In eighteenth-century France, a girl is forced against her will to take vows as a nun. Three mothers superior treat her in radically different ways, ranging from maternal concern, to sadistic persecution, to lesbian desire.
Acting
Anna Karina's trembling restraint masks volcanic inner rebellion.
Direction
Rivette's static frames turn convents into psychological prisons.
Costume
Habit as architecture of oppression—every fold matters.
Director
Jacques Rivette
Anna Karina
Suzanne
Liselotte Pulver
Mme de Chelles
Micheline Presle
Mme de Moni
Francine Bergé
Soeur Sainte-Christine
Francisco Rabal
Dom Morel
Christiane Lénier
Mme Simonin
Yori Bertin
Soeur Saint-Thérèse
Françoise Godde
La Domestique
Charles Millot
Monsieur Simonin
Marc Eyraud
La Père Séraphin
Gilette Barbier
Soeur Saint-Jean
Catherine Diamant
Soeur Sainte-Ursule
Michel Delahaye
Un Vicaire
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Banned in France for two years by Catholic censors; Rivette had to smuggle a print to Venice Film Festival for its world premiere. The scandal made it art house legend.
Adapted from Diderot's 1760 novel written to attack religious hypocrisy—Rivette strips away the novel's ironic framing, making Suzanne's suffering unbearably immediate.
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