Diary of a Country Priest

Often hailed as a model of literary adaptation (from the acclaimed novel by Georges Bernanos), Robert Bresson's 1951 Diary of a Country Priest is an early experiment in the French director's signature use of sparse, elemental style, so purely simple in its imagery that, were it not for Bresson's masterful use of sound, it could almost pass as a silent-era drama. Another bold stroke of genius--Bresson's frequent use of non-actors in prominent roles--brings us the melancholy beauty of Claude Laydu in the title role, playing a sickly saint who encounters suspicious, malicious, and unfriendly parishioners in the sternly devout, rural town of Ambricourt. Misunderstood and shunned, this well-meaning priest suffers greatly from forces both internal (a simmering case of stomach cancer) and external (the dismissal of his ministrations), but he also achieves an intimate state of holiness that prepares him for his inevitable death. Bresson's slow, meditative pace can have a soporific effect, but the attentive viewer will be duly rewarded by this film's intensely internalized drama in which the priest's diary serves as our conduit into his thoughts and feelings (his voiceover readings are taken directly from Bernanos' novel), with an effect that is both revelatory and deeply hypnotic--at times it seems like Bresson has crafted a waking dream. While not for everyone, Diary of a Country Priest is a film for the ages, digitally remastered in this characteristically fine Criterion release that also includes a thorough, scholarly audio commentary by noted film historian Peter Cowie. Recommended. (J. Shannon)