 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. This is for the 1971 film the devils Which is getting a lot of traction on social media being talked about right now because it was just added by shutter And that's where I watched it when I'm doing this review Get on it fast because I don't know how long it's gonna be on shutter shutter has a tendency to have films just for a certain amount of time they don't have any date on their Streaming service, it'll tell you when these films will cycle off and sometimes films are there for a long time Sometimes it's really quick and they're gone now I say that you you should get on this one not just because it is a good film because it is a very good film But also because it's very hard to get your hands on apparently So much so that people are kind of like flipping out about it actually hitting shutter and being like get on this watch this now So yeah, check it out if for nothing else then you just have seen it so that you know You'll never have regrets because you finally saw it So this was directed by Ken Russell who did some other film many other films actually but some key ones people might know are Tommy Yes, the one with the who music in there, which is a wacky film altered states also crazy and a very crazy film I need to go back and rewatch this one because I really didn't like it that much when I first saw it But I have a feeling I might feel a little bit different about it now as some time has passed in my film appreciation The layer of the white worm. Yes Hugh Grant is in that one. A lot of people don't know that Hugh Grant was in a horror film It was this was written by Russell himself actually it was based on a play that was by John Whiting which was based on a book By Aldous Huxley. Yes, Aldous Huxley who wrote Brave New World and the book was called the Devils of Ludon Which obviously makes sense because the city this this takes place in is Ludon. Oh and real quick disclaimer on this Just so people know I am having spoilers in this. This is an all spoilers review because it's an old film I know it's hard to get a hold of but I'm making it all spoilers because I assume there will be enough people out There who end up watching it and then want to you know get a breakdown of some of the stuff in this film I'll I'll be unpacking the themes quite a bit a Scene where the nuns pull down a Christ statue and have an orgy with it was cut from the film And there is an uncut version out there somewhere, but it's apparently Unbelievably hard to get a hold of it was on an uncut DVD version and shutter was not able to get that version of the film So that scene is not there the Christ statue orgy Obviously you can figure out in 1971 why that was cut from the film because that is just it's a lot and For the time this film came out It was a lot especially from the religious standpoint of it Warner Brothers had no interest in releasing a director's cut of this film even though The footage that was initially cut it was lost for a little bit then it was found and then Russell apparently was like I would love to release a version of this that's directors cut so we can get this original footage back in there Warner Brothers was like Now we're not interested in doing that right now. So whatever The footage can be seen in a Documentary on Ken Russell. I don't know which documentary that is I did some research to try and find it I just found the information that it can be seen in a documentary about Ken Russell and I was searching more and I couldn't figure it out But maybe someone else can you can put it in the comments and then also like I wrote already referenced that uncut Version DVD which I assume is Impossible to find anywhere at this point because it was kind of a while ago when it was limited run And I'm sure people are not selling it Italy banned the film and actually even threatened to arrest Grineer the the guy who played Grineer Oliver Reed and Red Graves, what's her name? I have it written in here later who played sister Jean They threatened to arrest them if they set foil set foot on Italian soil, which I was like wow, that's extreme Steven Schneider Who has written a book called? 1001 movies you must see before you die Included this film in his book. He said it's it's a must so you can cross that one off your list if you're watching This and you've already watched the film Originally United Artists pitched the project to Ken Russell, but then after they saw what he wrote for the script They dropped it and then Warner Brothers picked it up because they thought it would be way too controversial It was extremely controversial. This is apparently actually considered to be one of the most controversial films ever made So United Artists was like not touching it, but it actually did really well in the box office in the UK I think in 1971 it was like the top-grossing film in the box office. The other thing about this is Even though it was super controversial on a bunch of places banned it Russell ended up winning awards for his directing of the film He won best director awards for at the Venice Film Festival and also got an award from the US National Board of Review So there you go Oliver Reed who played Urbain grand grandeer? And Ken Russell had a lot of issues on set apparently and apparently by the end of the film They were barely speaking to each other one of the big reasons. I think is that Reed in particular said he had a hard time on the set. It was very cold He actually ended up being sick at a certain point but pushed through that to to act and Russell apparently wasn't very sympathetic to him He was a very unsympathetic guy and was just kind of a jerk to him. So they did not get along Just saying on the other end of the spectrum Vanessa Redgrave who played sister Jean Was said by Russell to be quote one of the least bothersome actresses I could ever ask for he also made some comments about how she was very into the role