World War II
World War II known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries; the major participants threw their entire economic and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China, it included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, the only use of nuclear weapons in war. Japan, which aimed to dominate Asia and the Pacific, was at war with China by 1937, though neither side had declared war on the other. World War II is said to have begun on 1 September 1939, with the invasion of Poland by Germany and subsequent declarations of war on Germany by France and the United Kingdom.
From late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Finland and the Baltic states. Following the onset of campaigns in North Africa and East Africa, the fall of France in mid 1940, the war continued between the European Axis powers and the British Empire. War in the Balkans, the aerial Battle of Britain, the Blitz, the long Battle of the Atlantic followed. On 22 June 1941, the European Axis powers launched an invasion of the Soviet Union, opening the largest land theatre of war in history; this Eastern Front trapped most crucially the German Wehrmacht, into a war of attrition. In December 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the United States as well as European colonies in the Pacific. Following an immediate U. S. declaration of war against Japan, supported by one from Great Britain, the European Axis powers declared war on the U.
S. in solidarity with their Japanese ally. Rapid Japanese conquests over much of the Western Pacific ensued, perceived by many in Asia as liberation from Western dominance and resulting in the support of several armies from defeated territories; the Axis advance in the Pacific halted in 1942. Key setbacks in 1943, which included a series of German defeats on the Eastern Front, the Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy, Allied victories in the Pacific, cost the Axis its initiative and forced it into strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained its territorial losses and turned toward Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in Central China, South China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy and captured key Western Pacific islands; the war in Europe concluded with an invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, culminating in the capture of Berlin by Soviet troops, the suicide of Adolf Hitler and the German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945.
Following the Potsdam Declaration by the Allies on 26 July 1945 and the refusal of Japan to surrender under its terms, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August respectively. With an invasion of the Japanese archipelago imminent, the possibility of additional atomic bombings, the Soviet entry into the war against Japan and its invasion of Manchuria, Japan announced its intention to surrender on 15 August 1945, cementing total victory in Asia for the Allies. Tribunals were set up by fiat by the Allies and war crimes trials were conducted in the wake of the war both against the Germans and the Japanese. World War II changed the political social structure of the globe; the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The Soviet Union and United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the nearly half-century long Cold War. In the wake of European devastation, the influence of its great powers waned, triggering the decolonisation of Africa and Asia.
Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic expansion. Political integration in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities and create a common identity; the start of the war in Europe is held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred and the two wars merged in 1941; this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935; the British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the fo
Free France
Free France and its Free French Forces were the government-in-exile led by Charles de Gaulle during the Second World War and its military forces, that continued to fight against the Axis powers as one of the Allies after the fall of France. Set up in London in June 1940, it supported the Resistance in occupied France. Charles de Gaulle, a French government minister who rejected the armistice concluded by Marshal Philippe Pétain and who had escaped to Britain, exhorted the French to resist in his BBC broadcast "Appeal of 18 June", which had a stirring effect on morale throughout France and its colonies, although relatively few French forces responded to de Gaulle's call for resistance. On 27 October 1940, the Empire Defense Council was constituted to organise the rule of the territories in central Africa and Oceania that had heeded the 18 June call, it was replaced on 24 September 1941 by the French National Committee. On 13 July 1942, "Free France" was renamed France combattante, to mark that the struggle against the Axis was conducted both externally by the FFF and internally by the French Forces of the Interior.
After the reconquest of North Africa, this was in turn formally merged with de Gaulle's rival general Henri Giraud's command in Algiers to form the French Committee of National Liberation. Exile ended with the liberation of Paris by the 2nd Armoured Free French Division and Resistance forces on 25 August 1944, ushering in the Provisional Government of the French Republic, it ruled France until the end of the war and afterwards to 1946, when the Fourth Republic was established, thus ending the series of interim regimes that had succeeded the Third Republic after its fall in 1940. The Free French fought Axis and Vichy regime troops and served on battlefronts everywhere from the Middle East to Indochina and North Africa; the Free French Navy operated as an auxiliary force to the Royal Navy and, in the North Atlantic, to the Royal Canadian Navy. Free French units served in the Royal Air Force, Soviet Air Force, British SAS, before larger commands were established directly under the control of the government-in-exile.
From colonial outposts in Africa and the Pacific, Free France took over more and more Vichy possessions, until after the Allied landings in North Africa in November 1942 Vichy only ruled over the zone libre in southern France and a few possessions in the West Indies. The French Army of Africa switched allegiance to Free France, this caused the Axis to occupy Vichy in reaction. On August 1, 1943, L'Armée d'Afrique was formally united with the Free French Forces to form L'Armée française de la Liberation. By mid-1944, the forces of this army numbered more than 400,000, they participated in the Normandy landings and the invasion of southern France leading the drive on Paris. Soon they were fighting in Alsace, the Alps and Brittany, by the end of the war in Europe, they were 1,300,000 strong—the fourth-largest Allied army in Europe—and took part in the Allied advance through France and invasion of Germany; the Free French government re-established a provisional republic after the liberation, preparing the ground for the Fourth Republic in 1946.
