Customer Reviews

Devils, The [VHS]

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

"Hell will hold no surprises for you."

Those in the know will recall Bosch was a painter who made a name for himself with his unconventional (and somewhat surreal) biblical allegories. His most famous (most reproduced, anyway) is "The Garden Of Earthly Delights". A typtrich, it depicts (from left to right) The Earthly Paradise, Garden of Earthly Delights, and Hell. Naturally it is Hell everyone is fascinated by.

So it is with Ken Russell's "The Devils". Russell did his own brilliant adaptation of Huxley's book (and John Whiting's play) and delivers up an allegory as complex, as entertaining, as graphic, and as timeless as anything Bosch could imagine. Bottom line: an errant Priest (Oliver Reed) falls victim to political ambitions.

Released in 1971, the common response was indignation. Remember, this was an era of taboo-breaking: Pekinpah (the violence of Wild Bunch and Straw Dogs), Roeg and Cammel (the sex, drugs and violence of Performance), and Pasollini (the blasphemies and political allegories of Canterbury Tales) were out there upsetting all kinds of people for all kinds of reasons. With all that to compete against, it's not surprising Russell made the film he did.

And be warned, "The Devils" is packed shoulder-to-shoulder with grotesque characters, graphic and savage violence and cruelty, and some bizarre and frightening religious imagery (hence the Bosch reference. In fact if you study the painting you'll see the smoking ruins of the town, and the Bird-headed Demon enthroned like Cardinal Richelieu/The King, all of which appear in the film -- see also Bruegel's "Triumph Of Death"). Russell pulls no punches, and I've very curious to know what it was the British Censors removed (and apparently destroyed) from this film.

But (unlike Pasollini's "Canterbury Tales", for example) this isn't an inept exercise in breaking the rules for the sake of notoriety. Russell has crafted a brilliant drama and realized it in a beautiful film. The "excesses" are important depiction's, NOT gratuitous sensationalism. While one cannot accuse Russell of being overly subtle, his wit and skill as writer/director cannot be challenged. Ultimately "The Devils" is nail-biting drama: Grandier maneuvers deftly through his enemies' snares as the world around him becomes increasingly more dangerous and corrupt.

And besides, the Cast (at their best), lighting and camera-work, and the costumes and sets are worth the price of admission. This film looks spectacular. Tragically there's no sign of a letter-boxed edition. Perhaps someone (Criterion would be nice) will get off their ass and give this film the presentation it deserves.

Russell described the film as a classic collision between the Individual and the State. Pope John Paul I complained (before he was Pope) about the "excesses never seen before" (ironic, considering his mysterious demise only weeks after assuming the papacy). However, the Catholic church's complaints were not about the film as blasphemy, but about it's *depiction's of blasphemy* (like Martin Scorcese, Russell was raised a Catholic and knew a thing or two about the process); they didn't argue about the events portrayed, but about the honesty with which Russell portrayed them. Was it necessary? Yes it was.

Russell isn't "Catholic bashing", he's criticizing the abuse of power and the corruption that comes with all institutions -- in this instance, organized religion. In fact, the character of Grandier -- a man capable of the highest and lowest excesses -- ultimately realizes his faith and attains the strength to survive his tortures through it.

"The Devils" is a masterpiece. One of the notorious highlights of it's era, it stands the test of time and plays as well now as it did then.

