"Painting taught me to make not beautiful images but necessary ones." - Bresson
Director: Robert Bresson
Writer: Robert Bresson & Georges Bernanos (novel)
Cast Character
Claude Laydu ..... Priest of Ambricourt
Jean Riveyre .... Count
Adrien Borel .... Priest of Torcy
Rachel Berendt .... Countess
Nicole Maurey ..... Miss Louise
Nicole Ladmiral .... Chantel
The film Diary of a Country Priest starts from the diary of the priest from Ambricourt, played by Claude Laydu, as he journals his thoughts. A middle aged couple embraces and sees him with hostile looks. He is an outcast, new in this town - already abandoned. He is shot with the camera looking at him behind a gate - as if he is jailed behind bars in this town with no escape.This is Ambricourt's first parish and in his diary he refuses to acknowledge his crippling stomach illness. He is fighting his alcoholism. He eats nothing but bread dipped in wine. Symbolic to his devotion as a priest avoiding all worldly pleasures.
As he meets the Priest of Torcy he tells Ambricourt, "A true priest is never loved. The Church doesn't care whether you're loved my son. Be respected, obeyed." He further tells him "The night undoes the work of the day." Torcy only cares that the Priest of Ambricourt gets results. He clearly expresses to the Priest of Ambricourt he is there to mop up the mess left behind and his job will be less than satisfying.
Claude Laydu has such a magnificent, sorrowful expression in his eyes. The weight of the world and his small impact really resonate behind them. He gets electricity from a cabaret owner that will be ready in three to four months. He teaches kids about the meaning of the Holy Eucharist. He gains hope when one child, Seraphita, gets the answer right. No one accepts him despite his constant efforts to help others. His life is a test much like his faith.
The Priest of Ambricourt visits the manor the see the Count in order to maybe get a youth club and sports program. She is wealthy and influential. He is ill and at need. The Count says he likes the priest's ideas but to not put them in practice because people there are malicious. He tells the Count he is concerned about his daughter, Chantel's sadness. He is stern and unforgiving whereas The Priest of Ambricourt seeks compassion and understanding.
The Count gives him a rabbit but he cannot eat because of his stomach illness and his crippling alcoholism. He can only eat bread dipped in wine, symbolic of his need for a transubstantiation of Christ. In his mind he says, "I didn't dare tell him my stomach only tolerates dry bread." He is concerned with only substance and that which gives life. He has no time for frivolity.
He goes to see Dr. Delbonde to whom he tells Laydu he is of a rare race - the type who hangs on. His faith will come into testing as Dr. Delbonde foreshadows. Seraphita drops her bag and the Priest of Ambricourt returns it only to find her mother is as cold and unwelcoming as her daughter. He is an outsider unable to connect with these people due to his inexperience, naivety and lack of leadership. He suffers stomachaches throughout the film which indicate his ineffectualness to bring faith to others.
The Priest of Torcy tells the Priest of Ambricourt he is ineffectual because he is too fussy. He cannot accept things the way they are as he is too ambitious. His ambition stems from trying to feel useful rather than pride. He is disconnected. He receives a letter to leave the parish and later finds a book with the same handwriting as Miss Louise.
The following scene has effective cinematography with the camera dollying in to his face - his eyes in the shadow - unable to see the reality around him. It is a subtle camera move that is simple and effective. He is pressured to leave but he stays by some sense of obligation and moral responsibility.
The Priest of Ambricourt surrenders himself to solitude in order to hear the Voice which might lead him but like his past he hears nothing and is lost. He feels God's silence.
Dr. Delbonde is found near the woods shot in his head. The Priest of Torcy and Ambricourt discuss Delbonde's suicide, contemplating his fate. As the camera moves to Laydu his black cloak hints at him being a grim reaper - collecting the souls of the dead. When Chantel tells
The Priest of Ambricourt of her parents' possible affair she is standing above him saying she wants to disgrace their family name for revenge. As he convinces her to give him the letter she steps down staged beneath him returning the power to him. This same technique was seen in the film Rebel Without a Cause when James Dean is fighting with his parents in the stairwell.
The Countess hints to The Priest of Ambricourt of her husband's possible affair with a governess. She says he can do what he like. The Priest of Ambricourt offers incredible restraint not pushing advice or doctrine onto the countess. He offers advice without judgment trying to show her options of coping.
Many times in the film The Priest of Ambricourt suffers psychosomatic illness stemming from his guilt. The world overwhelms him. He warns her that people's inter connectivity controls good and evil - in that a single person could control the world. He tells her there is no kingdom between the living and the dead - only one that they are living within.
He hints her anger towards God is synonymous with love stemming from hurt. She is disappointed - this came from originally having faith in something that was abandoned. He tells her she must forgive herself. It is no way to live without it. The countess dies symbolizing her will to make peace with herself.
The Priest of Torcy visits him and offers advice - to stop drinking and eat better. The Count says the same because The Priest of Ambricourt unfortunately has such a submissive character. He looks within in all things never thinking the environment shapes human behavior. The Priest of Ambricourt represents the paradox and conflict of needs vs. obligations. He needs others to trust in him as a priest in order to give them collective resolve and calm. He needs them to give him a chance but they all remind him that he is an outsider.
The Priest of Ambricourt is saddened talking to the Priest of Torcy because it reminds him of his futile existence and powerlessness in this town. He is a mere set-piece, a thing to talk to. The Priest of Torcy represents idealism to not stir the waters. Laydu's character Ambricourt wants to wake people up from their spiritual slumber. He takes chances and is rejected for that. People always say they want something new but what they really want is a new color of paint over the same thing.
The Priest of Torcy reminds him to do little things everyday that will bring peace. The Priest of Ambricourt tries hard to bring faith in others as seen with the Countess before her death but as he talks to the Priest of Torcy he loses that sense of power and faith. He tells The Priest of Ambricourt to pray to the Holy Virgin as she is the mother of mankind but also its daughter. This dynamic is powerful and is also reflected as The Priest of Ambricourt confronts his own quest for divinity as Dafoe's character of Christ in The Last Temptation of Christ confronts his own humanity.
Bresson likes to use dolly shots in the film to intensify the inner turmoil of his characters. It is stark, unrelenting and claustrophobic. The Priest of Ambricourt must go to Lille to treat his stomach so he catches a ride with a man on a motorcycle. The soldier who gave him the ride tells him of a priest who was in the military with him who died. He reminds The Priest of Ambricourt that, "if God doesn't save all soldiers precisely because they're soldiers, then what's the use?" This scary notion reminds one that one person cannot play for two teams.
After seeing Dr. Lavigne he learns he has stomach cancer. He talks to another ex-priest who left in order to pursue an intellectual life. The Priest of Ambricourt is confused by this and says he would only leave the priesthood for a woman. As he wakes up he sees a woman who can validate his previous desire.
Spoilers
"All is grace" is The Priest of Ambricourt's last words. All things favorable or unfavorable validate one's core values, beliefs and principles no matter what they are. Opposition solidifies one's purpose. Support strengthens your faith. All is grace.
