In World War II, the widow Barny (Emmanuelle Riva) sees the Italian soldiers arriving in the occupied Saint Bernard while walking to her job. Barny lives with her daughter and works correcting tests and feels a great sexual attraction for her boss Sabine (Nicole Mirel). When the Germans arrive in the town, Barny sends her half-Jewish daughter to live in a farm in the countryside and finds that Sabine's brother has been arrested and sent to a concentration camp. The atheist Barny decides to baptize her daughter to protect her and chooses the priest Léon Morin (Jean-Paul Belmondo) to discuss with him themes related to religion and Catholicism and Léon lends books to her. Barny converts to the Catholicism and becomes closer to Léon, feeling an unrequited desire for him.
"Léon Morin, Prêtre" is a verbose and theatrical film with magnificent performances of Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-Paul Belmondo and awesome cinematography. There is a great sexual tension between Barny and Sabine in the beginning and then between Barny and Léon Morin but the plot gives the sensation of going to nowhere, presenting a philosophical discussion about religion and Catholicism. The subtitles in the DVD released by the Brazilian distributor Lume Filmes do not have a perfect synchronization with the speech and sometimes it is tiresome and necessary to rewind the movie to finish reading the dialog. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): "Léon Morin, o Padre" ("Léon Morin, the Priest")
"Léon Morin, Prêtre" is a verbose and theatrical film with magnificent performances of Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-Paul Belmondo and awesome cinematography. There is a great sexual tension between Barny and Sabine in the beginning and then between Barny and Léon Morin but the plot gives the sensation of going to nowhere, presenting a philosophical discussion about religion and Catholicism. The subtitles in the DVD released by the Brazilian distributor Lume Filmes do not have a perfect synchronization with the speech and sometimes it is tiresome and necessary to rewind the movie to finish reading the dialog. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): "Léon Morin, o Padre" ("Léon Morin, the Priest")