She threw herself all into it and I think think you can easily see that in the film when you watch it She is one of the more standout performances in it. Obviously Oliver Reed's performance is really great But sister Jean I kind of feel like whenever she's on on Camera she kind of steals the scene at what's going on. She really went off for that Vanessa Redgrave. So great performance But I that gets to another thing though. I think in general the acting in this was very exceptional I didn't see any instances of people. I was like, oh, that's me acting all the acting was really good Some of it's done in a very ridiculous manner like the guy who played I didn't look it up But Louie the the 13th because he's not really an important character in here I mean his important story wise in a way, but he's not in it a whole lot and Yeah, he was just played as like ridiculous and over the top which I think was intentional script wise because they're trying to make fun of this political figure who is in control of the country at the time and Obviously didn't really care that much about making the right decision like his character literally is just like Consumed with his own private life like just basically having fun putting on plays partying in essence and doing just ridiculous over the top stuff and Could really care less what's actually going on because these atrocities that happen in the film are occurring because he signed off on it Literally after Cardinal Richelieu kind of approached him and was like, you know This guy has a lot of grandeur grandeur has a lot of Influence and I think that that could end up leading to uprisings and that could that could impact you when actually as we know Because Richelieu is bringing it up He just feels threatened because of the level of influence that grandeur has within his religious position so yeah The way they put gravity in the particular music I'm sorry. I actually skipped something. I need to go back to this the disclaimer the disclaimer in the beginning of this film reminds me of something that People need to be very careful about actually reading the words in these disclaimers because I'm not not particular for this one but in a lot of films it'll say kind of like based off true events or You know, it has certain ways that they say things now This one in particular basically says that this is based in historical fact and that the major events Actually happened and that is true. Like if you look into it, you know, Richelieu was a person Louis the 13th with a person Green grandeur was a person He was you know, accuse of witchcraft and burn at the stake like these things did happen But the events in between and everything that gets fleshed out with the script is there's a lot of liberty there One of the other things is in the initial like play and the book the black plague wasn't even a part of this I don't even know if the black plague was going on historically speaking when this was going on So, yeah, you know, you have to be careful with that But that's just like a film in general and actually since I'm just talking about disclaimer I will throw out a disclaimer on my own for this video Which is I feel like this film can hit people in a very different way than it hits me personally Because I am not a religious person at all. I have never had a religion I've never practiced religion and I will never be a part of any religion Because it's just not something that I feel like is for me And but I recognize that there are a lot of people who have religion all over the spectrum and For that reason this film can hit you very very differently So I'm saying this as a disclaimer just to say that if there are things I don't bring up that you saw in the film that are religious based I'm not I'm probably not gonna talk about them because I probably didn't catch them because I'm just not aware of that And in that instance go ahead and put the comment down there. Let me know. Hey, I know about this I don't think you do and and here's the significance of it. I'm I'm down to learn that stuff So the way they put gravity The create gravity and particular music that they use on the statement on that kind of like freeze of the statement That gets made in the very beginning between Louis the 13th and Cardinal Richelieu when Richelieu says to him at the play Something about that they want to fuse the church and state basically bring them together in this kind of partnership and they They focus on it so much and create so much gravity in that situation and especially with the music that they choose to use That's very like foreboding and ominous It's important because that is important That is probably the most important thing that happens that ends up leading to what occurs during the the film Because it's the coupling of religion and politics at that point and it becomes the situation then where they don't kind of operate autonomously and Richelieu gets the okay from Louis the 13th like I already talked about to basically do everything that happened after that in the film all these horrible atrocities in the name of religion but really for the reason of politics and the reason of Personal vendettas are the real big thing, but I'll talk about that much later in it The way all the nuns react to urbane grandeur when he shows up initially in lewd on Is driven but seems to be really driven by fandom I think it's a way that they really set up how idealized he is how he's looked at is being so high up and that Is that important to be for for viewers to be able to see that because they can then understand why it ends up feeling Like a threat to Richelieu because of high how high how high up he feels Based off how people look at him, but also it shows kind of like this Fandom and and it has this oozing kind of sexuality to it as well. It's very sexually charged Especially when you know, they take it even further like you you hear some nuns talking and one of them even