There are quite a few movies about nuns and priests and some are very famous like “The Sound of Music” which I do love. I have spoken, many times about “Black Narcissus” which is brilliant but I chose 3 films about nuns and here they are…
1. THE NUN’S STORY-1959
This film stars Audrey Hepburn, who must be a very sweet and true angel to children now, but when she was on Earth she was a huge film star and made this film with Peter Finch who plays a doctor in the Congo. Her character comes from an affluent home in Belgium and she renounces her riches to become a nun and help the needy. She is sent to the Congo and she is happy believing she will be administering to the poor so she was quite disappointed when she must help this Doctor who administers to the wealthy. She helps but becomes more and more disillusioned with her role in the world since she vocally questions everything. This is quite a beautiful film and well acted. You totally believe Hepburn as a Nun who dares to question why! I need to see this film again.
2. LILIES OF THE FIELD-1963
I love this endearing film that won Sidney Poitier his Oscar and the head nun, played by Lilia Skala, was nominated. There are these group of East German nuns who wish to build a Chapel in the Arizona desert. This wanderer, played by Poitier, comes to their small abode and the head nun feel he is their answer to their prayers since he is a handyman and can help build them a place to live and a church. He does not want to be pinned down but it is pretty hard to say no to this stubborn nun. The music, from this film, is also quite memorable ( by Jerry Goldsmith) and helps the film along. It is, to me, more a comedy, than a drama but not a laugh out loud one, just one that makes you smile. Hmmmm, I never thought Nuns and smile could be in the same sentence.
3. AGNES OF GOD-1985
I saw this when it first came out and I still remember it more for the questions raised than any answers it gives. Jane Fonda plays a court-appointed psychiatrist who travels to this convent to find out if this young nun is crazy as shit. ( oops, did I just swear?) She meets the Mother Superior, played by Anne Bancroft who is none too happy that her place is under the nosy eye of Fonda. From there she meets the nun who may or may not be crazy, played very well by Meg Tilly. You see, Meg gave birth to a child that died under malicious circumstances, but Meg has no memory of giving birth or what happened to her now dead baby. In fact, young Meg, along with most of the Nuns, had no clue she was even pregnant. It is up to Fonda to figure out WTF happened. To complicate things even more, Meg shows the signs of the stigmata and I can’t recall why. This was a controversial film by the great Canadian filmmaker, Norman Jewison, that garnered mixed reviews. I felt it deserved better reviews than it received but I should watch it again and see if I still think it is a really good film or not.
What Nun movies can you think of?
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