The Devils

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Steven C @Fels41 Aug 16 Underrated. Which is probably due to what some may view as excessiveness in some areas. The film highlights how religiosity can be exploited to advance a political agenda and how easily the strings of a dispassionate and indifferent king are pulled despite seemingly being intellectually equipped to sniff out the rouse. It’s a train wreck you see coming yet can only watch in horror. See more DanTheMan 2 @DanTheMan2150AD Oct 12 A literal orgy of splendour. Ken Russell's controversial tour de force, The Devils, stands as a profound and sincere commentary on religious hysteria, political persecution and the corrupt marriage of church and state. It is like a lunatic opera, an attempt to make a furious poem out of frenzy. An experience that pulsates and perverts, especially in those glorious moments when Russell slaps the sacred directly in its frescoed face, even while preaching their rhetoric of sin and salvation, nuns, priests, and cardinals are only human, and humans are nothing but animals. It's easy to be swept away by the film's crass vulgarity, utilising its confrontational tone to delve deep beneath the surface of normalised and accepted institutions of abuse and oppression. Nothing is safe: not God, not Satan, not man, not their collective meaning. Russell's direction is bold, brilliant, grimly stylish and stuffed to the gills with inspired visuals and intense framing, both provocative and persuasive in its contention that the greatest blasphemy is the leveraging of faith for power. The set design by Derek Jarman is just exquisite; his vision of Loudun is one of radiant whiteness, with every building covered in pristine tiles, which ironically makes them much easier to defile and destroy. Oliver Reed gives one of his finest performances as the turbulent priest Urbain Grandier, a man who, although not remotely saintly, is nonetheless so consistent in his religious and political convictions that he favours torture and death over compromise. He is well matched by Vanessa Redgrave's hunchbacked Sister Jeanne, whose erotic obsession with him fuels the hysterical fervour that ends up sweeping the entire convent. Another memorable creative contribution is the sublimely dissonant score by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, a cacophony of jarring dissonance that perfectly matches Russell's depiction of the breakdown of civilisation. It's made all the more impressive when you learn that this is the only film he scored. One day, perhaps the unedited version of The Devils will reveal itself; until then, even Russell's compromised vision retains its power to shock and disturb. It's a film of beauty, horror, and rage. It has heart and humanity. Even today, maybe more than ever, it's a portrait of hypocrisy and societal madness that remains painfully pertinent. See more John W @RT94500145 06/06/2025 The Devis is rich and visually stunning. It is one of Oliver Reeds best films, in my opinion. He is superbly directed by Ken Russel, who even outdoes himself on this one. Ok, some of the scenes are a bit over the top, but that is in keeping with the historical setting of the film, being at a very violent period in France at the time. It is also uniquely terrifying and extremely realistic. It depicts a really atrocious state of human nature, when ruthlessness and mental illness conspire to bring down an essentially flawed but mostly ‘decent’ man. See more ja w @Yames 05/07/2025 It's such a heartbreaking and terrible part of history, yet Ken Russell portrayed it in all of it's ludicrous and outrageous filth. It's heavy, but it's worth it. Read the book by Aldous Huxley for more insight into this part of 17th Century French history. See more Barry C @RT26128284 05/03/2025 Quite simply one of the best films ever made as most of Ken Russell films of that era are. I first saw The Devils when I was 15 back in 1971 and I have seen it a thousand times since. It sealed my admiration for Ken Russell. See more Sam N @RT61650855 03/22/2025 The Devils is absolute madness — part history lesson, part full-blown nightmare — and still feels dangerous over 50 years on. Ken Russell doesn’t hold back, throwing everything at the screen in this wild, visually bonkers fever dream. Censors and studio execs butchered it when it came out in ’71. Warner Bros still won’t touch the fully uncut version, even though the missing bits were found and restored in 2004. The infamous “rape of Christ” scene? Still locked in the vault. But plenty argue it critiques blasphemy rather than indulging in it. At its heart, The Devils is a furious, no-holds-barred rant about what happens when religion and politics get too cosy, and how those in charge can whip people into a frenzy to keep their grip on power. Oliver Reed is pure charisma as Grandier, swaggering through the chaos, while Vanessa Redgrave is hypnotically unhinged. Russell directs like a man possessed, and Derek Jarman’s sets are weird, stark, and unforgettable. It’s messy, noisy, and suitably uncomfortable — which is entirely the point. Despite all the drama around it, The Devils still hits hard today, especially in a world where truth feels optional and politics is pure theatre. See more Read all reviews

The Devils

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