Why 4 stars? Because this VHS contains a cut version of the original british film release. What we now deserve is a DVD with the full uncensored version of this masterpiece by Ken Russell.
Oliver Reed at his best, a powerful performance by Vanessa Readgrave, a beautiful and daunting photography surely confer classic status to this work of art, with surrealistic undertones.
Based on a historical facts, as told by Aldous Huxley's The Devils of Loudun, this is a riveting story about father Urbain Grandier's martyrdom, during the reign of Louis XIII.
After Richelieu convinces the King that self-government of small provincial towns must end, the feudal nobility lose their independence by an edict calling for the destruction of their castles and walls, whilst the Hughenots are being crushed by force. One of these towns is Loudun, where the priest (a Jesuit) is Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed), an intellectual young priest, that knows the meaning and consequences of the edict calling for the destruction of the fortified walls of Loudun. Consequently, when Laubardemont, an agent of the Cardinal Richelieu arrives in the town, he is confronted and stopped by Grandier.
But Father Grandier is strikingly handsome and a sensualist. His vows of celibacy have not prevented him from fathering a bastard child with the daughter of Trincant, the town magistrate, and performing an illegal marriage with Madeleine, a young lady with whom he has fallen in love.
Meanwhile the Convent of the Ursulines in Loudun is ruled by Sister Jeanne of the Angels (Vanessa Readgrave), a young humped back noun, with a beautiful face. She develops an obsession with Grandier and has sensual visions which involve the young priest. When she hears about the illicit marriage, she loses control and falsely accuses the priest of sorcery and lewdness.
Grandier's enemies (Laubardemont, Trincant, Father Mignon and others) grasp the false accusation as an instrument for the destruction of the priest. They accuse Grandier of sorcery and call for an exorcist, Father Barre, who starts performing a series of exorcisms never seen before in France. The methods used by him and his assistants to extract the devils reputedly within the bodies of the nuns are base and sadistic. From Sister Jeanne's altered mind come the screams and the behavior that affect the other nuns. From there, collective hysteria spreads and as the nouns bask in their notoriety, their fantasies become more and more unreal. Those who oppose this infernal circus, on the grounds that the exorcists are the ones depraved, deliberately provoking the nouns, are arrested by Laubardemont, who wants to see the matter through. Both Richelieu and his agent are well aware of Grandier's innocence but the raison d' Etat calls for the destruction of the young priest.
Not surprisingly, based on the hysterical accusations of the nouns, Grandier and Madeleine are arrested. Grandier is brought to trial and found guilty of sorcery. He is viciously tortured, vainly, in order to extract a confession of his guilt. When Grandier is burnt alive at the stake, in the public square of Loudun, we see, in the background, that finally the walls of the city are starting to be destroyed...........
A DVD full version of this underrated classic is a must, for the sake of the history of cinema, and to keep alive a strong spirit against political manipulation and religious fanaticism.

'The Devils', "one of the most controversial films ever made in the UK," is not only Ken Russell's BEST film, but probably the most IMPORTANT religious commentary ever put onto film (thanks to the glorious union of Aldous Huxley & Ken Russell). Although you can purchase the widescreen, least censored, Maverick Directors series, UK version (PAL VHS) from www.amazon.co.uk (ASIN: B00004CUX5, Catalogue Number: S015401) -- where the heck is the director approved DVD edition of this film, already???!!! This is an outrage to the film appreciation community, and especially to Ken Russell fans (who have the availability of almost every other Ken Russell film EXCEPT 'The Devils', arguably his VERY BEST, on DVD)!! Every rational reviewer of this film cries the same thing (hello, Warner Brothers!) -- consumers WANT a director approved DVD edition of 'The Devils' (NOT the butchered, US version), including Flim Four's 'Hell on Earth', "an hour-long documentary presented by Mark Kermode on Ken Russell's 1971 film" PLEASE, ALREADY!!!

Unless I've missed something, all the reviews of this video are based on a heavily cut version of the film, reproduced in an muddy, grainy print. When released in the UK in 1971, The Devils was 111 minutes long. The US version was 109 minutes, but that two-minute difference doesn't account for all of the cuts. As well as simply chopping out chunks of the film, the American censors re-edited scenes, by replacing graphic shots of sexual hysteria and torture with shots of onlookers, or by "cropping" shots (the bottom half, usually, to remove pubic hair from view). The American print was butchered, basically.
For many years, only the American version was available on VHS in the UK. Also, a terrible transfer had been used. The US version is about 103 minutes long, when transferred to VHS. In 1997, Warner Bros released the film in the full UK print (which is about 106 minutes in PAL) in the Maverick Directors series. It was in widescreen, in stereo and in a good transfer that proved how excellent the photography was. Unfortunately, it appears that this VHS has been deleted.
So, we need this film available to everyone on DVD, in the UK cut, in a good transfer... and how about putting back all the recently discovered footage that was censored (even from the UK version)? Check out Mark Kermode's articles on the filmfour website if you want to know more about that. The Devils is a brilliant film that deserves better treatment, in the UK as well as the US.

In this era of DVD technology and all it has to offer true film buffs I find myself asking what the hell is the problem at the offices of Warner Brothers as it is time that Ken Russell's most extreme and certainly greatest film is given the full DVD treatment. This most definately means the reinsertion of the 12 odd minutes that were removed by Warners and the British censor at the time of the film's release. This movie now deserves to be rediscovered as the true classic that it is.

The Devils was released in 1971 a period that also saw the release of other violent and controversial projects such as A Clockwork Orange and Straw Dogs, films that challenged perceptions and broke down moral codes as to what was considered resonable material for audiences to view.

The Devils is no work of a hack. From it's literate script, its superb costumes, brilliant and commanding acting, Oliver Reed's greatest role, Peter Maxwell Davies's magnificent music, David Watkin's beautiful photography to the fabulous sets created by Derek Jarman this film is a work of pure creative forces that were operating at the peak of their abilities.

