MovieChat Forums > The Devils (1971) Discussion > Just bought it, have some questions...

Just bought it, have some questions...

posted 14 years ago by Mr_Ectoplasma
25 replies | jump to latest

I ordered the bootleg "Uncut" DVD version of The Devils today from a user on amazon.com, brand new for $10.00 (including shipping), which I'm anxiously awaiting.

Anyhow, the version I ordered is the EuroCult DVD which was, to my knowledge, ripped off of British television and then reworked with the "lost footage" (such as the rape of Christ scene and whatnot) re-incorporated into it. I was wondering if the charred bone scene was included in this cut or not?

Also, for anyone else who happens to own it, does the footage alternate in quality THAT much? I mean, I read some reviews where people were saying it was one of the worst prints they'd ever seen, and others were responding that it wasn't nearly as bad as people made it out to be. Either way, I think I'd much rather own a bootlegged DVD of the film in mediocre quality in its completeness (or closest it's ever been to complete, at least) rather than hunt down a heavily-edited VHS copy from the very studio that is denying it a proper DVD release.

I'm used to poor quality films (I watch a lot of old films, silents, B-movies, and whatnot), so I'm guessing that the quality of the print won't bother me much. I'm just glad that I'll finally get to see the damned thing.

This is the version I ordered: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000SEFWL0/ref=olp_product_details?ie =UTF8&me=&seller=

If anyone else owns this, what's your input on it?

¡Buena suerte!

[–] bstephens21 14 years ago

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp331/hyteq/dev1.png
http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp331/hyteq/dev2.png
http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp331/hyteq/dev3.png
http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp331/hyteq/dev4.png

And from the "Rape of Christ" insert:
http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp331/hyteq/dev5.png
http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp331/hyteq/dev6.png

[–] Mr_Ectoplasma 14 years ago

THANK YOU! Looks like a still frame of a VHS transfer (those always look fuzzy when you pause them), but it appears totally bearable, especially since it's the only DVD version around— no complaints. I wasn't expecting it to be hi-def quality, especially after seeing "Venessa Redgrave" and "Ken Russel" spelt on the front cover like so. Again, thanks for the screen caps.

¡Buena suerte!

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] Mr_Ectoplasma 14 years ago

Thank you, I will take that into consideration while watching it. I'm not going to be able to see it in its complete, pristine original form (because, as far as I know, the original, intended version of the film is not available to the public— except for occasional screenings, which are so few and far between), so I figure this will have to do for right now. I at least need to get a taste of it, though; I know that it will probably lack aspects that the actual cut of the film would fulfill. Until then, I'll make this work.

¡Buena suerte!

[–] bstephens21 14 years ago

On the contrary, the "Rape of Christ" scene is the most important moment of the film. Not only is it the most visually dynamic moment in the film, but it's the "moment of hysteria", a motif that pops up in practically all of Russell's best films - the moment where everybody loses control of everything around them and the horrors that have been teeming under the surface up to that point finally break through unfettered, threatening to swallow up everything in its path. Ken Russell has said as much, Mark Kermode has agreed, and even the Priest interviewed on the "Hell on Earth" documentary says that without this scene, the movie is simply exploitative.

An equivalent would be imagining Psycho without the shower scene.

In it we have Father Mignon, who is clearly homosexual masterbating high above the naked nuns.Does not make sense.These nuns would not be of any sexual interest to him.

I think that's a narrow view of Mignon, and especially what's going on in that scene.

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[–] bstephens21 14 years ago

They are obviously meant to be one long set-piece, as the discrepancies between the final film and the insert shows some overlap - but yes, the scene that ends with the Christ being torn down, and Father Mignon masturbating.

[–] startlepoint 14 years ago

I disagree: the most out-of-control moment in the film comes right after Father Barre sits on top of Sister Jeanne and forces her to scream "Grandier!" Then, the whole place goes nuts, the bodies fall over each other, the music gets wilder, and soon King Louis XIII (disguised as the Duke de Conde) exposes the Church's sham, tells the crazies to "Have fun," and leaves the city to its doom. This, to me, is more engaging than the sloppier "Rape of Christ" insert -- an anticlimax full of cellulite.

[–] foxonthedocks 14 years ago

As for the rape of Christ, it is crudely inserted, not edited properly and truth be told not needed. I do not even think Ken Russell would have used this footage.

Where did get that idea? Russell has repeatedly stated how important the sequence is and how upset he was when it was removed. He even joked about burning the whole film because one of the most crucial scenes had been axed.

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[–] foxonthedocks 14 years ago

Er, from your post:

"I do not even think Ken Russell would have used this footage."

That, to me, doesn't look like a comment on the way the sequence has been inserted into the film on the pirate DVD. It looks like a comment on the original footage.

Anyway, the version I have (Angel) DOES have music. Although I don't know why the sequence was cut down from the version included in Hell On Earth. Why remove the shots of Grandier blessing bread by a lake?

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[–] foxonthedocks 14 years ago

That's interesting. I've seen Russell at the NFT a few times, including at the world premiere of the complete The Devils, and chatted to him at a book signing in Bloomsbury a few years ago. At the signing, he was utterly charming, very friendly, and perhaps even slightly reserved.

I've read Phallic Frenzy and A British Picture. Why do you say the latter is unreliable (not that I'd expect you to betray any confidential info, of course)?

What's your line of work, if you don't mind my asking?

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[–] foxonthedocks 14 years ago

It's funny how Russell believes things that he invented. For instance, the scene with Louis XIII shooting Protestants dressed as blackbirds was designed to take the piss out of people who expected a historical film to be flat, literal and sober; Russell said as much in John Baxter's An Appalling Talent. But NOW, when questioned about that scene (for instance in the South Bank Show a few years ago), Russell will claim that it was based on fact.

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[–] foxonthedocks 14 years ago

"It's no great shakes." ?! Interesting! Where did you get that from? Why do you think the charred bone scene is more important? I suppose it shows that Jeanne is still as demented as ever, but beyond that, I thought it was slightly gratuitous, and it certainly has no basis in fact. The Rape of Christ never happened as Russell depicted it, but the nuns were known to masturbate with crucifixes, so at least it has some basis in real events.

I'm not arguing with you, though; I'm just interested in your opinion.

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[–] bstephens21 14 years ago

What is wrong with you people. I am speaking of the way it has been inserted.No editing, no music, no sound.I would rather it not be there at all.As is now with the scene crudely inserted it ruins, what up untill then is a masterpiece of film making, ruining what came before it.

But that's only because it is not Russell's complete cut. Its a fan-edit. If people can accept a reconstruction of Stroheim's Greed with stills, we can accept the crudeness of the edit. The importance of the scene more than makes up its jarring nature. At least UNTIL the actual final edit is liberated from the Warner Archives.

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[–] Mr_Ectoplasma 14 years ago

Yes, I did. I loved it... the ending was so surreal and awful; it's a remarkable film, BUT I was wanting the charred bone scene to be included in the film. I saw part of it on the documentary, but it would have so much more power had it been incorporated into the movie.

I read the book as well which I really enjoyed. Fascinating stuff. Definitely one of the best religious-themed films I've ever seen; it's wild how a nun's sexual longings led to SO much disaster and evil within the church and community.

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[–] startlepoint 10 years ago

There is only ONE director's cut of THE DEVILS, and that is the BFI one released as a two-disc PAL version. This is the original X-rated theatrical cut that came out in 1971 and that shocked the world. There is no "Rape of Christ" scene because Russell had it removed even before submitting it to the BBFC. I think he made the right choice because the scene, though comical, ruins the film's rhythm and looks more like a "behind-the-scenes" loop that people would show at wild parties.