comments about wanting to sleep With grandeur and saying that it would be worth, you know Dying for in essence and then you have the part where you know It goes even further and sister Jean at one point like masturbates to the thought of grandeur and yeah So so they work that aspect of the film in early on which obviously comes in later because in essence like this film has this underlying tone of like sexuality versus religion and The roles of like religious suppression of sexuality, especially when it comes to people who are within the structure of religion like grandeur because Really what really sets that makes it possible for all the things that in that occur in this film to be set in motion Is the fact that he has sex if he wouldn't be having sex that may not happen Now maybe Richelieu would have found another way to kind of take his influence down But in this particular instance it all comes about because he has sex Particularly because he impregnates the woman that he's with before he ends up marrying Madeline The scene of grandeur breaking things off with the woman He just slept with also shows that he is kind of guilty of some sins in essence He is a prideful person He kind of really does hold himself up there and you see that in his character especially in that scene right there He's having sex which they're you know according to the other people with this religion are saying you're not supposed to be doing that It's indulgence He's thinking of himself very highly Obviously, and he's just kind of like throwing this woman away. Really. It's terrible. He has a lot of pride going on But then it makes you wonder like is that what would eventually happen if he ended up living with Madeline like we don't know But you see he's a flawed person basically He's he is not the best and that's where you see like the beginning of that contention And it's just like paints him as kind of like a real jerk like very early on but it's kind of a funny Scene for that reason at the same time Notice how grandeur seems afraid of nothing because the other thing is he goes out in Lodon when the plague is very very much active and just unprotected just getting very close to people who are inflicted and or I'm sorry afflicted and just Whatever like it it it goes into the pride thing I was talking about with him where he really kind of Projects himself as he feels like he's untouchable as he is kind of holy in a sense and is protected by God in a way The fencing with the crocodile that's an unbelievably wacky scene I definitely had to bring that up I'm not gonna bring up a ton of specific scenes because not a lot of them It's more about themes and the overall story of this but The crocodile fencing where the the father of the woman he impregnated shows up and starts trying to fence him and he picks up that like stiff dead crocodile It's like blocking the the sword swipes with it. It's just over the top It's wacky. It's funny and there is a bunch of like over-the-top wacky funny stuff in this film Which I enjoy I think it it has an air of absurdity to it but the the Actual events of what happens and the overall story that it's getting at is sobering at the same time So this is interesting dichotomy of it's nuts wacky and over-the-top, but it's also very important and serious and sobering so And I feel like it's hard to marry those things when you're making a film. So a real achievement Sister Jean's statements about why many of the nuns are there actually speaks the lack of religious devotion And actually speaks more to being forced into religious servitude because of a lack of life Opportunities and that kind of sets up something you end up seeing in the film Which is this Difference between the people in power and the people not so much in power who are serving in their religious position Sister Jean says in her conversation that basically a lot of them aren't there just because they're totally devoted to religion a lot of Were there because they feel like they were never you know good enough looking to actually get a husband They you know were born into a poor family They just didn't really have life opportunities to do much of anything else So they just felt like they were forced into becoming nuns and serving this religion. So Interesting Louis the 13th is played as a cruel eccentric and fully absurd person He suffers no real-life horrors like the plague and remains Insulated from common people and that further shows why he ends up making decisions that he does You know, he's never had to deal with real life anything He never does during the course of the film and his life is absurdity really I mean, it's all these wacky plays and when he's doing you know Like bird shooting and it's like actual people in bird costumes Like it just shows how detached he is and how insulated his Reality is and even when he shows up for the events of what's actually happening in the film He's only there for like ten minutes or something and then just takes off and when he's there He treats it like it's it's spectacle like it's one of his plays and then he's just like alright peace out Whatever you guys are gonna do Sister Jean is so confused consumed with jealousy because of her extreme desire to be with grand grandeer I will talk about that more in a little bit, but that is very important to note That's where everything triggers for her character and her role in all of this Lou Dawn becomes a focus of scorn due to grandeer's influential power and What that means to Cardinal Richelieu's power and Louis the 13th's ability to maintain control, which is what Richelieu convinces him of Then there's the revenge sought by Baron de la Bardamon Because of the impregnation of the woman But I'll circle back to that stuff at the end as well to kind of like tied in a knee bow But important to know now It's interesting how calm and gentle everything is when grandeer is away for his marriage Because they're showing the the shots