Graphic by Olivia Kim '29
By Marri Shaeffer ‘29
Arts and entertainment editor
“Ken Russell’s The Devils,” an erotic historical thriller, was recently rereleased as a 4K restoration director’s cut which aired in theaters throughout the country.
Released in 1972, “The Devils” was originally released with two vital scenes removed from the film due to concerns over how profane they were. However, in this rerelease, retitled “Ken Russell’s The Devils,” the scenes are placed back, allowing the film to be seen as intended.
The film revolves around a small town in France following the Huguenot rebellions. Father Grandier, the head priest of the city’s church, gains control of the city after the governor dies. Assumed throughout the town to be a pious and well respected man, it’s revealed within the first few minutes of Grandier’s introduction that he is in fact having affairs with multiple women in the church. The most salacious affair is with Father Mignon's (the other priest of the town) relative, who becomes pregnant by Grandier. After Grandier is told about this, he marries a different woman. However, behind the scenes, the abbess of the local church, Sister Jeanne, is sexually obsessed with him .
Soon, orders from the king arrive stating that the walls of the city must be demolished. However, Grandier opposes this. He leaves, going to confront the king about this new order. What follows is a series of punishments directly attributed both to Grandier’s unfaithfulness to the king and his lack of chastity in his place of worship. Jeanne confesses about Grandier’s affairs and marriage, and alleges that he has possessed her in partnership with the devil, causing her to experience sexual thoughts about him.
A witch hunter, Father Barre, is called to the town, and while Grandier is away, evidence is steadily collected that convinces both Barre and Mignon of Grandier’s guilt. Jeanne’s fellow nuns attempt to stop her interrogation after watching her be subjected to torture, including forced enemas using boiling hot water, causing them to be accused of treason by the priests. Threatened with execution, the nuns are told that they surely must be possessed as well. Terrified that they will be murdered if they do not comply, they fall into a sexual frenzy that leads to the most explicit scene in the entire movie.
The nuns, in this hysterical state, take down the crucifix from the church wall and use it to masturbate, laughing and flirting with the men of the church as they do. It’s a deeply voyeuristic and disturbing scene that refuses to let you look away. However, without it — like in the original version — the entire message of the film is lost.
By including this scene, Russell forces the audience to participate. We are put in the place of the townspeople that watch and laugh as these women defile themselves simply for the entertainment and desires of the men in power, who have forced them to twist their faith and devotion in order to achieve their political motivations. It shifts between this event at the church and Grandier on his trip, breaking bread and offering it to the sky as if to bless it. The scene is shot in a way which disorients you as well, with shaking camera angles and tilted shots that zoom in and out rapidly. You are both an audience member and a participant, practically dared to look away.
After Grandier returns, he is tortured and then burned alive. Following his execution, Jeanne is given a gift: Grandier’s charred femur bone. She kisses it, and then masturbates with it, clearly still entranced despite the fact that Grandier is well and truly dead. This scene was the second one originally removed from the film, but like the first one, omitting it removes a key point. Jeanne is forever changed as a result of her use as a political pawn, left alone to deal with the consequences.
The movie serves as a reminder that tyrants will use what is already weak in order to destroy those who are against them. Grandier, in his efforts to save his town, is turned on the second he suggests disagreeing with the king. Instead of rallying against a tyrannical ruler, the town sees it more fit to sexually indulge, directly contradicting their status as a pious place. Those who they have trusted for years to rule them politically and religiously are turned into scapegoats, simply because of the opinion of one man. Their values are tossed to the side as well.
This film has much in common with Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.” Both frame political strife through the lens of mass hysteria, with Miller allegorizing the Red Scare and McCarthyism. I’d argue that this restoration could absolutely be used to do the same, but instead as an analogy for the current state of American politics. Although Russell obviously did not write it with 2026 in mind, a lot of the messaging throughout this film is incredibly relevant today. If you watch this film, and I sincerely suggest you do, frame yourself within it. Don’t be a passive viewer; instead, think thoroughly about which side of the town you’d like to be on.
Whitney White ’28 contributed fact-checking.
