100 Movies Every Catholic Should See #86: Diary of a Country Priest (1951)

Directed by Robert Bresson. Starring Claude Laydu.

Literature and cinema have shared a symbiotic relationship since the early days of cinema’s relatively recent development as an art form. With its ability to evoke images and emotions in the imagination, the written word found a perfectly suited partner in film, bringing the human experience into tangible reality. Yet effectively capturing the essence and core ideas from text to moving image remains elusive—an effort few films have successfully undertaken while preserving the spirit of the source material in a way faithful to the author’s intent. Director Robert Bresson’s seminal interpretation of Georges Bernanos's 1936 novel Diary of a Country Priest is a masterclass in the adaptation of source material while bringing about fresh rendering via the tools of the cinematic medium. 

In many ways, the visionary French auteur Robert Bresson was perfectly suited to bring Bernanos’s work to life. Not only did he share the same Catholic faith of Bernanos (a theme we will examine in further detail later on), but his filmmaking philosophy focused on stripping away the superfluous and dramatic elements of cinema in an attempt to reveal deeper truths through a barebones realism. He gained notoriety for his disdain of conventional acting techniques, often compelling his actors to complete the same take over and over again until all semblance of theatrical performance was stripped away, leaving nothing more than a real life subtlety through a raw and genuinely human expression. Cinematography and editing follow suit, eliminating unnecessary details. If a single element, like a subtle zoom, can convey the reality on screen, Bresson lets it stand alone without adding additional effects like an emotional cue in the score. This approach allowed him to capture the essence of Bernanos's Diary of a Country Priest in a film that has been universally lauded as one of the all time greats. Not only does it succeed as a masterful adaptation of the source material, but it also stands on its own as an exceptional film. Mark Le Fanu, in his survey of Christianity in classical European cinema, writes that 

“Le Journal d'un Curé de Campagne…is a masterpiece. Whereas, in some adaptations, the very 'thickness' of a novel can stand in the way of what may be successfully put over to an audience in the time the filmmaker has at his/her disposal, here one feels the 'fit' between original and adaptation is one of those miraculous pieces of serendipity that can never happen twice.”¹

Robert Bresson’s significance in the history of cinema and the respect and admiration that Diary of a Country Priest has earned across the entire film community cannot be overstated. "Robert Bresson is French cinema, as Dostoevsky is the Russian novel and Mozart is the German music” Jean-Luc Godard (one of the pioneers of the French New Wave movement) stated. What makes the film truly remarkable, however, is its intersection with Catholic faith. Surveying film history to determine which movies every Catholic should see, there is perhaps no clearer candidate than Diary of a Country Priest. As Le Fanu states, the film is "central to any serious argument about cinema and Christianity.”² Diary of a Country Priest is not a film vaguely influenced by a Catholic worldview. It is a film directed by a devout Catholic (Robert Bresson) based on a novel written by a devout Catholic (Georges Bernanos) whose lead actor was a devout Catholic (Claude Laydu). In a rare unity of faith among key creative forces, an occurrence seldom seen in the canon of great films, Diary of a Country Priest stands as perhaps one of the most authentic expressions of the Catholic faith within the bounds of the cinematic art form. 

Focusing on the daily activities of a parish priest sent to a village with tepid spiritual fervor, Georges Bernanos's novel drew inspiration from his own desire to see a renewal of faith in his French homeland. One cannot help but see the parallel between the novel’s scenario—a young priest arriving in a spiritually desolate village—and the real–life events of the Curé of Ars. Amidst this bleak setting and the constant scorn of the inhabitants that the young sickly priest must face, God’s Grace is mysteriously present. During a particularly fertile period in his personal faith (one that, unfortunately, did not last his whole life) Bresson likely found this novel especially appealing for adaptation. Reflecting on a crucial element of his own artistic inspiration when embarking on his creative ventures, Bresson stated that “There is the feeling that God is everywhere, and the more I live, the more I see that in nature, in the country. When I see a tree, I see that God exists. I try to catch and to convey the idea that we have a soul and that the soul is in contact with God. That's the first thing I want to get in my films.”³

By casting Claude Laydu, a devout Catholic with little acting experience, Bresson solidified his commitment to imbuing his characters with realism rather than theatrics or melodrama. Laydu is said to have spent some time living in a community of priests in preparation for his role, giving his performance a deeply spiritual sense of authenticity. It is a performance that is characterized by a profound and moving simplicity, through which one can almost palpibly feel the presence of God at work. This priest may appear weak and simple, but, as God often does, He works in mysterious and wonderful ways through the humble Curé as he serves the village. Le Fanu asserts:

Never in the history of film, I think it is safe to say, has the meaning of vocation been more subtly and movingly dramatized in these scenes showing the priest going about his daily business. What gives the portrayal its extraordinary authenticity is the combination of humility with inner strength which Laydu brings to the part, and which allows the parallels with Christ's earthly journey to emerge with a natural, unforced and finally momentous authority.⁴

Through an almost miraculous alignment of artistic elements, Diary of a Country Priest brings to life a film fundamentally Catholic at its core, dramatizing the mysterious acts of Grace that so often baffle the human imagination.

One scene in particular that encapsulates the supernatural dynamism of Grace amidst the frailty of fallen man involves the priest’s confrontation of the local countess who has hardened her heart to God’s love. It is a scene that has the ability to cause goosebumps and draw tears through its subtlety. This countess had tragically lost her son many years before, and as time went on, filled herself with a quiet rage against God and the church. The dialogue is particularly poignant. The priest seems so clearly out of water as he attempts to convey God’s mercy to this closed off heart. Yet somehow, despite his own frailty and simplicity, he is able to say the right words that, in a final dramatic gesture involving her flinging a locket with her dead son’s picture into the fireplace, cause a change of heart. It is the Grace of God working through a feeble human agent who in choosing to humility cooperate with God, is able to bring about a conversation that is truly miraculous. In his seminal essay on the film, renowned critic André Bazin puts it best, stating that few moments in either literature or film possess “a more intense beauty than the medallion scene between the curé and the countess. The overpowering severity of the dialogue, its rising tension and its final calm, leave us with the conviction that we have been the privileged witness of a supernatural storm.' In front of our eyes we witness a conversion.”⁵ 

Bresson’s Diary of a Country Priest represents a remarkable entry in the history of film, not only for its artistic merit but in its authentically Catholic portrayal of the dynamism of God’s Grace, acting through fallen man. It belongs near the top of any compendium of films that tackle the question of sin, faith, and redemption. It is, perhaps, one of the most profoundly Catholic films ever put to screen. This powerful artistic expression most poignantly captures Paul’s words to the Romans in Sacred Scripture: ‘‘where sin increased, Grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20).

1. Mark Le Fanu, Believing in Film: Christianity and Classic European Cinema (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020), 87.

2. Ibid., 78.

3. Hayman, Ronald (Summer 1973). "Robert Bresson in Conversation". Transatlantic Review (46–47): 16–23.

4. Le Fanu, 79.

5. Bazin, Andre, and Hugh Gray. What is cinema? Berkeley, Calif: University of California Press, 1967.