Ken Russell’s ‘The Devils’ Feels More Relevant Than It Did 55 Years Ago. That’s Because It’s About a World Gone Mad — SkimNews
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- Warner Bros. Clockwork restored and newly uncut Ken Russell’s The Devils for a re-release that played in 350 theaters and made nearly $2 million in its opening weekend.
- The Devils drew packed houses after its restored version premiered at Cannes, contradicting the author’s expectation that the 1971 film would reach only a few theaters or a streaming release.
- The Devils was censored, butchered and banned over the years after its 1971 release, making the scale of its restored theatrical return especially unexpected.
- Oliver Reed plays Urbain Grandier, a libertine priest whose campaign to keep fortified Loudun independent brings him into conflict with Louis XIII and Richelieu.
- Jeanne des Anges leads the Ursuline nuns in a scheme alleging Grandier has bewitched them; the film clarifies that they are not possessed, while their longing for the counterculture fuels the accusation.
- Ken Russell transforms political oppression into an eroticized horror spectacle built around the nuns’ apparent possession; the author reads it as showing that leaders of fascism will create and exploit chaos.
Why it matters: Warner Bros. Clockwork’s restoration gives audiences access to a once-censored film in its fullest form, while the 350-theater, nearly $2 million opening demonstrates a concrete commercial shift: The Devils has moved beyond its reputation as a once-scandalous 1971 art-film novelty.
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