Melville brings a lot of interesting touches to this story, especially in his editing techniques. There's very little narrative filler, cutting right to the heart of matter. It's an unusual movie with a lot going for it, including some engaging dialogues. But I had difficulty connecting with the characters. Barny is too malleable, and while Belmondo is surprisingly not too distracting as a priest, Morin is too idealized. He always has the exact right thing to say. But I'm glad I watched it.

The best interpretation I have: a film about the interrelationship between sexual desire and spiritual yearning. However, the film--or at least the priest--felt like the brainchild of Catholic Church's PR department.

A great film about the interaction between two people with extremely powerful feelings; one a sexually frustrated widow, charmed and charged with desire by and for her confessor, a clever priest. The priest, Leon Morin, played exquisitely by Jean-Paul Belmondo, shares intriguing religious and existential philosophy's with the very conflicted widow, Barny. The film is a beautiful mix and clash of religious spirituality and sexual desire and confusion.

87.250

This extraordinary drama doesn't just play games with sexual disorientation and philosophical argument; it's also implicitly about life turned upside down.