Product Details

• Actors: Kristin Scott Thomas, Sandra Voe, Anthony Valentine, Amanda Redman, Tracy Keating
• Format: Box set, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 3
• Studio: Questar, Inc
• VHS Release Date: November 18, 1996
• Run Time: 300 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304296320
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #122,509 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

The New York Times

"Played with an alluring combination of innocence and sensuality by Kristin Scott Thomas..."

From the Back Cover

Tape 1
Part I: Sister Gabriel, Anna, a nun in a Silent Order, is informed of the tragic death of her brother and has to leave the convent for the first time in 16 years. During that time she has to come to regard her tiny cell as a prison, and at 34 is becoming acutely aware of her own desire to have a child. This family tragedy is about to change her life forever.

Part II: Sister Gabriel, Anna, is caught between two different worlds. We witness her struggle to come to terms with an alien world, as she tries to remember what her father taught her. She is confronted by pain and sadness from her sister-in-law, and sexual hostility from the man who manages the family mill.

Tape 2
Part III - Sister Gabriel, Anna, is torn between her life in the convent and trying to save her brother's failing business. She also has to face her own physical and emotional desires in her relationship with Hal, the foreman at the family mill.

Part IV: The outside world becomes more alarming as Sister Gabriel, Anna, has to deal with the banks in her desperate efforts to save the mill. She discovers that men are beginning to perceive her more as a woman than a nun.

Part V: Sister Gabriel, Anna, is driven back to the convent by a frightening sexual encounter, only to realize that she no longer belongs there. She asks for a release from her vows to undertake the responsibility of the family business.

Part VI: Anna, with everyone's help, manages to secure the future of the family mill in spite of efforts to sabotage her work. Anna returns to the convent to sign the papers which will release her and walks out of the convent gates for the last time to face her future.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Nun's Tale, January 11, 2008

By 

Judith Johnson "JJ" (Memphis, TN) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Body and Soul (DVD)

It is almost a rite of passage for beautiful actresses to portray a nun-Ingrid Bergman, Audrey Hepburn, Deborah Kerr, Jennifer Jones and Julie Andrews have all starred as women with religious vocations (and never have whimples been more flattering). Heart and Soul features beautiful Kristin Scott Thomas as the innocent yet sensual Sister Gabriel/Anna Gibson, a woman torn between the two worlds of a Welsh convent and a gritty English mill in a story based on Marcelle Bernstein's novel.

Sister Gabriel/Anna is already doubting her vocation when a family tragedy takes her back out into the world that she renounced 16 years ago. Believable character arcs, realistic sets and an excellent supporting cast make this a very satisfying five hour drama. A must see for Thomas fans. Very gripping-I had to make myself quit watching and go to bed!! Yeah BBC.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars BREAKING OUT OF CELL WALLS, February 21, 2002

By 

Bonita L. Davis - See all my reviews

This review is from: Body and Soul [VHS] (VHS Tape)

For sixteen years Sr. Gabriel lived a cloistered life in a convent. Her family consisted of an order of elderly nuns. A pesky young novice becomes infatuated with her but Sr. Gabriel knows that God will take care of such an annoyance. Life in the order is safe, comforting and routine.

God does have a way of breaking one out of his/her comfort zone. In this case Sr. Gabriel is forced to confront the outside world as she is summoned to help her pregnant sister-in-law. Her dutiful brother committed suicide and now left his sister with quite a mess to handle. Sr. Gabriel enters into the world of grief, squawking children, hideous dress and hairstyles, a hysterical sister-in-law and the family mill which is about to go under.

Kristen Scott Thomas gives a superb performance of a nun coming to grips with her faith and the various emotional and spiritual turbulance that she finds in both worlds. Sr. Gabriel finds out that one's cell can be stifling. Her other self, Anna, discovers a world that is cruel, painful, and frightening but at the same time filled with joys that she never experienced before. Body and Soul deals with a woman's need to make peace within herself and become a whole woman in the midst of the chaos surrounding her.

The great mystery is can this woman do it? Is she replacing one cell wall for another? This is an entertaining film that gives you great insight upon the temptations that plague all of us.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wondrously memorable, KST's nuanced performance is a delight, November 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Body and Soul [VHS] (VHS Tape)

In this extraordinary story of a woman's crossover from one world to another, Kristin Scott Thomas's performance is astonishing. The chemistry between Sister Gabriel (KST) and her sister-in-law (Amanda Redman) is very satisfying to behold. A stunning cast throughout... There are so many delightful moments in this mini-series that it is a must-see (and own) for KST fans. Soulful throughout...