A charismatic 17th-century French priest becomes the target of a sexually obsessed nun’s witchcraft accusations, which corrupt church and state officials are all too happy to exploit.
Direction
Russell's operatic madness—every frame is a middle finger to restraint
Production
Derek Jarman's sets: grotesque beauty that still shocks 50 years later
Acting
Redgrave's hunchback nun: desire, deformity, and delusion fused
Director
Ken Russell
Vanessa Redgrave
Sister Jeanne des Anges
Oliver Reed
Father Urbain Grandier
Dudley Sutton
Baron de Laubardemont
Max Adrian
Ibert
Gemma Jones
Madeleine de Brou
Murray Melvin
Father-Canon Jean Mignon
Michael Gothard
Father Pierre Barre
Georgina Hale
Philippe Trincant
Brian Murphy
Adam
John Woodvine
Louis Trincant
Andrew Faulds
Rangier
Kenneth Colley
Legrand
Judith Paris
Sister Agnes (miscredited as Sister Judith)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 'Rape of Christ' scene—where nuns masturbate with a crucified Jesus statue—was cut by censors for 50 years and only restored in 2021.
Russell adapted Aldous Huxley's 'The Devils of Loudun' after reading it during a depressive episode, calling it 'the most beautiful book about the most horrible things.'
GB
