The Nun's Story (film)
| The Nun's Story | |
|---|---|
Original film poster
|
|
| Directed by | Fred Zinnemann |
| Produced by | Henry Blanke |
| Written by | Robert Anderson |
| Based on |
The Nun's Story 1956 novel by Kathryn Hulme |
| Starring |
Audrey Hepburn Peter Finch Edith Evans Peggy Ashcroft |
| Music by | Franz Waxman |
| Cinematography | Franz Planer |
| Edited by | Walter Thompson |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
149 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3.5 million |
| Box office | $12.8 million |
The Nun's Story is a 1959 Warner Bros. film directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Audrey Hepburn, Peter Finch, Edith Evans and Peggy Ashcroft. Based upon the 1956 novel of the same title by Kathryn Hulme, the story tells of the life of Sister Luke (Hepburn), a young Belgian woman who decides to enter a convent and make the many sacrifices required by her choice.
The book was based upon the life of Marie Louise Habets, a Belgian nurse who similarly spent time as a nun. The film follows the book fairly closely, although some critics believe the film shows sexual tension in the relationship between Dr. Fortunati (Peter Finch) and Sister Luke that is absent from the novel.
A major portion of the film takes place in the Belgian Congo, site of location shooting, where Sister Luke assists Dr. Fortunati in surgical procedures at a mission hospital. The location was Yakusu, a center of missionary and medical activity in the Belgian Congo.
Colleen Dewhurst made her feature film debut in the film.
Gabrielle "Gaby" Van Der Mal (Audrey Hepburn), whose father Hubert (Dean Jagger) is a famous surgeon in Belgium, enters a convent of nursing sisters in the late 1920s in the hopes of eventually becoming a missionary nursing sister in the Belgian Congo. After being given the name of Sister Luke and undergoing a postulancy and novitiate which foreshadow her future difficulties with the vow of obedience, she takes her first vows and is sent to a school of tropical medicine.
After passing high in her class but not without some spiritual conflict, after struggling with a request by Mother Superior to purposely fail her exam as a proof of her humility, she discovers to her disappointment that she has been assigned to go not to the Congo but instead to a mental hospital, where she assists with the most difficult and violent cases though resenting her tropical medicine knowledge going to waste there. One of these patients, a particularly violent schizophrenic (Colleen Dewhurst) who believes herself to be the Archangel Gabriel, tricks her into opening the cell door in violation of the rules and warnings given, and Sister Luke barely escapes from her to face the shame of her disobedience once again.
...
Wikipedia