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• Technoguy said...

  Posted on Apr 23 2008 14:39 The Diary of a Country Priest
  Young Preist goes to French rural village and is disliked by the villagers.He has an unknown stomach ailment and is weak and ailing,living on a diet of bread soaked in sugar and wine.Being austere and idealistic he wants to save souls.People want things for nothing,like
  a rich farmer,old Fabregars who wants a cheap no cost funeral for his wife.
  The aristocratic family draw him in to their mesh of problems,the wife,the mistress,the daughter.He is told by a priestly mentor to change his eating habits.He is often faint and morose.He needs to toughen up and not expect to be loved but give spiritual discipline.
  He identifies with Christ at Golgotha.Bresson shows the priest as isolated and lonely,in need of love and approval.He highlights this aspect by showing him behind glass,seen through
  window frames.It may be raining or snowing outside but he is trapped in his cell,imprisoned in
  his own mind.He is drawn to similarly lonely people: the Countess,Seraphita,Chantal and
  Dr.Delbende.The Journal and the voiceover are Bresson’s primary means to detail the Preist
  of Ambricourt’s inner life.The very real writing of pen on paper is a repetitive ritual throughout
  the film,blotting,scratching,closing:capturing the soul’s immaterial thoughts,ideas and emotions.Similarly the raking of the ground outside mirrors the lining of his stomach.
  He is mocked and tormented by his favoured student,Seraphita,at catechism classes.The Count dislikes him interfering with his family.He tells the Count his barn is empty and field
  Is barren and could be put to more productive uses for the villagers.He has been asked by the
  Governess,Louise,to intercede in a conflict involving her pupil,Chantal,the Count’s daughter.
  Chantal tests the priest’s compassion by threatening suicide,she is manipulative and pours scorn on the priest.In the film’s most central scene he is drawn into ministering to the Countess imparting his suspicions about Chantal.He admits he fears death but says he fears
  her death more.She is tormented and grieves for the loss of her son.He succeeds in helping her find inner peace.He admits the miracle of being able give what he doesn’t have himself.
  Chantal,unable to comprehend the change in her mother,misinterprets his actions as cruel
  and begins to denounce the idealistic priest.
  Bresson’s film shows a visual metaphor of the spiritual life through his physical malady and the journal entries,the use of long and short shots,the harsh reality of the existence of a man of faith in a secular world.He is slowly consumed by stomach cancer as we learn later. The emotional power builds up through use of minimal dialogue and camera- in- face shots-the man’s final moments distilled and captured in a single shot. The final image of an isolated
  cross encapsulates the profound suffering of this nameless priest.His last words:”What does it matter?All is grace”.The priest is free at last.

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