An individual became "Free French" by enlisting in the military units organised by the CFN or by employment by the civilian arm of the Committee. On 1 August 1943 after the merger of CFN and representatives of the former Vichy regime in North Africa to form the CFLN earlier in June, the FFF and the Armée d'Afrique were merged to form the French Liberation Army, Armée française de la Libération, all subsequent enlistments were in this combined force. In many sources, Free French describes any French individual or unit that fought against Axis forces after the June 1940 armistice. Postwar, to settle disputes over the Free French heritage, the French government issued an official definition of the term. Under this "ministerial instruction of July 1953", only those who served with the Allies after the Franco-German armistice in 1940 and before 1 August 1943 may be called "Free French". On 10 May 1940, Nazi Germany invaded France and the Low Countries defeating the Dutch and Belgians, while armoured units attacking through the Ardennes cut off the Franco-British strike force in Belgium.
By the end of May, the British and French northern armies were trapped in a series of pockets, including Dunkirk, Boulogne, Saint-Valery-en-Caux and Lille. The Dunkirk evacuation was only made possible by the resistance of these troops the French army divisions at Lille. From 27 May to 4 June, over 200,000 members of the British Expeditionary Force and 140,000 French troops were evacuated from Dunkirk. Neither side viewed this as the end of the battle. After being evacuated from Dunkirk, Alanbrooke landed in Cherbourg on 2 June to reform the BEF, along with the 1st Canadian Division, the only remaining armoured unit in Britain. Contrary to what is assumed, French morale was higher in June than May and they repulsed an attack in the south by Fascist Italy. A defensive line was re-established along the Somme but much of the armour was lost in Northern France.
Mallorca
Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The native language, as on the rest of the Balearic Islands, is Catalan, co-official with Spanish; the capital of the island, Palma, is the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Balearic Islands have been an autonomous region of Spain since 1983. There are two small islands off the coast of Mallorca: Dragonera; the anthem of Mallorca is "La Balanguera". Like the other Balearic Islands of Menorca and Formentera, the island is an popular holiday destination for tourists from Germany and the United Kingdom; the international airport, Palma de Mallorca Airport, is one of the busiest in Spain. The name derives from Classical Latin insula maior, "larger island". In Medieval Latin, this became Maiorica, "the larger one", in comparison to Menorca, "the smaller one". Little is recorded of the earliest inhabitants of the island. Burial chambers and traces of habitation from the Neolithic period have been discovered the prehistoric settlements called talaiots, or talayots.
They raised Bronze Age megaliths as part of their Talaiotic culture. A non-exhaustive list is the following: Capocorb Vell Necròpoli de Son Real Novetiforme Alemany Poblat Talaiòtic de S'Illot Poblat Talaiòtic de Son Fornés Sa Canova de Morell Ses Païsses Ses Talaies de Can Jordi S'Hospitalet Vell The Phoenicians, a seafaring people from the Levant, arrived around the eighth century BC and established numerous colonies; the island came under the control of Carthage in North Africa, which had become the principal Phoenician city. After the Second Punic War, Carthage lost all of its overseas possessions and the Romans took over; the island was occupied by the Romans in 123 BC under Quintus Caecilius Metellus Balearicus. It flourished under Roman rule, during which time the towns of Pollentia, Palmaria were founded. In addition, the northern town of Bocchoris, dating back to pre-Roman times, was a federated city to Rome; the local economy was driven by olive cultivation and salt mining. Mallorcan soldiers were valued within the Roman legions for their skill with the sling.
In 427, Gunderic and the Vandals captured the island. Geiseric, son of Gunderic, governed Mallorca and used it as his base to loot and plunder settlements around the Mediterranean, until Roman rule was restored in 465. In 534, Mallorca was recaptured by the Eastern Roman Empire, led by Apollinarius. Under Roman rule, Christianity thrived and numerous churches were built. From 707, the island was attacked by Muslim raiders from North Africa. Recurrent invasions led the islanders to ask Charlemagne for help. In 902, Issam al-Khawlani conquered the Balearic Islands, ushering in a new period of prosperity under the Emirate of Córdoba; the town of Palma was reshaped and expanded, became known as Medina Mayurqa. On, with the Caliphate of Córdoba at its height, the Moors improved agriculture with irrigation and developed local industries; the caliphate was dismembered in 1015. Mallorca came under rule by the Taifa of Dénia, from 1087 to 1114, was an independent Taifa. During that period, the island was visited by Ibn Hazm.
However, an expedition of Pisans and Catalans in 1114–15, led by Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, overran the island, laying siege to Palma for eight months. After the city fell, the invaders retreated due to problems in their own lands, they were replaced by the Almoravides from North Africa, who ruled until 1176. The Almoravides were replaced by the Almohad dynasty until 1229. Abú Yahya was the last Moorish leader of Mallorca. In the ensuing confusion and unrest, King James I of Aragon known as James the Conqueror, launched an invasion which landed at Santa Ponça, Mallorca, on 8–9 September 1229 with 15,000 men and 1,500 horses, his forces entered the city of Medina Mayurqa on 31 December 1229. In 1230 he annexed the island to his Crown of Aragon under the name Regnum Maioricae. From 1479, the Crown of Aragon was in dynastic union with that of Castile; the Barbary corsairs of North Africa attacked the Balearic Islands, in response, the people built coastal watchtowers and fortified churches.
