamp Tours City Councilman Eddie Hebert is among those housing French visitors Beth Maniscalco and her husband Sammy are also housing two visitors from Loudun “We are learning there are so many similarities between here and there They have oysters at Christmas and New Year's just like we do,” said Maniscalco a retired secretary at Nicholls State University Staff Writer Nate Monroe can be reached at 448-7639 or at nate.monroe@dailycomet.com launched by french company  dartagnans the 100 m3 treehouse module  all images courtesy of forma atelier the treehouse prototypes by forma atelier were specifically designed to be easily fabricated and reproduced the modules are based on a grid system of 0.30m and 0.40m wood and glass were used for their construction the steel provides durability to the structures making for a stable and safe environment for the residents the use of wood helps generate a cozy atmosphere while glass surfaces blur the boundary between the interior and the exterior.  their triangular shape allows the formation of eaves that can be used for sunbathing this shape makes them stand out among their surroundings like a lighthouse immersed deep in the forest forma atelier conceived the treehouses as shelters of free thoughts ‘imagine the treehouse as the triangular stage of our lives the present and the future’ founder carlos eduardo cruz ay shares ‘the scaffolding of emotions leads us up and down through stairs that stop time lines in the structure simulate our life paths and whisper to us where we came from and where we are going’.  name: tree house module architects: forma atelier lead architect: carlos eduardo cruz ay project team: carlos eduardo cruz ay, salvador huerta competition: tree house module oranizer: young architects competition (YAC) location: castle of the mothe-chandeniers designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here. edited by: myrto katsikopoulou | designboom AXOR presents three bathroom concepts that are not merely places of function but destinations in themselves — sanctuaries of style Posted in: TV, YouTube | Tagged: , , , , , The episode also features cameos from previous Puppet History episodes including exploration of the show's long-running lore about The Professor's encounter with a meddlesome genie And that's about the most we can say without spoiling anything Major Puppet History spoilers ahead– you've been warned after 4 seasons of losing every single time has made a deal with Satan himself (of course to be awarded the title of History Master in exchange for the Professor being mind-controlled by the demon Asmodeus to wish away his ability to travel through history back to the genie (also played by Madej) who granted him that power The genie then zaps The Professor back to the Cretaceous Period wherein a final scene we see him fall from the sky and fall right into the awaiting gullet of a Tyrannosaurus Rex The show then announces "RIP The Professor" and declares him "(Canonically dead FYI)." WTF They seem at least somewhat serious about this offering new Puppet History merch like black t-shirts that say "RIP The Professor." This hits extra hard after fans had to wait a few extra days for this episode and yet… how do you have Puppet History without The Professor Do they track down the genie and unwish The Professor's demise Or will another puppet take The Professor's place and executive producer Steven Lim who collectively make up Watcher channel's main creative team to have already thought through this next step For those not in the know, Puppet History has been one of the most popular YouTube series of the last few years, with usually around half a million to three quarter million viewers of their shows, which also include Lim making ultimate expensive meals for different people (like the time he made $127 Boba tea for Simu Liu to celebrate the opening of Shang Chi) Madej and Bergara also host other shows about true crime and horror/ghost stories an outgrowth of their previous work at Buzzfeed Unsolved before leaving to found Watcher. Puppet History remains the crown jewel of the Watcher channel's popularity and has a dedicated fanbase most of whom are crying their eyes out right now We can hope for the best for the "Canonically dead FYI" The Professor and also hope Ryan Bergara feels real good about himself right now This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025 The Observer is now owned and operated by Tortoise Media The play was originally commissioned by Sir Peter Hall for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1960 and is based on Aldous Huxley's book 'The Devils of Loudun'. It tells the story of demonic possession and mass hysteria and abstractly relates to the witch-trial mentality of the McCarthy hearings of the early 1950s. The cast for the production incudes Benjamin Press (Father Mignon), Jessica Clements (Trincant), Jimi Odell (Adam), Juliette Chrisman (D'Armagnac), Liz Stevens (Phillipe), Matthew Tylianakis (De Cerisay/Cardinal Richelieu), Michael Mayne (Father Barre), Rowena Turner (Sister Jeanne), Sam Gregson (Mannoury), Sam Pearce (Father Grandier), Steph Urquhart (Ninion/Sister Claire), Simon Hill, Sorcha Boyce and Stephen Maher. SEDOS is an amateur theatre group and a registered charity with a membership of over 200. The company, which was was founded in 1905 by senior members of the stock exchange, puts on between 6 and 8 productions and year and includes a diverse range of talent from all over London. You can unsubscribe at any time. Privacy Policy The British Film Institute’s Uncut season is currently underway Screening films with histories of contention between film-makers it celebrates the centenary of the British Board of Film Classification and questions the changing limits of taste While censorship is often an intriguing topic for debate the best reason to attend the Uncut season is simply to see a number of fascinating films in the BFI’s terrific cinema The most notable of these screenings are those of Ken Russell’s The Devils The Devils has been by turns censored and suppressed and despite the BFI’s DVD release of the British X-Certificate cut in March of this year Russell’s intended cut remains unreleased by its distributors Two sequences in particular have long been bones of contention But thanks to years of work finding and restoring the footage