the diary of a country priest by georges bernanos

The Count initially approves of the priest's plans, but cools when the priest attempts to broach the subject of the conflict between Chantal and Louise. She complains that her ward, Chantal, mistreats her, so the priest says he will go talk to the Count, who he has been looking for an excuse to see about getting help starting a youth club and sports program. The only parishioner who attends daily mass is Miss Louise, the young governess at the local manor, who is secretly having an affair with the Count. The locals are mostly either indifferent or hostile to the young priest, whether it be an old man who complains about the fees to bury his wife or the students of the catechism class who play tricks, so, as this is his first appointment, he often consults with the older and more experienced Priest of Torcy, who says he needs to worry about keeping order, rather than being loved. Due to an undiagnosed stomach ailment, he has excluded meat and vegetables from his diet and primarily subsists on cheap wine with sugar and bread added. In the small village of Ambricourt, the new parish priest keeps a diary, which he can be seen writing in and heard reading from throughout the film.

The film was lauded for Laydu's performance, which has been called one of the greatest in the history of cinema, and won numerous awards, including the Grand Prize at the Venice International Film Festival and the Prix Louis Delluc. A faithful adaptation of Georges Bernanos' novel of the same name, which had won the Grand prix du roman de l'Académie française in 1936, it tells the story of a sickly young Catholic priest who has been assigned a small village in northern France as his first parish. Diary of a Country Priest ( French: Journal d'un curé de campagne) is a 1951 French drama film written and directed by Robert Bresson, and starring Claude Laydu in his debut film performance.

The diary of a country priest by georges bernanos