Léon Morin, Priest
Directed by	Jean-Pierre Melville
Produced by	Georges de Beauregard Carlo Ponti
Written by	Béatrix Beck novel Jean-Pierre Melville
Starring	Jean-Paul Belmondo Emmanuelle Riva Irène Tunc
Music by	Martial Solal
Cinematography	Henri Decaë
Editing by	Jacqueline Meppiel Nadine Trintignant Marie-Josèphe Yoyotte
Release date(s)	22 September 1961
Running time	117 min.
Language	French

This is about the 1961 film. For the 1952 novel see The Passionate Heart

Léon Morin, Priest (French: Léon Morin, prêtre)^[1] , is a 1961 film directed and scripted by Jean-Pierre Melville, and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Emmanuelle Riva. Belmondo was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor. It is based on the 1952 Prix Goncourt winning novel The Passionate Heart (French: Léon Morin, prêtre) by Béatrix Beck.

[edit] Plot

In a small French town during the Occupation, Barny is a young, wayward, sexually frustrated widow, living with her little girl. She is also a communist militant who long ago decided that the easiest way was the best. One day she enters a church, randomly chooses a priest to confess to and, while in confessional, attempts to provoke him by criticizing Catholicism. Instead of being affronted, the priest engages her in an intellectual discussion. the religion. The priest is Leon Morin, young, handsome, smart and altruistic. He invites Barny to continue the conversation outside of confessional. She begins regularly seeing him and is impressed by his moral strength, while he makes it his mission to steer her onto the right path.

[edit] Notes

v • d • e Jean-Pierre Melville Vingt-quatre heures de la vie d'un clown • Le Silence de la mer • Les Enfants terribles • Bob le flambeur • Two Men in Manhattan • Léon Morin, Priest • Le Doulos • L’Aîné des Ferchaux • Le deuxieme souffle • Le Samouraï • Army of Shadows • Le Cercle rouge • Un flic