Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
Year: 1961
Country: France
Language: French
Subtitles: English
Length: 115 mins
Format: PAL | R2
Colour: Black & White
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Certificate: PG

Synopsis

Emmanuele Riva (Hiroshima Mon Amour) and Jean-Paul Belmondo (A bout De Souffle) star in this story of an unfulfilled love affair set against the troubled backdrop of the French Occupation. The film is based on the autobiographical novel by Batrix Beck and adapted for the screen by Melville.

Barny (Riva) is a young widow. She is also a militant communist and atheist who one day enters a church and randomly picks a priest to taunt. Her target, Leon Morin, is a young, handsome and charismatic Catholic priest, unconventional in his religious approach. The two begin a platonic relationship, but soon Barny's admiration for Morin turns to desire and he becomes the object of her romantic obsession.

Melville's original version of the film ran for over three hours but he re-cut it, relinquishing much of the historical background in order to focus on the unfulfilled love affair between Barny and Morin.

Barny's thoughts and emotions are laid bare, in contrast to Morin, who remains somewhat remote and enigmatic. With an erotically charged performance from Belmondo, Leon Morin, pretre (Leon Morin, Priest) is Melville's most mainstream work and the closest he came to making a 'woman's film'. It was also the surprise success of his career, both critically and at the box office.

Special Features

- Filmed introduction and commentary over selected scenes by French cinema expert and Melville biographer Ginette Vincendeau.
- Video interview with assistant director Volker Schloendorff.
- Original trailer.
- Director's biography.