The Devils 1971

17th Century France. Catholic holocaust on Protestants runs like a river throughout a stream of consciousness-the hunchback nun (Vanessa Regrave as Sister Jeanne of the Angels) - evil, cackling, cynical - her dream of washing the Lord's feet with her red hair, then her spine begins to emerge from her back- lecherous priest ( Oliver Reed as Father Urbain Grandier) impregnating his student of Latin, whose face is painted in white like a street performer - steampunk doctors - Terrry Gilliam Monty Python-esque Medieval (Renaissance) madness- (what people often associate with the Middle Ages actually occurred in the Renaissance-witch burnings, etc.) Imitation of Christ-cloister-stark black and white nuns-vision of the priest as Christ-sexual overtones - avante garde jazz in the background-a bad Catholic trip-weird Cardinal with his drag performances-fighting between Catholics and Protestants; fighting among Catholics-the priest is basically the mayor-Catholic psychedelia-a masturbating nun-Bride of Christ-rebel priest as hero; the professional witch hunter looks like a 60s British rock star - vaginally invasive exorcism - mass hysteria - Dark Cabaret nun fetishism. The joining of church and state. An interesting historical drama indeed! You can search for plot summaries elsewhere. At the moment, I am just interested in the visual poetics.  Try to find the updated DVD version, not the VHS copy that's circulating around.

Vanessa Redgrave and Oliver Reed both give interesting performances.

The moral of the story - the Christians are the devils.

 http://youtu.be/xqBAKptamUk     Trailer Link
http://youtu.be/J8Xgm1u_SF4      Movie clip
http://youtu.be/sf1KHXDkKyw   Movie Review