Based on the book The Devils of Loundun by Aldous Huxley
It is basically a film about the hypocrisy of the Catholic church, namely their prejudiced dealings with the government, the absurd practices of sexual repression and the general social perils of the sheep mentality found within organized religions. It stars Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave, who both give great performances. The Huxley book was of course adapted with the usual, insane Ken Russell flavor.
From the The Wikipedia entry :
The film’s combination of religious themes and imagery combined with violent and sexual content was a test for the British Board of Film Censors that at the time was being pressured by socially conservative interest groups.
In order to earn an “X” certificate, Russell made minor cuts to the more explicit nudity (mainly in the cathedral sequences) and removed some violent detail (notably the crushing of Grandier’s legs). However, the biggest cuts were made by the studio itself, prior to submission to the BBFC, removing two scenes in their entirety, notably a two-and-a-half-minute sequence of crazed naked nuns sexually assaulting a statue of Christ and about of half of a latter scene with Sister Jeanne masturbating with the charred tibia of Grandier after self-administering an enema. However, even in it’s released form, the film was considerably stronger in detail than most films released prior to that point.
Its fate in the United States was even more stringent, with a further set of cuts made to even more of the nudity with some key scenes (including Sister Jeanne’s crazed visions, exorcism and the climactic burning) shorn of the more explicit detail.
All of this material was presumed lost or destroyed until critic Mark Kermode found the complete “Rape of Christ” sequence and several other deleted scenes in 2002. The artist Adam Chodzko made a video work in which traced and interviewed many of the actresses who had played the nuns during the orgy scene. Although some material may have been lost forever, the NFT was able to show The Devils in the fullest possible state in 2004. This uncut version premiered at the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film in March 2006.
The British version remains the most complete one in circulation, although there are long promised plans to release the uncut version on mass-market DVD. On April 25, 2007, The Devils was shown for a second time in its fullest possible state to a group of students and staff at the University of Southampton, followed by a question and answer session with the director, moderated by Mark Kermode. It was the first significant event to take place during Russell’s tenure as a visiting fellow at the University of Southampton in the English and film departments, April 2007 to March 2008.
An NTSC-format DVD edition on the Angel Digital label appeared in 2005, with the so-called “Rape of Christ” scene and other censored footage restored, and featuring a documentary by Mark Kermode about the film, as well as interviews with Russell, some of the surviving cast members, and a member of the BBFC who participated in the original censorship of the film.
DVDActive.com announced on February 28, 2008 that The Devils would finally be released on DVD by Warner Home Video in the U.S. on May 20, 2008, in the uncut (111 min) version, but without additional material. However, a day later, a DVDActive forum post asserted that the release had been dropped from Warner’s schedule.
Now I own the aforementioned ‘Angel Digital’ release of the film and honestly it’s not too bad looking, it seems as if it’s a direct transfer from PAL tapes, but I believe they were broadcast quality tapes so it’s not as poor looking as a regular VHS transfer… Unfortunately as of yet, the Warner home video release still is MIA with no word on it ever returning, so if anyone is interested I’d recommend just biting the bullet and picking up the ‘Angel Digital’ copy. It even contains the aforementioned documentary about the making/banning of the film that originally aired on the BBC.
Find it, rent it, watch it…
Some clips for your viewing pleasure:
Sister Jeanne dreams of her Grandier/Christ coming down off the cross to get down:
That Catholic repression and the exorcist arrives:
The rape of Christ:
Grandier’s trial
