SummaryIn 17th-century France, Father Urbain Grandier seeks to protect the city of Loudun from the corrupt establishment of Cardinal Richelieu. Hysteria occurs within the city when he is accused of witchcraft by a sexually repressed nun.
Directed By:Ken Russell
Written By:Ken Russell, John Whiting, Aldous Huxley
The Devils
Metascore
Mixed or Average
49
User score
Generally Favorable
7.8
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Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
49
45% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
45% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
9% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
83
The 1971 epic offers a stylish and scathing parable about the dangerous ways that the powerful can exploit religious zeal to stay that way.
75
The funniest thing about this 1971 Ken Russell camp epic is probably the juxtaposition of its first-class production values (a good cast, great set design, marvelous photography) with Russell's no-class sexual fantasies—it's like a David Lean remake of Pink Flamingos.
User score
Generally Favorable
7.8
78% Positive
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
22% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
Mar 22, 2025
9
The Devils is absolute madness — part history lesson, part full-blown nightmare — and still feels dangerous over 50 years on. Ken Russell doesn’t hold back, throwing everything at the screen in this wild, visually bonkers fever dream. Censors and studio execs butchered it when it came out in ’71. Warner Bros still won’t touch the fully uncut version, even though the missing bits were found and restored in 2004. The infamous “**** of Christ” scene? Still locked in the vault. But plenty argue it critiques blasphemy rather than indulging in **** its heart, The Devils is a furious, no-holds-barred rant about what happens when religion and politics get too cosy, and how those in charge can whip people into a frenzy to keep their grip on power. Oliver Reed is pure charisma as Grandier, swaggering through the chaos, while Vanessa Redgrave is hypnotically unhinged. Russell directs like a man possessed, and Derek Jarman’s sets are weird, stark, and unforgettable. It’s messy, noisy, and suitably uncomfortable — which is entirely the point. Despite all the drama around it, The Devils still hits hard today, especially in a world where truth feels optional and politics is pure theatre.
Apr 13, 2022
8
As extreme, disturbing, and blasphemous a film as has ever been made, the Devils does deserve its place in cinematic history. It is like Hieronymous Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights in cinematic form. But is it an enjoyable film to watch? Well . . . it certainly deserves respect for going over the top and then some, and for Jarman's sets, Davies's music, Shirley Russell's costumes, Watkin's cinematography, and the many fine performances. Often the shocking stuff seems to be there primarily to shock and grab you by the collar, et cetera. I am not at all sure I want to sit through it again - but it is unique and unforgettable, that is for sure!
75
Russell’s penchant for aesthetic excess is thoroughly indulged, as the director stages grotesque human tableaus straight out of Hieronymus Bosch over Derek Jarman’s intricately detailed sets. The result gives the story a sort of wanton, overripe feel, with such ostensibly austere environments as a cloistered convent about to explode with repressed sensuality.
60
As if the story alone weren’t bizarre enough, Russell has spared nothing in hyping the historic events by stressing the grisly at the expense of dramatic unity.
60
No matter how thickly Russell piles on the masturbating nuns, tortured priests and dissolute dauphins, there's no getting round the fact that it's all more redolent of a camp revue than a cathartic vision. Derek Jarman's sets, however, still look terrific.
50
The set design, by future director Derek Jarman, is probably the most successful element of the film.
0
All the events and persons depicted in The Devils are intended to be confused with actual events and persons. How do I know? Ken Russell tells me so.
Apr 5, 2021
7
The scope and ambition are of a spectacular level, I have no complaints about it.
The ending with Gemma Jones walking on the ruins of the city is one of the best I've seen because of how powerful it feels. However, my problem lies in how it's necessary to focus on the ideology of the time of its release in order to understand why it was such a provocative story.
Because The Devils is a very captivating film, but it's also one that forces that element too much, almost forcing itself to feel transgressive just because the sake of it. And as necessary as it was in its time to break those restrictions, today I cannot ignore that this story has a compulsion to make an impact, to shock rather than to disclose something more significant. I recommend it because technically it fascinated me.
Its imperfect and somewhat flawed writing is inconvenient, but I can be flexible.
Production Company:
- Russo Productions
Release Date:Jul 16, 1971
Duration:1 h 51 m
Rating:R
Tagline:The Devils is not a film for everyone . . .
Awards
Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
National Board of Review, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Venice Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