from these long-thought lost scenes Ken Russell’s “true” cut of The Devils has been screened sporadically at festivals since 2004 For someone who saw a poorly mastered and reconstructed version of the film on DVD a rare viewing of the director’s approved print was an intriguing prospect – and it was far from disappointing on “true events” documented and dramatised in Aldous Huxley’s The Devils of Loudun and John Whiting’s play The Devils Russell’s film is about an alleged case of demonic possession in the provincial The Machiavellian Cardinal Richelieu’s (Christopher Logue) plan to unify Catholic Church and State finds its staunchest opposition from Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed) and desires for physical and emotional love and a woman being driven to near-mania by her own conflicted sexual impulses finds herself investigated and manipulated by those attempting to destroy Loudun’s self-sustenance and Grandier’s surrogate control but its triumph is in its remarkable leanness It deals in depth with ideas about piousness and religious dogma the nefarious coupling of church and state and the venality inherent in politics and religious leadership harshly satirising a state in which the masses – particularly women – are treated as sheep and those in power selfishly seek only more changing from a questionably corrupted leader through a remarkable journey seductive but charmless as a sexually repressed mother superior then spitting her accusations as she becomes a hideously abused puppet of the invading politicians The performances are exaggerated but crucially not over-the-top do not even stand out amongst the dramatic interplay both literal and expressive representations of events as is the striking score by Peter Maxwell-Davies and the startling set of Loudun Sheer walls of pristine white bricks stand proudly for a city that seems far ahead of its time Russell’s compositions and movements of the camera are assured these elements all work together wonderfully a complex discussion of the politics of religion and stifled humanity It is a hugely important work of British cinema and a ferocious yet superbly crafted film Why this true cut remains under wraps is a dire oversight and if you wish to see it yourself you must make your voice heard to those unfairly holding it back For further information on the BFI’s Uncut season visit their website here Izabela Matuła studied music theory and singing with Semen Shkurhan at the Krakow Music Academy She won first prize at the 2008 Deutsches Lied Competition at the Prague-Budapest-Vienna Sommerakademie in Austria In 2007 she won the Polish Yamaha Vocal Scholarship and first prize at the Slavic Music Singing Competition in the Katowice Academy of Music In 2006 she was awarded a scholarship by the Polish Ministry of Culture and in 2005 the Grand Prix Award at the Oper Oder-Spree Competition in Beeskow Concert performances in 2006 included the Coronation Mass and Messiah conducted by Helmuth Rilling at the International Bach Academy in Krakow Handel's Brockespassion in Wrocław in 2007 Wagner's Wesendonk Lieder with the Krakow Philharmonic in 2008 and Penderecki's Credo conducted by the composer in 2008 She performed in Penderecki's Seven Gates of Jerusalem with the composer in 2004 at the National Opera Theatre in Warsaw and at Auschwitz in 2008 Her operatic repertoire includes Euridice (Orfeo) Dido (Dido and Aeneas) and Contessa (Le nozze di Figaro) In December she performed Sister Gabrielle in Penderecki's The Devils of Loudun at the opening of the new opera house in Kracow BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2009: concert three repertoire BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Song Prize 2009: recital two repertoire Jens Larsen has been an ensemble member of the Komische Oper Berlin since 2001 and most recently appeared there as Daland (Der fliegende Holländer) and the King of Clubs (The Love for Three Oranges) He has also recently appeared as a guest artist at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich singing Father Barré in Penderecki’s Die Teufel von Loudun His future engagements will take him to the National Theatre in Prague as Baron Ochs (Der Rosenkavalier) and to Munich as the Doctor (Wozzeck) He will also appear at the Komische Oper as Daland Antonio (Le nozze di Figaro) and General Polkan in Rimski-Korsakov‘s The Golden Cockerel He made his Salzburg Festival debut in 2017 as the Doctor returning in 2020 and 2021 as the Old Servant (Elektra) and in 2022 as Dikoj (Káťa Kabanová) His guest engagements in recent seasons have included the One-Armed Brother in a concert performance of Die Frau ohne Schatten with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Jurowski Doolittle (My Fair Lady) at the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie Sir Humphrey Davenaut in Marschner’s Der Vampyr at the Grand Théâtre de Genève Astradamors in Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre in Zurich the Inquisitor in Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel in Munich and at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf and Schigolch (Lulu) at the Teatro Municipal in Santiago de Chile At the Komische Oper Berlin Jens Larsen has appeared in a wide variety of roles Trinity Moses (Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny) Doctor and Clerk in a Newspaper Office (The Nose) Veit Pogner (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg) Solopy Cherevik in Musorgsky’s The Fair at Sorochintsï the four villains in Les Contes d’Hoffmann the Judge of the Dead in Dessau’s Die Verurteilung des Lukullus Zauberkönig in HK Gruber’s Geschichten aus dem Wiener Wald A Priest (Moses und Aron) and Time and Antinoo (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria) In order to offer you the best possible online experience cookies from selected partners are also used We take data protection seriously and respect your privacy: You can change your cookie settings at any time Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper functioning of the website Marketing cookies are used by third parties or publishers to display personalized advertising They do this by tracking visitors across websites Statistics Cookies collect information anonymously This information helps us understand how our visitors use our website