of like him with Madeline after they when they've been married and then after they've been Married which I assume is kind of like a honeymoon period and everything's very serene. It's very nice It's very calm. Everything's great. And then they're cutting back and showing what's going on in Lou Dawn. And it's just it's anarchy It's chaos. It's I mean Insane it's it's out of control and it's interesting because that shows that Grandeer isn't causing it like he's not actively there making these things happen but the fact that he was there is what kicked it all off and the the Fandom around him which gave him the level of influence and what he said about Richelieu publicly in in early part of the film That gets back to Richelieu as a challenge to his power. Yeah It's crazy and that that all started because of they were taking the protective walls down around Lou Dawn which Grandeer did not like so Oh, yeah, it's depraved and frenzied back at Lou Dawn is what I was going to say another thing about that This is a great quote And this kind of sums up the moral compass of the people who are following Richelieu in this film Lucky bastard. It's not every day babies see daddy burned to death Obviously, that's happening at the end when Grandeer is being burned at the stake and they're holding the baby up from the woman he had impregnated and Literally, let me read it to you again. Lucky bastard. It's not every day babies see daddy burn at burned at the stake are burned to death and I mean just let that sink in like that quote like who would say that quote Would it be an actual religious person? No that shows you that that individual is not driven by You know getting rid of someone who was influenced by the devil It was purely driven by the revenge that that man wanted because Grandeer impregnated his daughter Not only impregnated or impregnated her and then basically said see ya Just saying After Grandeer is dead the conversation between sister Jean and Baron de la Bartamon is chilling It shows how comfortable they are in the terrible things that they've done Truly like it's everything so frenzied in the film Up until that point, but once Grandeer is dead Everything really calms down like there's no craziness. There aren't people yelling. There's not like wacky stuff going on people naked You know running around it's everything's just calm and then that's when you see this conversation happen and it's so Emotionless and just like like business that they're talking about how they basically set this all up And got Grandeer killed Because of their own You know motivations and you're just like man, that's really messed up. It's really messed up But I'll I'll hit on that in a minute here In the end all the worst people got what they wanted the father's revenge for the impregnation of his daughter Sister Jean's revenge for Grandeer not marrying her because if you remember in the very beginning she kept having these You know delusions of herself marrying him and being with him physically And then you see the jealousy when she lashes out at Madeline when Madeline came to talk to her I think she was giving back the book that she had lent her through like the grading And then she's like grabs her hair and it's like pulling it and it's just like yelling at her Like that's the jealousy lashing out. So you see that there And then the third thing is Cardinal Richelieu for Grandeer challenging his authority So those three people basically came together to create the situation that happened that feigned a Possession well, I'm not a possession a um A perversion by the devil basically of you know them claiming that Grandeer has been Influenced by the devil and he's leading black masses and he's a witch and He's creating, you know, a whole coven of witches basically The film ending with the transition to black and white and showing the dead bodies on the wheels outside of the town I think is an ominous and depressing statement on how the events have kind of left no hope You know, when Grandeer shows up, there's kind of this air of Hope coming to Ludon and when he's killed You finish the film in this black and white and terrible look Of hope leaving Ludon in a sense as Madeline walks away and you're just seeing dead bodies on those wheels Like you saw in the very beginning when Grandeer was coming into Ludon I think the other thing is it goes to black and white At that point because the other scene that was done in black and white was when they were showing um I think Christ on the cross And I think that was when sister gene was kind of having like one of her daydreams about that It was it was Christ on the cross and then he turned into Grandeer Who then came off the cross and was like coming over to her? And so I think it's supposed to be a comparison between those to go to black and white to to flash back to that scene in a way and make that comparison of Grandeer to Christ and that also he when he shows up in Ludon. He was kind of almost at that Christ celebrity status for lack of a better way to put it Because of all the how frenzied everyone was about it The directing and cinematography in this film is great. It looks so good, especially when you consider that it's from 1971 So awesome a lot of great camera movements a lot of really cool movements of shots the way they frame people I do think that early on in the film a lot of the shots of Grandeer are kind of done From like a lower angle to make him look a little more high up and more like Kind of holy in a sense and powerful and later on after everything starts going down They start showing more shots either right on or kind of angled down at him to kind of show his position Changing within the context of the story The sets look really great as well And I love kind of the stark contrasts they have between black and white Within the film which are you know the white pristine look of Ludon versus all the people who dress in black So visually that's very