Ooh we are getting spooky and sexy this week as we approach Halloween! Joining me is my dear friend Isabel, whose overflowing enthusiasm and strongly held opinions (strange, yet convincing) lead to wonderful revelations and conversation. Getting to watch a favorite movie of hers I had long heard stories of, with her was a delight, especially because the content was so outlandish and the passion so strong! You will see how this translates to her Q & A… with her singular self and voice, it’s only natural to be mirrored with a choice like this!
In 17th century France there was a progressive priest by the name Father Grandier (played by Oliver Reed), and The Devils is inspired by the true events of his life… though the movie is a far cry from a period drama. Grandier’s views that priests should be allowed to marry and his resulting relationships makes him a sort of sexual icon in his religious community, and the unwitting object of the cloisters, and one nun in particular, desires. That nun, Sister Jeanne, filled with jealousy over Grandier’s marriage, hatches the story that she has been possessed by him, and he is a devil filling her with impure thoughts. Initially scoffed at, this story finds support by church and state who take it up in order to further their own agenda of control and do away with Grandier’s dissenting voice. In the process of proving the possession we are taken on a trip of blasphemy with nuns going all manner of wild, and Ken Russell’s classic fashion of outlandish spectacle. You will just have to see it to see what I mean ;)
A Question & Answer with writer Isabel Turley
What makes The Devils stand out as a favorite film?
Maybe it's because my parents were in a cult, but religious drama really does it for me.
This movie makes my heart sing! When we watched this movie together, I think I said something to you like "this movie checks all my boxes". And yeah, it really, really does: dramatic set pieces, practical effects, the black plague, sex, nuns, Catholics, the Crusades, rock n roll, witches, demons, Oliver Reed, Vanessa Redgrave, people burning at the stake. Did I mention sex?
What's not to like?
David Ehrlich, who is Anthony's favorite film critic, sums it up nicely: "any movie that ends with someone furiously masturbating as an expression of their own eternal misery is fine by me".
What do you find visually compelling about it?
Oliver Reed.
He just has this remarkably handsome face, I really can't say enough about it. Oliver Reed is my Brigitte Bardot. I mean, the movie keeps telling you over and over again: this is the most handsome man who's ever lived. And I really believe it -- his face makes the whole movie believable. Because otherwise it would be a movie about some jackass priest who wants to have sex and get married because he's superficial and arrogant and who cares about the rules anyway? Instead, it becomes a transcendental meditation on politics and power (and religion and women and sexuality and masochism and history). His face gives the vanity and sexuality some kind of groundedness.
He embodies this kind of archetypal masculinity that, in an unadulterated form, is really quite beautiful. We don't talk about men being beautiful enough. It's not a ruggedness, it's not that macho-man thing. There's an elegance and refinement in his body which makes his character actually compelling. And, I looked it up -- he is actually descended from European royalty, the last remnant of a bygone era. Which makes his crazy out of control alcoholism and the fact that he died on the floor of a pub after out-drinking some sailors that much more glamorous.
I watch that movie and I think to myself "yeah... no wonder those nuns went nuts". If it was me back then? I'd be ripping my clothes off and shaving my head and cavorting with demons too, no doubt.
And don't even get me started on Vanessa Redgrave...
Is there a special memory you connect to watching this film?
I don't remember exactly the first time I watched this movie per se, but 2016 - 2017 was a very special time for me. I had just started working at the Belcourt and saw so many incredible films in such a short amount of time. I think if I had a Top Ten All Time list, more than half of them would be movies I saw during that time.
How does watching movies inform your own art practice? / What art that you consume has the greatest impact on the art you make?
Film has a tremendous impact on my writing. Honestly, it's the art that influences me the most -- I wish to god I could say it was books, but I think it's movies. Sometimes, when I'm writing, I find myself imagining a scene very vividly and I can see exactly how it would look in a movie: the lighting, the actors, the music, the background... and I feel sick with envy. All those fucking directors, with all those fucking cameras, and those fucking actors, and that fucking budget, and the fucking editors. How easy it must be to write with pictures!
But, of course, they're very very different. And there's so much you can do with language that you can't do with images. There’s a lot of freedom in writing, there’s a lot more you can get away with. That makes it fun. I think my ability to vividly visualize what I'm writing is largely because I watch so many movies. Which helps me tremendously! It helps me to be more specific and to use language like a camera, to capture the atmosphere of a story.
It’s like taking the little motion picture in my head, writing it down, and turning it into a little motion picture in your head.
All of the Ken Russell movies that I have seen, regardless of the time period they are set in, put this glam-rock influence into the costumes, and The Devils (set in the 17th century) is no different. It’s funny to see the more traditional costuming mingling with fur lined rock n roll trench coats, or priests that derobe to show off leather cuffs and oversize jewelry… and the 70s hair cuts! I was most drawn to the exaggerated sheer organza collars that the clergy wore, and wanted to make something like it for use in the coming months as a layering piece under dresses or sweaters, something light but dramatic.
I was really having one of those bad times in the sewing of this. I was working with some silk organza I had left over from sewing my bridesmaid dresses and the limited quantity plus it’s preciousness (silk!!) served to be quite stifling when mixed with a bought of laziness (not wanting to do a practice run in a different fabric). After several unsatisfactory attempts, I looked through my pattern stash to take away half the work, and leave me with just needing to cut out and sew up. After that choice, it really flew, and the resulting blouse is better than my initial ideas, anyway. It also reminds me of a blouse I always had a mind to recreate from Maison Cleo a few years back— a big collar and voluminous sleeves lightened up by the sheer silk.
A more practical make from a very impractical movie… surprising that given the season I didn’t jump full force into the nun costume of my dreams, but maybe I’ve overplayed that one lol .
So thankful to Isabel for her participation and the laughs we had while taking in the craziness of this film!
And thankful for you all for reading! E-Pastiche is officially a year old and I’m looking forward to more movies and more making… and some more surprises!
Love the sheer fabric in this blouse. And the collar is soooo you! ❤️