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The Devils
1971 112 min United Kingdom R 16+
★7.3
Drama, History, Horror
Director: Ken Russell
📖 Based on the novel
«The Devils of Loudun»
byAldous Huxley
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Description
A charismatic 17th-century French priest becomes the target of a sexually obsessed nun’s witchcraft accusations, which corrupt church and state officials are all too happy to exploit.
Budget:
$2M
US Gross:
$1.13M
Worldwide:
$11M
Starring
Vanessa Redgrave
Actor
Oliver Reed
Actor
Dudley Sutton
Actor
Awards
4 wins total
Key opinion
Ken Russell's The Devils is widely regarded as a visceral, provocative masterpiece that uses a stylized, grotesque visual language to explore themes of religious hypocrisy and systemic corruption. While some viewers find its unflinching, raw depictions of violence and hysteria difficult to process, it is universally recognized as a powerful and boundary-pushing work of cinema.
| Acting | Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave anchor the narrative with commanding, intense performances that bring depth to their complex roles. | |
| Production | The production design masterfully utilizes white-walled settings and Hieronymus Bosch-inspired imagery to create a tangible, atmospheric sense of dread. | |
| Direction | Ken Russell’s direction is consistently praised for its bold, hallucinatory style and willingness to push cinematic boundaries through transgressive imagery. | |
| Cinematography | The cinematography is highly lauded for its dynamic use of long takes and expressive close-ups that emphasize the characters' psychological states. | |
| Emotion | The film’s refusal to sanitize 17th-century realities creates a polarizing experience; some find the graphic nature transformative and essential, while others feel it is intentionally nauseating. |