striking looks very great But I think it's also kind of making a little bit of a point of The pristine kind of holiness of the place and the establishment versus the You know darker Outfitting of the people within kind of showing the separation between The foundation of the religion versus the people who are a part of it Just the thought Um This brings up the issue of people like Grandeer using their position and admiration As a way to kind of persuade people around them to do things that they don't want to do You see that early on when Grandeer Not only has obviously talked this one woman the woman he impregnates into sleeping with him and being with him But also when he's trying to talk Madeline into marrying him and she keeps saying no But he uses all this logic and he uses his position and his closeness to god to say Well, no, it's totally cool Like we can definitely do this and and here's all this scripture That basically backs that up like this is why it's okay So that's a real life thing It really is that there are people who Will definitely take a religion and take their position within a religion to serve their own means to get what they want It happens all the time and this film obviously shows that quite well And obviously with all the events that go on in it with you know, sister gene Like I said, uh, the the father of the woman Grandeer impregnated and Richelieu They also use religion to get exactly what they want in their positions All the scenes in this that feel crazy and intense are Helped greatly by the large amounts of people that they have there were a lot of extras in this film And how loudly they participate in it in it and how frenzied they are in their reactions and participation in The scenes of what's going on think about if there were a lot less people in those scenes that feel crazy and frenzied It wouldn't come off the same Just having a larger grouping of people who get loud who participate in it Have all sorts of like wild movements and gyrations in it It just adds to the confusion it adds to the craziness and I feel like that's very important For the feeling of the film because as things start getting going down a really bad path You feel as an audience member kind of like you're losing control Just like the story is losing control that the people of Lou Donner losing control that grandeer is losing control For sure, especially because he's not even there and all this crazy stuff that's happening in this absence. So just saying Uh Really it's sex that started everything grandeer indulged in sex But those involved in condemning Lou Don took pleasure in the pain and suffering They dispensed in the name of vanquishing evil So where grandeer was taking pleasure in the sex he ended up having In the name of his religion because he said it was okay Uh, these people who show up under Richelieu cardinal Richelieu Were getting a lot of pleasure in the pain that they were inflicting and the terrible things they were doing You can see it. They're like giddy. They're having they're taking pleasure In physically inflicting pain and also just the emotional pain as well I mean also go back to the scene of when they had rounded up all those nuns And it looked like they were going to execute them in that ditch in the woods You know, they had all the guys with crossbows around them You know, they were basically setting it up to put them in so much distress That they would just go along with whatever they wanted That's how they got them to be a part of the main plan to Have them act and say certain things like oh, yes grandeer was you know teaching The teachings of the devil and holding these black masses and he is a witch So, yeah And then the last thing I wanted to say about this is grandeer follows his understanding of his religion and his relationship with god Whereas richelieu's cronies follow politics and use the guise of religion to get rid of grandeer Because his influence makes richelieu feel threatened So this going back that circles back to the thing in the very beginning that I said they focused on so much of The marriage of church and state at that point and how perverted then the Religion becomes because of the influence of politics within it And I think that is the main theme the main point of this film and one of the reasons that it's become so Or was so controversial. I don't think it's as controversial now. Obviously, but yeah So anyway out of five stars with half stars in play. What am I going to give this film? It is really well done. I'm going to go ahead and peg it out of four and a half stars It's not the perfect film but four and a half stars I barely ever give that out. So it's a big one. Definitely definitely recommend it to people and Tell them to watch it on shutter while they can put some comments down here. How do you feel about the devils? um Other things you see in it that I did not see in it Did you like it? Did you hate it? Were you in between on it? Did you think it was as crazy as everyone's been saying it is online because I don't think it was I really don't think people are like this is crazy. This is whacked out and I watch it I'm like, yeah, I mean there's like craziness to it, but it's not like crazy whacked out I don't know for its time. It probably was though from 1971 But anyway, do me a quick favor hit that subscribe button if you can and you can it's literally literally takes a second That's your best way to show appreciation for any video. I've ever done this one or any other one You don't repay me with money. You repay me with being a subscriber Also hit the notification bell because that way, you know, if I'm putting up other movie reviews or unboxings or haul videos or whatever Uh, but regardless, I appreciate you taking your time to watch this video Especially if you made it this far because this is probably my longest review video I've ever done But thanks for checking this out and until next time keep it brutal