New York State Writers Institute - Classic Film Series

La Religieuse (The Nun)

November 2, 2001 (Friday) at 7:30 p.m.
Page Hall, 135 Western Avenue
(Free and Open to the Public)

(France, 1965, 130 minutes, color, 35mm)
In French with English subtitles
Directed by Jacques Rivette
Starring Anna Karina, Francine Bergé, Micheline Presle, Liselotte Pulver

Based on the 1796 novel by Enlightenment philosopher Denis Diderot, LA RELIGIEUSE tells the story of young girl in eighteenth-century France, forced against her will to take vows as a nun. Suzanne's beauty and natural virtue elicit different reactions from three Mothers Superior (Madame de Moni, Sister Sainte-Christine, and Madame de Chelles), ranging from parental concern to hatred to sexual desire. The critically acclaimed film was initially banned by French censors for anti-Catholic material, and was first released uncut in the United States.