France
1951
115 minutes
Black and White
1.33:1
French
222
A new priest (Claude Laydu) arrives in the French country village of Ambricourt to attend to his first parish. The apathetic and hostile rural congregation rejects him immediately. Through his diary entries, the suffering young man relays a crisis of faith that threatens to drive him away from the village and from God. With his fourth film, Robert Bresson began to implement his stylistic philosophy as a filmmaker, stripping away all inessential elements from his compositions, the dialogue and the music, exacting a purity of image and sound.
| Priest of Ambricourt | Claude Laydu |
| Count | Jean Riveyre |
| Countess | Marie-Monique Arkell |
| Priest of Torcy | André Guibert |
| Dr. Delbende | Antoine Balpêtré |
| Chantal | Nicole Ladmiral |
| Séraphita | Martine Lemaire |
| Louise | Nicole Maurey |
| Olivier | Jean Danet |
| Canon | Gaston Séverin |
| Priest Dufréty | Bernard Hubrenne |
| Housekeeper | Jeanne Étiévant |
| Madame Dumouchel | Gilberte Terbois |
| Monsieur Fabragars | Léon Arvel |
| Deputy mayor | Martial Morange |
| Director | Robert Bresson |
| Producers | Léon Carré and Robert Sussfeld |
| Screenplay | Robert Bresson |
| Based on the novel by | Georges Bernanos |
| Original music by | Jean-Jacques Grünenwald |
| Cinematography | Léonce-Henri Burel |
| Film editor | Paulette Robert |
| Art director | Pierre Charbonnier |
| Set decorator | Robert Turlure |
| Assistant director | Guy Lefranc |
| Sound | Jean Rieul |
Here’s a definite must-read: in its latest issue, Bright Lights Film Journal features André Bazin’s essay “Fifteen Years of French Cinema,” in its first-ever English translation (by Bert Cardullo). Originally delivered . . .
Diary of a Country Priest is a film about imprisonment. As he carries out the duties of his ministry, the priest tries to act as a link between his parish and the local population. But he ends up just another body, a dark blotch on the landscape, a mere spectator . . .
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