Truly Dreadful Film

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Regardless of whether the viewer is of the Catholic faith or a believer in any religion at all, this is a film about the serious dedication of one's life to any set of profound principles and about the enormous challenges that we can face when we attempt to commit ourselves to what we at first believe are our most important convictions. Seeing this film only in the context of "organized religion", as so many reviewers here have done, truly stifles its universal message. Have you ever attempted to dedicate yourself to any effort or to a way of life that required huge self sacrifice and then discovered that you could not completely fulfill the task? Then, upon this disturbing revelation, you looked closely at those who managed to succeed at accomplishing what you could not do, realizing that they thrived only because they did not believe that they were sacrificing or foregoing anything of importance in pursuing their goals while you obviously did.To me, this distinction was at the core of the struggle that Sister Luke/Gabrielle (Audrey Hepburn) was forced to endure--that is, there mere fact that it was a struggle in the first place. Two very wise physicians, including her father, Dr. Van der Mal (Dean Jagger), and Dr. Fortunati (Peter Finch), recognized that she would not be able to devote herself to her strict order, as required, before she finally recognized this on her own. Her father knew that she would fail at the total obedience that was required of her, and Dr. Fortunati perceptively acknowledged at one point that she just didn't have "it" in her. Her intense hatred of the Nazis allowed her to see the truth about herself.As with any successful film, its artistic triumph is the result of a combination of factors, including the direction of a true master, Fred Zinnemann, and the photography of Franz Planer both in angular, austere Belgium and in the far less restricted jungles of the former Belgian Congo. Zinnemann paced the action well by balancing the highly cerebral, spiritual content against some very dramatic physical scenes, including one involving madness and another resulting in an extremely violent and disturbing murder. Then add the intelligent script of a very serious writer, Robert Anderson (The Sand Pebbles, Tea and Sympathy), an outstanding cast, primarily Hepburn, Finch, and Jagger, who were all terrific, and the powerful musical score of Alfred Newman. Shake it all up and the result is a superb product that I will want to see again and again.Of all of the worthy components here, the one that truly stands out is the performance of Audrey Hepburn. I can understand why this was her favorite among the many, diverse films in which she appeared. Me too!

After years of reading about this movie, I finally saw The Nun's Story on Netflix disc with my mom who claimed to have seen it before but as the picture went on, she remembered none of it. So she ended up being as fascinated by what was going on in it as I was and told me some pertinent facts about the Catholic faith during some of the movie. Fred Zinnemann made a beautiful but also at times, intense, drama about a young woman's choice in joining the convent and the sacrifices she had to take in doing so. Audrey Hepburn conveys just the right amount of restraint and emotional feeling in her role of becoming Sister Luke having to abandon her earlier identity of Gabrielle. And Franz Waxman does quite a swelling score during most of the picture though the ending scene is all the greater with no score at all. So on that note, The Nun's Story is highly recommended.

