Blu-ray Review: Leon Morin, Priest (Criterion Collection)

Blu-ray Reviews, Reviews, Top Story

In the ten plus years I’ve devoted to serious film appreciation one thing I have believed in absolutely is Jean Luc Godard’s place atop the mountain that is the history of French cinema. But for those of us who pay attention, the last few years have been rather interesting as one Jean-Pierre Melville has staged a mighty comeback and now seriously threatens Godard’s hold on the throne. It all started back in 2006 when his undisputed masterpiece Army of Shadows was granted its first ever US release nearly 40 years after it was made. The critics ate it up and laid tons of their year-end awards at its doorstep. Since then Criterion has lavished all sorts of attention on are now releasing Leon Morin, Priest, his 1961 tale of sexual repression and the eighth film of his to be carried under their banner. Meanwhile Godard has a much larger filmography to poke through and has had the misfortune of simply living and producing much longer. With each film he seems to be moving further away from his prime and positioning himself as an angry old man out of touch with the world around him. In June the incoherent Film Socialisme was released and despite a spirited defense from Ignatiy Vishnevetsky it is currently rocking a 53% on the TomatoMeter and one does have to wonder how many of those points were purchased with Godard’s name. To Godard’s credit the release of Leon Morin, Priest should do little to push Melville further up the totem pole.

The film is a thick intellectual drama that uses the Nazi occupation of a small town in the French Alps to give a lesson on unquenchable desires and how they can affect the world around them, especially in extreme circumstances. Melville focuses his attention on Barny (Emmanuelle Riva), a widowed mother of one who tends towards more atheistic, Soviet inspired politics. One day she wanders into a church, picks out a priest with the poorest sounding name and goes into confession with the intention of calling out religion and all the folly that goes along with it. Her problem is that she underestimated said priest, Leon Morin (Jean-Paul Belmondo), and that he is more than ready to go to war with her philosophically. Their relationship that develops comes to define the core of the film and their debates based primarily around the existence of God give the story it’s meat. He’s a muscular thinker and defends his points in a well thought out, stimulating matter which will be foreign to people in this country who have grown accustomed to the talk about religion that hinges on fear and brainwashing. She slowly comes over to his side though the larger question in play here is whether he is actually winning the argument or just seducing the pants off of an extremely lonely woman.

The question is given more credence by the fact that Leon Morin is one of very few males who are seen at all in this film. Most of the men in town have either been removed forcibly or have gone off to join the resistance. Add to that the fact that he is a priest and, let’s be real, females have an inclination towards that which they cannot have. Plus Barny is hardly his only lady caller as Leon is seen counseling women of a much more sexual nature who clearly have their eyes set on him. To me Barny is something of a tragic character as history has left her alone and desperate with nobody to hit on other than a man of the cloth, plus said man is more than happy to engage in the flirtation only to jump back with righteous indignation anytime she takes a half step too far. The rest of the movie focuses on the push and the pull between them and fans of the talkative French New Wave will surely eat it all up. Personally I would consider this to be my type of movie but it never really connected with me. I watched this in the late morning and suffered through a tough batch of the drowsies while watching it. Reading other people’s take on it after the fact was far more intriguing but there was something not quite alive about the product up on the screen.

To use a contemporary example of this concept done right all we have to do is move the plot to modern New Jersey and you have Carmelo Soprano’s misguided courtship of Father Phil. You would think that with the historical implications involved in Leon Morin, Priest that it would automatically carry more weight but those issues are pushed a bit too far into the background to actually make a difference. But while the storyline on The Sopranos felt authentic Melville’s treatment of a similar story, this one based on fact as his source material was the 1952 book The Passionate Heart by Beatrix Beck, was weighed down by his almost trademark self-seriousness. Their repartee gives the brain much to chew on but their debate was quite stale even back then. To believe or no to believe has pretty much been around since man first formed words though it is interesting to see that way that Leon is treated by the screenplay. Had this been made today he more than likely would have been turned into a caricature out there crusading for God as either somebody overtly good and pious or as a backwards laughing stock who has yet to shed the skin of organized religion. Still, the film is worth a look for its place in the history of world cinema but is never quite blooms the way it should because of Melville’s insistence on telling his story his way.

One does have to wonder how many more gems there are out there for Criterion to find and curate for us. Best not to think about it, I suppose. The special features found on this Blu-ray are the usual variety found in releases from this company. I always slant towards the audio commentary and in this case it is handled by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau who provides a lot of historical background to what we are watching on screen. She only handles a few select scenes but it’s better to have her ideas concentrated as opposed to stretched out for two hours. The essay found inside the box is also quite good. It is by Gary Indiana and it really enriched my entire experience as he was able to find and articulate some high quality observations about the movie that I had overlooked while watching it.

The rest of the special features aren’t really worth your time though I plowed through them in my never ending quest to be a completionist. The TV interview with the director and the star provides a fun look back at the people who helped make the picture but the interview itself is kind of a snore. There are also, of course, the trailer and deleted scenes, both essential to any good Blu-ray release but did nothing to improve my enjoyment everything that had come before.

The Criterion Collection presents Leon Morin, Priest. Directed by: Jean-Pierre Melville. Starring: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Emmanuelle Riva, Irene Tunc, Nicole Mirel. Written By: Jean-Pierre Melville based on the novel The Passionate Heart by Beatrix Beck. Running time: 117 minutes. Rating: NR. Released on DVD: July 26, 2011. Available at Amazon.com.