The Nun [La Religieuse]

N.p. Rome Paris Films, 1966. Vintage French Moyenne poster for the 1966 film. Nominated for a Palme d'Or at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival.

A flurry of controversy surrounded the production and release of Rivette's film. Upon facing pressure from the French Catholic Church regarding its critical religious and sexual content, the new Minister of Information, Yvon Bourges, banned its release. As a result, a massive campaign was launched in its defense, eventually leading to the ban being lifted.

The story is based on Denis Diderot's eighteenth century novel of the same title. It was conceived as a practical joke, devised by Diderot, to persuade the Marquis de Croismare to return to Paris. He assumed the identity of a desperate young woman forced into a convent and wrote elaborate letters to the Marquis, beseeching him to help her. Eventually, Diderot compiled the letters and built on them to create his novel. Like the film, it too faced censorship, and was not officially published until after the writer's death.

Shot on location in Villeneuve-les-Avignon, Gard, France.

23.5 x 31 inches, folded. Near Fine with two manuscript ink and graphite annotations to the verso and light edgewear.

Vogel, Film as a Subversive Art.

[Book #139960]