Worth viewing on video but really must be released on DVD in its original format and original length. It's a pity Oliver Reed is dead but if Warners pulled their fingers out a commentary by Russell, Robert Solo, Vanessa Redgrave and Watkin would make for some great listening I'm sure. So come on Warners do this great film the justice it deserves.

The Devils is one of Ken Russell's best films. It still packs a powerful punch some thirty years since its release. Reed and Redgrave are fantastic. The sets were designed by the infamous Derek Jarman and work perfectly with the flow of Russell's film. One can only hope this masterpiece will find its way to DVD with some commentary by Russell as are two of his low budget gems from the 80's, Salome's Last Dance and Lair of the White Worm. While few seem to ever cite Russell as an influence one need only take a look at Todd Haynes' Velvet Goldmine or Oliver Stone's The Doors or Natural Born Killers to see that his visionary style had an impact. For that matter, how much of MTV was built from Russell's film version of Tommy? I suspect quite a bit.

Being a devout Russellian, I can only say that he has more gutsthan that any other film director. The Devils is, perhaps, his most disturbing work (I personally know people who agree that it is a masterpiece but they cannot sit through it because Russell doesn't shy away from any graphic detail; even though it may really be a sound or line that is upsetting you and thinking you're watching more than you're really seeing.) The man is the most underrated director of our time. It's interesting to think that The Devils could not be made today, and most movies that originally shock you on their first release, years after, tend to feel dated and not so upsetting. Not The Devils; this is equally disturbing from the first time you see it to the next time you sit through it, even if it is 20 years later. In fact, it's story of Religion trying to usurp the government is more timely now than 30 years ago. It also contains the great Vanessa Redgrave's best performance.

I wish people would stop criticising the photography in The Devils. The photography is superb. Unfortunately, when The Devils first appeared on VHS, it suffered the double insult of being released in the censored American version, rather than the full UK print, in a completely hideous transfer which looked as if someone had filmed it off the TV with a camcorder. In the UK, the full version of the film was finally released in a decent print in 1997 in the Maverick Directors series. However, Warners will not release this version of the the film in the States. The Devils was being prepared for DVD release in Europe, with audio commentaries by Ken Russell and Vanessa Redgrave. However, it seems that Warner has postponed the DVD indefinitely. Why are they so determined to sabotage this film?

The original Devils was released as an X-Rated Movie. The R rated version that is available on video today is severely cut to omit sexual scenes such as the dream sequence (vannessa redgrave character), and some of the torture scenes (oliver reed).

What more can be added about this film, or the era it was created in? I disagree strongly with the notion that "contemporary-views" were imposed on this very true story. Having read Aldous Huxley's book of the same name, there really is a great deal of reality to this picture. Indeed, we all know the hypocrisies of the Catholic Church-- they've been repeated so often, it's not worth doing so here. What irks some is how well this film realizes the true horrors committed by the Catholic Church in Middle Ages and Renaissance, and this ain't even coming from a Protestant. Or a Christian. If ther ehad not been peoplw within the Church who opposed its tyranny, who knows? Remember the Monastic movement? Was Martin Luther born a Protestant? :0)

It was NOT uncommon for Catholic Priests to have concubines in France at this time (1630s), and as far as people yearning for equality...well, hasn't there always been SOMEONE trying to achieve justice for themselves, and others? Of course there have. In-fact, in the Middle Ages and the period depicted in this film, many European cities were walled and often "free" in ways we would be familiar with.

This would include religious-tolerance. Cardinal Richelieu's bid for consolidating France into a modern nation-state (Catholic, naturally, and him in-power) is not far-off the true reality, this film depicts it well. This was around the time of the Hundred Year's War, of course people were struggling for freedom from the Church-- it was the State of its time, and a totalitarian one at-that.

For what it's worth (not much), I found this film at my local video-store in the early-80s. All I have ever watched is my muddy copy off this cruddy 1980-manufactured VHS-tape!! It literally changed my views on liberty and democracy forever. It cannot be viewed as holding to any ONE ideology, which is what makes it art, and controversial. It's complexity is astounding, and the technical-achievements in it have yet to be surpassed in boldness and power. So: WHY IS IT NOT ON DVD?!!!

It boggles my mind that this film has yet to see release on DVD, and Warners should be bombarded with emails and snail-mails to do so. And it should be the UK-cut, the true film in its full-glory. I can only guess at what it really looks like, since I have yet to see a Widescreen copy of it! But it still shines-thru, doesn't it? Will there ever be an era of film so gripping as the late-60s, early-70s? I doubt it.

If you think Miramax is "independent" and does cutting-edge films, watch this sometime and marvel that WARNER BROTHERS distributed this film!! Compared to this film, most simply don't cut it. Demand this quality from filmmakers and studios of all-sorts, stop going to the theatres until they start making them...again. Enough boring shite.