Critical Thinking about Religion

Today's movie review is Leon Morin, Priest, and since it is a Criterion release, there is a pretty good reason why it sees the light of day for State-side folks: it is a movie that is conducive to critical thinking.

The synopsis, according to IMDb:

In World War II, the widow Barny sees the Italian soldiers arriving in occupied Saint Bernard while walking to her job. Barny lives with her daughter and works correcting tests and feels a great attraction toward her boss Sabine. When the Germans arrive, Barny sends her half-Jewish daughter to live in a farm in the countryside and finds that Sabine's brother has been arrested and sent to a concentration camp. The atheist Barny decides to baptize her daughter to protect her and chooses priest Léon Morin to discuss with him themes related to religion and Catholicism and Léon lends books to her. Barny converts to the Catholicism and becomes closer to Léon, feeling an unrequited desire for him.

The theme of the movie is one of religion with World War II as a backdrop, and though religion is often a tricky line to walk in movies, Leon Morin, Priest does a great job of not only walking that line, but also putting Catholicism in a good light.  While the movie will undoubtedly raise questions about the religion (director Jean-Pierre Melville is not religious), it does try to put its best foot forward and shows an evolution, and ultimately conversion, of Barny (Emmanuelle Riva) from Atheist to Catholic.  The road there is not an easy one, and the movie captures that route as well as it can, all the while showing Leon Morin (Jean-Paul Belmondo) as the priest who despite being faced with much temptation, as more attractive females seek him out for guidance in light of the war's effect on the number of males their age available, remains as strong in his beliefs and ultimately comes out on top.

The main focus of the movie is on Barny's interactions with Morin, and whether you are religious or not, the movie is sure to raise questions, though most of them are well suited to a critical thinking session.  If you're willing to think, then Leon Morin, Priest is a movie that will stimulate such ideas.