Léon Morin, Prêtre (Leon Morin, Priest) (The Forgiven Sinner) (1961)

95% of critics liked it
(19 reviews)
81% of users liked it
(444 ratings)

Jean-Paul Belmondo portrays Leon Morin, an altruistic priest who believes that any sin can be expunged by a good dose of faith. Emmanuelle Riva plays a wayward woman who long ago decided that the easiest way was the best. Belmondo makes it his mission to steer Riva onto the right path. Given the… More Jean-Paul Belmondo portrays Leon Morin, an altruistic priest who believes that any sin can be expunged by a good dose of faith. Emmanuelle Riva plays a wayward woman who long ago decided that the easiest way was the best. Belmondo makes it his mission to steer Riva onto the right path. Given the censorial climate of 1961, it isn't surprising that the picture was shorn of 22 minutes for its American release. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 58 min.
Directed By: Jean-Pierre Melville
Written By: Jean-Pierre Melville
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Sep 21, 1961 Wide
On DVD: Jul 26, 2011
Studio: Rialto Pictures

Critic Reviews

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
A fascinating, unexpected movie that fans of French film in general, and Melville in particular, will not want to miss
Manohla Dargis, New York Times
Melville's eye for exacting detail here is expected. What is remarkable is the depth of feeling he exacts from the juxtaposition of these ordinary moments with their extraordinary context.
Scott Foundas, Village Voice
The result is a movie that moves with the diamond-cut precision and carefully constricting tension of Melville's trademark gangland sagas, the precious booty here being nothing less than the human soul.
Variety Staff, Variety
Tale [from Beatrix Beck's 1952 novel] of a young agnostic woman's conversion to Catholicism and her physical love for a priest during the Nazi occupation of France is handled with tact and talent.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Not an unqualified success, the film remains strong for its performances, its inventive editing and framing, and its evocative rendering of the French occupation.
Eric Melin, Scene-Stealers.com
It's slow, thoughtful, thought-provoking, and full of rich characters and interesting discussion with a strangely sexual subtext.
James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk
a thoughtful, moving evocation of spiritual life
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
A peculiar combination of intellectual and instinctive, but it works beautifully.
Sean Axmaker, Parallax View
It's quite the chamber drama, a war movie set in intimate spaces and played out in theological debates and guarded discussions
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
Religion to Melville is purified cinematic expression and gesture
Phil Hall, EDGE Boston
A monotonous production.
Armond White, New York Press
This extraordinary drama doesn't just play games with sexual disorientation and philosophical argument; it's also implicitly about life turned upside down.
Keith Uhlich, Time Out New York
It's a giddy bit of blasphemy to see Jean-Paul Belmondo dressed in priest's garb.
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Miraculous cinema, even for heretics.

Read all 14 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]In "Leon Morin, Priest," Barny(Emmanuelle Riva) has a crush on Sabine(Nicole Mirel), the office manager at the correspondence school where she works. Barny does not take the war seriously when the Italian army occupies the town but things get serious… More
[font=Century Gothic]In "Leon Morin, Priest," Barny(Emmanuelle Riva) has a crush on Sabine(Nicole Mirel), the office manager at the correspondence school where she works. Barny does not take the war seriously when the Italian army occupies the town but things get serious when the Nazis show up. So, she and some of her friends work together to get their children of Communists and Jews baptized. Otherwise, Barny has only ridicule for the Catholic Church and she decides to play a joke on one of the priests. But Leon Morin(Jean-Paul Belmondo) is not who she expects and speaks to her on her level. He is so winning in fact that Barny agrees to further instruction at the presbytery.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]As rambling and episodic as "Leon Morin, Priest" is, it also contains a series of intelligent and witty dialogues on the nature of religion. In short, can there really be an atheist during an occupation? Morin is never totally just concerned with the spiritual, taking an interest in the temporal lives of his parishioners, even going so far as to suggest Barny get married.(Are they really talking about what I think they are in the following conversation?) This is at a time when the most common sexual activity is the casual contact everybody has with each other due to most of the young men being away from the village for one reason or another. However, I do think there is more to Barny's infatuation with Sabine than simply that.[/font]
Chris B

Another wonderfully directed and filmed piece from Melville featuring top-rate performances from Belmondo and Riva. A wonderfully eerie and depraved setting set the tone of the morally challenging film and are beautifully captured by Melville and lived in by the actors. It's a… More
Another wonderfully directed and filmed piece from Melville featuring top-rate performances from Belmondo and Riva. A wonderfully eerie and depraved setting set the tone of the morally challenging film and are beautifully captured by Melville and lived in by the actors. It's a very thought provoking film with many symbolic acts throughout that you may not even notice without referring to the commentary that is part of the Supplements. A great piece from wartime France that showcases the French Resistance and the way of life for the civilians. Highly Recommended, especially if you are a Melville fan!
Emily B

"Léon Morin, Prêtre" stands out in Jean Pierre Melville's body of work. Better known for his American style noir films such as "Bob le flambeur" and "Le doulos", "Léon Morin, Prêtre" comes between these but is not a crime drama, yet a… More
"Léon Morin, Prêtre" stands out in Jean Pierre Melville's body of work. Better known for his American style noir films such as "Bob le flambeur" and "Le doulos", "Léon Morin, Prêtre" comes between these but is not a crime drama, yet a thought provoking and intelligent film. Set in an occupied French town during WW2, with convincing period detail, Emanuelle Riva plays the widowed mother, who stumbles upon Jean Paul Belmondo's Catholic priest and over the course of the film starts to question herself. Melville here wears his Bresson influence on his sleeve and proves he can successfully stray from the crime drama. The fact that he chose two established stars also helped with the public point of view. The action, if you can call it that, is very much dialogue based, but the conversations between Riva's and Belmondo's characters are never boring, and between these talks we have quick glimpses of how people continued through everyday life under the Nazis. I'll just also mention the interesting cinematography with interesting shots and Henri Decaë's great photography.