Freya Lorelei's Journal

The ongoing therapy of Audrey Hepburn movies and antipsychotics.
Bought The Nun's Story a couple days ago (half price at the little media store in the mall, w00t!). I hadn't seen it in about ten years, but I remembered it as being one of Audrey Hepburn's best performances. And, internet, my memory does not fail me; she's truly fantastic. It's extremely long at 2 ½ hours, and does drag on occasion (mainly in the panoramic shots of the exotic Congo--filmed on location, so the director was milking all he could from the scenery), but overall is a very interesting and steadfastly neutral depiction of life as a nun.

To sum up in one sentence: holy shit, it's HARD. From what the film portrays, nuns can't talk outside of work, have to write everything down in little penance books (with sins ranging from "looked at reflection in window" to "drank a glass of water between meals without permission" and even "gave comfort to a fellow sister"), and must drop everything to answer to a stupid bell. At one point Hepburn's character, Sister Luke, who is in training as a surgical nurse, has to walk away from a patient in surgery to receive communion at the sound of the bell. This everlasting obedience chafes, and being naturally strong-willed, she struggles throughout her time as a nun to achieve more perfect humility and compliance. At one point a senior nun flat-out tells her to fail her exams, because only then can she experience true humility. She disobeys, feeling horribly guilty at her supposed pride, only for another nun to say years later, yeah, while that sister's heart was theoretically in the right place, she was wrong to encourage that sort of dishonesty.

Then, as she's stationed at a hospital in the Congo, she meets up with the local doctor who I swear to God reminds me of House. He's extremely cynical (though brilliant), brusque, is agnostic (if not downright atheist), and repeatedly challenges her faith, telling her that she's not cut out for this nun business and she might as well give it up to focus on the medical work. (Oh yeah: Her father was some sort of genius doctor, so she played with microscopes and so forth since she was a young bean.) She sticks it out a while longer, then is sent home after a short bout of TB (which she diagnoses on herself, catching it before the symptoms are barely there).

She ends up back in the convent in Belgium, only to find, surprise! World War II! Belgium's been invaded by the Nazis, and guess what? Since the Church is neutral, she's supposed to help save the very people who invaded her home and, oh yeah, killed her family. At this point she gives up the habit (so to speak) and leaves the convent, presumably to help the Resistance. Or goes back to the Congo to marry the doctor (they seemed to have a mutual thing for each other; it's subtle, but it's there). Or just disappears into a normal, bell-free life. The end is sort of a choose-your-own-adventure for Sister Luke, because we're never actually told what she does. I like to think she runs off with the doctor and together they ~~fight crime!~~ help defeat the Nazis with the awesome power of Science! (It would make one hell of a series. I'd watch it!)

Current Mood: bouncy

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