The image of water gradually sharpens the reflections of objects above...as soon as we get to know the leading character of NUN'S STORY, it is not hard to predict that it is all going to be an involving, mesmerizing viewing experience - yet, nothing for the vast majority of audience.In the eyes of her father, Dr Van Der Mal (Dean Jagger), our protagonist - young Gabrielle (Audrey Hepburn) is not really a strong willed girl obedient to the bells. Perhaps he sees other future for her. However, she makes up her mind to resign from engagement with one Jean and sacrifice her life for interior and exterior silence, for the detachment of worldly goods, for obedience and penance doing good and disappearing for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Although she manages to go through the agonies of various inner struggles and tests, will she be able to exercise and bring into action the spirit of charity for all, to face Christianity's hardest obedience - forgive everyone, all evil-doers for anything harmful done to them or their beloved ones? The truest merit of Fred Zinneman's movie, at first sight, seems to lie in the execution of the storyline (the film's literary source is the book by Kathryn Hulme). It is, as the title implies, a nun's story not so much supplied with laughable aspects (as it is the case with a number of movies nowadays) but a very insightful, thought provoking depiction of virtues enforced and exercised behind the 'bars' of the convent. With this in mind, we deservedly prepare for an excellent glimpse of the atmospheric mystique, for prayers, hymns clothed in unearthly tunes of sublime music. Here, great credit goes not only to the cinematographer Franz Planer, a winner at Academy Awards, who supplies us with cinematographic pearls, including the tremendously effective shots of interior silence of the specific place, but also to Franz Waxman for his brilliantly atmospheric, accurate and vibrant music score. He memorably incorporates certain tunes derived from almost 'iconic' chants to particular scenes. In this way, the score sets the right tone for the story, changes and controls the moods of various scenes. That refers to such pieces of music as 'Salve Regina' and 'Veni Creator Spiritus' - milestones of Christian music.However, the greatest praise is not deservedly directed towards the crew members, even to the director Fred Zinneman but to Audrey Hepburn in the lead. It seems quite obvious that not every actress can play a nun convincingly. Simply because we, as viewers with certain background experiences (both visual and conceptual), are heavily influenced by certain expectations, even clichéd expectations. In that respect, Ms Hepburn really meets our expectations...more to say, she makes for a perfect portrayal of a nun. There is a combination of certainty and doubt, subtlety and strictness in her face and her entire portrayal, which makes her character easily empathized with. Because the gist that lies behind the fact who Gabrielle/Sister Lukas really is appears to be underlined in her struggles to learn obedience and humility. These virtues that are so memorably and timelessly revealed in Culpa and Penance evoke in her performance. Ms Hepburn portrays a very human character, a very gentle young girl, a subtle nun and a dedicated nurse. Simply a superb performance! A sophisticated portrayal! She is funny at times (mind you the lovely scene with little Felix) and genuinely dramatic when the moment requires that perfectly switching from one bunch of emotions to another. If I were to name her best scenes, I think that task would be quite impossible. I would highlight some of her most memorable scenes, which include the entrance to the convent, the Congo sequence, her collaboration with Dr Fortunati (Peter Finch) vs. the scenes with her father. The aforementioned Congo sequence belongs to the true pearls among the color films of the late 1950s. Authentic, beautiful shots of nature and landscape, the gloomy scene on the isle of the lepers along with the haunting score long lasts in the memory of a viewer. The film is worth viewing, apart from Ms Hepburn masterful achievement, for the sequence alone.The supporting cast include some solid performances from Peter Finch as choleric but caring Dr Fortunati, Dean Jagger as wonderful Dr Von Der Mal, Gabrielle's father (what a brilliant father that is who says: "I don't want to be proud of you; I want you to be happy!") and the sisters are uniquely memorable (you will never mix the characters due to their specific features underlined): Peggy Ashcroft as Mother Mathilde, Edith Evans as Mother Emmanuel, Rosalie Crutchley (note Acte from QUO VADIS) as Sister Eleanor. They are recognizable.Finally, let me quote Bosley Crowther, the New York Times reviewer, who said about the film: "Mr. Zinnemann has made this off-beat drama describe a parabola of spiritual afflatus and deflation that ends in a strange sort of defeat. For the evident point of this experience is that a woman gains but also loses her soul, spends and exhausts her devotion to an ideal she finds she cannot hold." But what is superior in one's life? Blind obedience to an ideal or being true to oneself? Where are we in that dilemma? Where is our protagonist? What does the final drama indicate? Greater torments or relief? She turns right as she leaves so perhaps...Dare accuse yourself of seeing it critically but let yourself see it and think. Although the movie is more than half a century old, it has not lost its charm and entertainment along with all the dilemmas herein incorporated. Worth viewing as not only a nun's story but a person's drama.

What makes this movie special is the acting, or more accurately, the lack of acting. With many Hollywood movies, you get Hollywood acting, and after seeing so much of it, it begins to seem normal. But The Nun's Story is very naturalistic, so you feel like you are seeing real people, which is vital for a story like this, which is short on plot and drama. It is very much about inner states of mind and soul, and the minimalistic direction of Fred Zinnemann lets these qualities shine through. I can think of many directors who could learn a lot from watching this movie.Audrey Hepburn delivers the impeccable performance we expect, and then some, especially toward the end. The reason is that she spent much of her childhood in Holland, where the movie opens and closes, and was stuck there during World War II during German occupation. So when the Germans invade near the end of the movie, finding the appropriate emotion surely wasn't a struggle. Hepburn saw unspeakable hardship in her life, which surely must have provided resources for roles like this. The supporting cast is outstanding. The preceding reviewer listed all the key names but one: Mildred Dunnock. She is one of those secondary actresses who inhabits her role so perfectly that you usually don't notice her. But she is a true actress, who, I suspect, could have delivered a respectable performance in almost any of the female roles in this film. Here she plays Sister Margharita, a nun of utter, unassuming modesty -- not exactly an opportunity to deliver the dramatic performance of a lifetime. But she did her job to perfection. In the opening of the film, watching the Catholic ceremony, a viewer such as I can't help but bringing some modern cynicism to the table: thoughts of all sorts of Catholic scandal. There is no scandal in this movie, but neither is it as sweet as The Sound of Music.I hate to do spoilers, but this movie is not so tied to plot.I don't think the movie makes clear why Hepburn's character leaves the monastic life. We have Peter Finch's observations, but were they correct? Hepburn does say she objects to having to leave a patient's side the moment the church bell rings, but that is hardly a deal breaker. The movie is, for the most part, not critical of the Catholic Church, which is the sensible thing, since before all the sex scandals, the Church could be vicious in undermining the careers of anyone who breathed the slightest criticism in the media. By leaving the real reason for Hepburn's departure unspoken, the movie leaves the viewer to fill in the blank. As a nun, she was expected to help others even if it meant giving her own life. The visit to the leper colony clearly shook her. Yet, when she left the monastic life, she was poised to join the Dutch underground resistance to Nazi occupation, which, too, could mean giving her own life to help others. So self-sacrifice was not the issue. Forgiving others, even Nazis? The neutrality of the Church during war? Not being able to decide where she would work as a nurse? Or was she just too intelligent to give the Church unquestioning obedience?Ultimately, that is a question the viewer must answer.