The Nun's Story [DVD] [1959]

151 Reviews as at time of writing so mine won't exactly make much difference. Why did I buy this? It was on a whim. I was browsing and saw it and thought - Not seen this for a very long time. Buy it. I am so glad I did. My wife and I settled down last night (a sweltering evening) with a bottle of wine and off we went. The quality is good, a shame it's 4.3 ratio (correct, but it cried out I thought for a big screen), clear picture and sound, and Subtitles, a must for us. Viewing it in 2017 I can't help but wonder what my 16/17 year old self would have thought of this in 1959/60. Possibly not a lot even tho I was well into Cinema back then. It is 2 1/2 hours long but Fred Zinneman directs so well and Hepburn is so watchable (ably supported by Finch and Dean Jagger, and the entire cast) that the time almost flew by. The first 45 mins show the painstaking training the novitiates go through and somehow Zinneman makes it fascinating. A switch of mood to the Belgian Congo and Peter Finch, who plays to perfection the dedicated unbelieving doctor, and the experience of violence of a brutal kind. The third part of the film is set back in Belgium and takes us up to the second world war and the climax of the story. Beautifully filmed and directed I can't recomend to everyone, and those who have seen it in the cinema or on TV (not for some time) will know what to expect. If you don't know it but love a good (if old school) tale well told - Give it a go. (Do look out for Colleen Dewhurst as the "ArchAngel" in the Asylum section...Scary? I should say so!) (And finally...That last shot...remind you of anything?)

Really enjoyed it

The Nun's Story is the title of a 1956 novel by Kathryn Hulme. The book was a Book of the Month selection and reached #1 on the New York Times best-seller list.Hulme wrote the book based partly upon the experiences of her friend, Marie Louise Habets of the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary, a Belgian nurse and an ex-nun whom she met while working with refugees in post-war Europe. The author sponsored the former nun's immigration to the United States, and later converted to Catholicism.[1] It is often erroneously stated that the book was based upon Hulme's own experiences.The lead character of the book, Sister Luke (pre-convent name Gabrielle Van Der Mal), finds her faith tested in Africa where she finds herself at odds with headstrong Dr. Fortunati, operator of a remote Congo hospital, with whom she gradually builds respect, and again during World War II, when she is ordered not to take sides. Ultimately, Sister Luke is forced to decide whether to remain in the convent or return to the outside world.Gabrielle/Sister Luke is stretched between her desire to be faithful to the rule of her congregation and her desire to be a nurse. As a nun she must remove all vestiges of "Gabrielle Van Der Mal" and sublimate herself into the devoted bride of Christ. As a nun there is no room for her personal desires and aspirations. Ultimately, the conflict between her devotion to the Church and the nursing profession, juxtaposed with her passionate Belgian patriotism and her love of her father (killed by Nazi fighter planes while treating wounded) bring her to an impasse, which serves as the dénouement of the novel.

Some films are Classics in every respect and this is one such film. Audrey Hepburn is divine as Sister Luke, the principal character, who struggles for perfection and purity, and observes the rules of the Convent to the letter, and Peter Finch is once again superlative as Dr Fortunati, a skilled surgeon who greatly admires her for her supreme nursing skills, but maintains that she is not cut out for a life of self denial in a convent. Lionel Jeffries has a cameo role as a research Doctor who extols her skills at using a microscope and Dame Peggy Ashcroft is excellent as Mother Mathilde. This film for me falls into the category of ‘one you can watch over and over without ever putting yourself off it.

Some one like me,coming from a non-christian,non-catholic background, watching this film is watching something exotic. I am pretty sure even the young Catholics of our day in Europe will have difficulty identifying with the making of the nun in the film. I,nevertheless, learnt a lot from the film about the making of a nun for a mission. Besides, I gather this film is a biopic,based on a real story. So I really cannot judge the happenings in the film. I have to look at the film as an artistic experience. It is an extremely well-made film: sombre atmosphere of the European convents are very well contrasted with the positive energy of the Congo in Africa. In spite of a very good make-up for deglamourising Audrey Hepburn, her glamour comes through. She has played the strong-willed nun very well. A sterling performance indeed.

There was no dislike, thank you for my quick delivery of The Nuns Story DVD it is a good film

Is there a film out there with more women actors in it?Hepburn is just tremendous in this film.Don't be fooled, this is not a film about Nuns, rather this is a film about a young women who happens to become a nun and then struggles at great length with her place in the world and her spiritual beliefs.Peter Finch gives a very fine performance in the main supporting role.The settings of pre war Belgium and the Congo help make this film the true classic that it is.Excellant production values and quality. When I first saw it, in the year of its release, on the largest cinema screen in Europe it was truly amazing. Nonetheless this is still a great film even on DVD.