| Errors | Missing | Unverified | Supported |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
In Ken Russell’s The Devils (1971), the relationship between Father Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed) and Sister Jeanne of the Angels (Vanessa Redgrave) is a tragic study in unrequited obsession, religious repression, and political exploitation.
Remarkably, despite being the "two main characters," they spend the majority of the film physically separated, their relationship evolving through Sister Jeanne’s one-sided psychological projections until their devastating face-to-face confrontation at the end.
At the film's start, Father Grandier is the charismatic, worldly, and sexually active priest of Loudun. He is entirely unaware of Sister Jeanne’s existence. Jeanne, the hunchbacked Abbess of the Ursuline convent, is a woman crippled by both physical deformity and extreme sexual repression.
Jeanne attempts to bridge the gap between them by bringing Grandier into her world under the guise of religious duty.
Denied his physical presence, Jeanne’s mind replaces the real Grandier with a distorted, divine version.
The relationship takes a vindictive turn when Jeanne discovers that Grandier has "betrayed" her by marrying another woman, Madeleine de Brou.
The two characters finally meet face-to-face during the public exorcisms and subsequent trial, which serve as a grotesque parody of an intimate encounter.
Even after Grandier’s execution, Jeanne’s obsession remains the central force of her life, concluding in a final, macabre act of "intimacy."
The summary describes the ending of the 'uncut' version (Jeanne with the bone) as the definitive ending. While this is the intended artistic conclusion for her character, the theatrical release removed this, and the literal final shot of the film (in all versions) is Madeleine leaving the city.
The relationship between Grandier and Jeanne in The Devils is defined by distance and projection. They never meet socially; Jeanne observes him from afar, develops a sexual obsession, and invites him to be her confessor. His refusal triggers her hysteria. She hallucinates him as Christ, and upon learning of his marriage to Madeleine de Brou, her jealousy turns to vengeance. They finally meet at his trial, where he pities her and warns her of her damnation. In the uncut version, her arc ends with her masturbating with his charred femur bone, though the film's final shot depicts his widow Madeleine leaving the ruined city.