MovieChat Forums > Journal d'un curé de campagne (1954) Discussion > Most Miserable Character in Cinema

Most Miserable Character in Cinema

posted 18 years ago by DarkHalf1
13 replies | jump to latest

Great film.

However, it was hard for me to watch the first time without thinking this; although the trials and tribulations the priest endured internally (both literaly and metaphorically)created a great cinematic struggle concerning faith and strength in adherence, it was hard to distract myself from the basic observation that the priest is perhaps the most miserable and suffering protagonist in cinema history! What other character has suffered so thoroughly and with such little acknowledgment?

Perhaps Don Pietro in 'Open City?'

Thoughts?

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] taxi_driver-1 17 years ago

If you exclude the priest's illness, I think some characters from Paul Schrader's film (for ex.: "Taxi D.", "LightSleeper", "Affliction", the stunning "Bringing Out The Dead") have had the same social sufferings in their peculiar ways...

[–] Movie_Expert 17 years ago

Yeah, definitely the socially awkward Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. Frankenstein's Monster and MAggie from Million Dollar Baby also spring up to mind.

[–] mrura 16 years ago

...except that you forget to mention that "Bringing Out the Dead" was godawful.

my vote, off the top of my head, is for the main character in "Lilya 4-ever". though, maybe the character wasn't the most miserable, but certainly one of the most pitiable.

the same goes for the young girl in "Osama". just heart-wrenching.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] lachrymologist 16 years ago

1. Bringing out the Dead is far from awful.
2. The key in this movie is that the entire story focuses singularly around the suffering of the priest. I think that if we all committed to diary our intense moments of loneliness, etc, we'd all have moments like this (which I think is Bresson's point), and since his illness is apparently not up for consideration, its hard to call to mind a movie that so completely considers the internal conflicts of a single individual. I immediately begin to draw associations with the Joan of Arcs of Dreyer, Bresson, and despite its panning by the imdb crowd, especially the Joan of Arc of Besson (horribly underrated).

[–] Jason_Radley 15 years ago

The weather seemed pretty grim as well. Not raining all the time, but no sunshine I can recall. Of course, it's no bad thing in a B&W film, if the sky's always grey.

[–] JekyllBoote-1 15 years ago

Well, the film wouldn't exactly have worked in quite the same way if the Cure d'Ambricourt had been a wisecracking, cock-eyed optimist who accepted the failings of his flock with a worldly twinkle in his eye.

Another quietly suffering character is Andrew Crocker-Harris in Anthony Asquith's film of Terence Rattigan's "The Browning Version", as so brilliantly depicted by Michael Redgrave.

Like "Journal d'un cure de campagne", "The Browning Version" is unlikely to appeal to aficionados of the "Porky's" series of films.

[–] wuigee 15 years ago

What about Bresson's own, Mouchette.

[–] westsalemcongress 13 years ago

And don't forget about that poor donkey in Au Hasard Balthazar!

[–] Tchoutoye 11 years ago

What other character has suffered so thoroughly

Just about every character in a Bresson film. I have seen almost all of his films and I don't recall a single scene containing a character that smiles, let alone laughs.

[–] Charlot47 10 years ago

No smiles? No laughs? Admittedly very few, but what about the young people turning out of the village bar full of drink and probably off for a fumble in a barn?

Seriously though, I think you have missed a crucial scene, which is when the army officer gives him a lift on the motor bike. Look at the curé’s expression and listen to his few words as he thrills to the experience of roaring along with the wind in his face! For those few moments he tastes another life, free from the internal and external pressures which are crushing him.

“Une femme douce”, also steeped in existential gloom, has some light moments.