DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST ("Journal d'un curé de campagne", 1951)

Is there any more faith worth finding in the world? Now that we've got a new pope (and a lot of reasons to ask the above question), it feels like as good a time as ever to dive into a drama of everyday spirituality and the role of the clergy in trying times. Join us as we discuss Robert Bresson's quietly holy rumination on belief and the earthly entanglements that complicate it...

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DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST ("Journal d'un curé de campagne", 1951)
Dir. by Robert Bresson
Available to rent on YouTube, Amazon Prime, and AppleTV.

"All is faith." The small village of Ambricourt has a new priest, but he's struggling to be the shepherd it needs. His masses are scarcely attended and the Ambricourtiens don't seem particularly interested in the lessons of the liturgy - they've got their own, much more mortal problems, a lot of which seem to center around petty local drama. Keeping a journal of his daily travails (including his deteriorating, anemic condition) the priest expresses his doubts and difficulties in a literary form akin to prayer. As he is pulled closer and closer into the world of the profane, will he be lost in its disillusioning miasma? Or will he be able to find the holy in the mundane?

A profoundly minimalist staging of the great questions of faith, Bresson's film has become renowned as of the canonical works of Catholic cinema, asking hard questions and encouraging deep reflection - even for the most secular of viewers. Let's talk about it!

*As a reminder, this is solely a movie discussion group - we encourage you to watch the film independently prior to coming to the meetings.