THE NUN'S STORY (W.B. 1959) Warner Home Video

Based on Kathryn Hulme's probing novel, director, Fred Zinnemann's The Nun's Story (1959) is an unapologetic social critique of the structure and strictures placed upon young novices as they commit their lives in service to God. Robert Anderson's screenplay strips bare the filmic piety of devout Catholicism (made warm-hearted in movies like 1944’s Oscar-winning, Going My Way and its follow-up, 1945’s The Bells of St. Mary's) to, instead, devote much of this movie’s lengthy 152-minutes to an awkward investigation of the inward sacrifices and rigidity afflicted upon aspiring hopefuls, by which the novice becomes a nun. The fact that the story's heroine, Gabrielle Van der Mal (Audrey Hepburn) is born of impeccable stock and background above reproach - and thereby an ideal candidate - yet, cannot measure up to this level of expectation in obedience, chastity and poverty - strikes a particularly devastating chord for the Catholic church. After all, if such an extraordinary creature as Gabrielle cannot attain inner perfection of the Holy Rule, what hope is there for the lesser among us? Indeed, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese was none too thrilled with Hollywood’s investigative report on their cloistered convent teachings.

Our story opens with Gabrielle leaving her idyllic family life to join the convent in Rotterdam, Holland. It is Gabrielle's fervent desire the sisterhood will assign her to missionary work in the Belgian Congo upon receiving her vows. Gabrielle's father, Dr. Van der Mal (Dean Jagger) urges Gabrielle to reconsider her chosen path. At home with him, she has the love, support and devotion of two sisters, a brother, and, a fiancée. Still, Gabrielle is certain the nunnery is her life's destiny. She is sequestered along with other hopefuls and put to task under the most stringent of conditions and house rules. A proper nun - so we are told - can never look at herself in a mirror. She does not form 'attachments' (friendships) with fellow novices. She obeys without question any and all requests from her superiors. She does not speak unless she is spoken to and she resigns herself to forget every last fact from memory about her own past. A little black diary is given to each novice into which she must daily 'accuse' herself in writing of each impure thought. The Holy Rule is supposed to attain a sense of higher purpose for the novice, to help repress all sense of self and to smite vanity in all its forms. Yet, the film suggests its crippling effect on the humanity of our souls.

Rechristened Sister Luke, Gabrielle invests herself with ardent purpose, yet oddly, with a constant self-doubt her studies are being sabotaged by her own pride. Sister Margharita, the Mistress of Postulants (Mildred Dunnock) is Gabrielle's greatest proponent. It is through Sister Margharita's constant encouragement Gabrielle finds the strength to pursue her studies, even as some of the other novices recognize the life of a nun is not for them and drop out. However, at the hospital where Gabrielle is stationed to care for the sick as well as train in her medical duties, a fellow novice accuses Gabrielle being prideful in her superior mastery of medicine. The accusation reaches the ears of their superior, Mother Marcella (Ruth White) who all but demands Gabrielle deliberately fail her final examination. However, it is essential Gabrielle pass the medical portion to be considered for assignment in the Congo. As Mother Marcella encourages failure to prove to the rest of the novices Gabrielle is willing to sacrifice her own personal goals to attain a higher sense of selflessness, Gabrielle struggles to find the courage to pursue her first purpose in becoming a nun - to administer medical training to the less fortunate in the Congo.

Defying Mother Marcella, Gabrielle comes in fourth from the top of her class during the oral medical examination. As punishment, she is re-assigned to care for the criminally insane in a sanitarium and is nearly murdered by one of its occupants who refers to herself as the Archangel (Colleen Dewhurst). Eventually, Gabrielle does make it to the Congo, but here too her aspirations to care for its native inhabitants are dashed by the Catholic Archdiocese when she is instead assigned to the white hospital presided over by Dr. Fortunati (Peter Finch); a no-nonsense surgeon who comes to greatly admire Gabrielle for her medical prowess. Dr. Fortunati even goes so far as to conceal Gabrielle's bout of tuberculosis from the church in order to heal her himself while keeping her close at hand as his medical assistant. After the local Chaplain, Father Andre (Stephen Murray) is injured in a bicycle accident, Gabrielle manages to reset his crushed bones without Fortunati's aid and saves Father Andre's leg. This noble deed earns Gabrielle the respect of the entire congregation - yet, she is 'punished' once again for her pride of workmanship by being recalled to convent life in Rotterdam.

Once home, Gabrielle learns her father has been mercilessly gunned down with other refugees by the Nazi army. Realizing she cannot endure a life of servitude where her innate skills as a medical nurse are undervalued, Gabrielle declares she has decided to leave the nunnery once and for all. After signing her declaration, she is quietly and rather unceremoniously cast out of the convent and into a rather bleak and uncertain future. Thus, ends The Nun's Story on a shockingly ambiguous note. The movie is immeasurably blessed by Audrey Hepburn's poignantly understated central performance. There is real chemistry between Hepburn and Finch in their briefest of scenes together. In hindsight, one sincerely wishes more scenes together had followed. This, however, never happens, leaving Hepburn alone to bear the brunt of these episodic vignettes, carrying each to its inevitable conclusion, while also providing the connective tissue to carry the plot from one point onto the next. To Hepburn’s credit, the story - without much verbal interaction between Gabrielle or anyone else - nevertheless holds our attention. Even so, The Nun's Story struggles, as Anderson's screenplay tends to drag on. We are given almost a daily account of the oppressive nature of convent life for an interminable length of time, before swiftly whisking Gabrielle off for her journey to the Congo, and then, as brief return to Rotterdam to round out the tale. Zinnemann’s pride of workmanship and Hepburn’s professionalism keep the enterprise afloat, but the results remain marginally uneven at best.

Warner Home Video's DVD could stand a little more of both precision and polish. The Nun's Story suffers from inconsistently rendered colors, pasty flesh tones and considerable amounts of age-related artifacts. At times, the image can appear quite rich, colorful and textured. However, many scenes are mired in a muddy palette of indistinguishable hues, coupled with a soft focus that renders fine details moot. The audio is Dolby Digitial 1.0 mono as originally recorded and adequate for this presentation. Ironically, given that it earned a whopping 8-Oscar nominations, extras on this DVD are regrettably limited to a theatrical trailer only - a disappointment!

FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)

3

VIDEO/AUDIO

2.5

EXTRAS

0