The Cinematheque

“A film of shattering intensity … The narrative’s rigorous logic, the performances, and the stark visual beauty yield profound pleasures.”

Nigel Floyd, Time Out

Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1987, Maurice Pialat’s Under the Sun of Satan is a dark and demanding study of faith and evil that recalls the work of Carl Theodor Dreyer and Robert Bresson while anticipating Bruno Dumont. Adapted from a novel by Georges Bernanos (Bresson’s Diary of a Country Priest and Mouchette were also based on the author’s work), the film features a powerful performance by Gérard Depardieu as Father Donissan, a simple cleric troubled with his own failings as priest, and given to sadomasochistic self-torture in an attempt to ward off the temptations of flesh and spirit. Director Pialat appears as his concerned superior, while Sandrine Bonnaire (À nos amours) is riveting as Mouchette, the sixteen-year-old adulteress and murderer whose sins convince Donissan that Satan indeed rules the world. Pialat’s retort to a hostile Cannes audience when the film won top prize: ​“I don’t like you either.”

In French with English subtitles

“Depardieu is astounding as the Dostoyevskian cleric … He appears to be drawing on reserves of authentic madness.”

Elliot Stein, Village Voice

“Uncompromisingly rigorous and harsh, Pialat’s remarkable film isn’t for every taste … but it is certainly a major work by a major filmmaker, with one of Depardieu’s strongest performances.”

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader