Diary of a Country Priest

"One of the most profound emotional experiences in the history of film; no other director, with the possible exception of Dreyer with The Passion of Joan of Arc, has come so close to communicating a religious experience."—Pauline Kael

In Diary of a Country Priest, a young priest (Claude Laydu) arrives at his first parish only to be met with hostility and apathy from the villagers he has been called to serve. A major influence on Martin Scorsese (especially Taxi Driver), Bresson's fourth film marks his turn toward an essential form of cinema, relying on a purity of sound and image to support his philosophical explorations. (115 mins., 35mm)