#572: MELVILLE, Jean-Pierre: Léon Morin, Priest (1961)

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MELVILLE, Jean-Pierre (France)
Léon Morin, Priest [1961]
Spine #572
Blu-ray
OOP


Jean-Paul Belmondo delivers a subtly sensual performance in the hot-under-the-collar Léon Morin, Priest (Léon Morin, prêtre), directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. The French superstar plays a devoted man of the cloth who is desired by all the women of a small village in Nazi-occupied France. He finds himself most drawn to a sexually frustrated widow — played by Emmanuelle Riva — a religious skeptic whose relationship with her confessor turns into a confrontation with both God and her own repressed desire. A triumph of mood, setting, and innuendo, Léon Morin, Priest is an irreverent pleasure from one of French cinema's towering virtuosos.

117 minutes
Black & White
Monaural
in French
1:66:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2011
Director/Writers


Based on the novel by Béatrix Beck.

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Thirty-two page booklet featuring an essay by critic and novelist Gary Indiana and excerpts from Melville on Melville.

Commentary

Selected-scene commentary by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau.

French television interview

With director Melville and actor Belmondo from 1961.
Deleted scenes

Original theatrical trailer

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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