In 1570, King Philip II of Spain and his advisors were considering complete evacuation of the Balearic islands. In the early 18th century, the War of the Spanish Succession resulted in the replacement of that dynastic union with a unified Spanish monarchy under the rule of the new Bourbon Dynasty; the last episode of the War of Spanish Succession was the conquest of the island of Mallorca. It took place on 2 July 1715. In 1716, the Nueva Planta decrees made Mallorca part of the Spanish province of Baleares the same to present-day Illes Balears province and autonomous community. A Nationalist stronghold at the start of the Spanish Civil War, Mallorca was subjected to an amphibious landing, on 16 August 1936, aimed at driving the Nationalists from Mallorca and reclaiming the island for the Republic. Although the Republicans outnumbered their opponents and managed to push 12 km inland, superior Nationalist air power, provided mainly
Dialogue with the Carmelites
Dialogue with the Carmelites is a 1960 French-Italian historical drama film written and directed by Raymond Léopold Bruckberger and Philippe Agostini. It is based on the story of the Martyrs of Compiègne, Carmelite nuns who were guillotined in Paris in 1794 in the waning days of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution, after refusing to renounce their vocation. Jeanne Moreau: Mère Marie de l'Incarnation Alida Valli: Mère Thérèse de Saint-Augustin Madeleine Renaud: First Prioress Pascale Audret: Blanche de la Force Pierre Brasseur: Commissioner of the Revolution Jean-Louis Barrault: Mime Anne Doat: Sister Constance de Saint-Denis Georges Wilson: Chaplain of the Carmel Pascale de Boysson: Sister Cécile Hélène Dieudonné: Sister Jeanne de la Divine Enfance Pierre Bertin: Marquis de la Force Claude Laydu: Chevalier de la Force Daniel Ceccaldi: Officier Judith Magre: Rose Ducor Dialogue with the Carmelites on IMDb
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize at the festival was the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film. In 1964, The Palme d'Or was replaced again by the Grand Prix, before being reintroduced in 1975; the Palme d'Or is considered to be one of the most prestigious awards in the film industry. In 1954, the festival decided to present an award annually, titled the Grand Prix of the International Film Festival, with a new design each year from a contemporary artist; the festival's board of directors invited several jewellers to submit designs for a palm, in tribute to the coat of arms of the city of Cannes. The original design by the jeweller Lucienne Lazon had the bevelled lower extremity of the stalk forming a heart, the pedestal a sculpture in terracotta by the artist Sébastien. In 1955, the first Palme d'Or was awarded to Delbert Mann for Marty. From 1964 to 1974, the Festival temporarily resumed a Grand Prix.
In 1975, the Palme d'Or was reintroduced and has since remained the symbol of the Cannes Film Festival, awarded every year to the director of the winning film, presented in a case of pure red Morocco leather lined with white suede. As of 2018, Jane Campion is the only female director to have won the Palme d'Or, for her work on The Piano. However, in 2013, when Blue Is the Warmest Color won the Palme d'Or, the Steven Spielberg-headed jury awarded it to the film's director Abdellatif Kechiche, as well as the film's actresses Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux; this marks the first time. The jury decided to award the actresses alongside the director due to a Cannes policy that forbids the Palme d'Or-winning film from receiving any additional awards, thereby preventing the jury from rewarding both the film and the film's actresses separately. Of the unorthodox decision, Spielberg said that "had the casting been 3% wrong, it wouldn't have worked like it did for us". Kechiche auctioned off his Palme d'Or trophy to fund his new feature film, expressed mixed feelings about the festival having given out multiple trophies in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
Since its reintroduction, the prize has been redesigned several times. At the beginning of the 1980s, the rounded shape of the pedestal, bearing the palm transformed to become pyramidal in 1984. In 1992, Thierry de Bourqueney redesigned its pedestal in hand-cut crystal. In 1997, a new design, created by Caroline Scheufele from Chopard, was created; the winner of the 2014 Palme d'Or, Winter Sleep—a Turkish film by Nuri Bilge Ceylan—occurred during the same year as the 100th anniversary of Turkish cinema. Upon receiving the award, Ceylan dedicated the prize to both the "young people" involved in the ongoing political unrest in Turkey and the workers who were killed in the Soma mine disaster, which occurred on the day prior to the commencement of the awards event. In 2017, the award was re-designed to celebrate the festival's 70th anniversary; the diamonds were provided by an ethical supplier certified by the Responsible Jewellery Council. * Director's nationality given at time of film's release.
§ Denotes unanimous win ‡ The Palme d'Or for Union Pacific was awarded in retrospect at the 2002 festival. The festival's debut was to take place in 1939, but it was cancelled due to World War II; the organisers of the 2002 festival presented part of the original 1939 selection to a professional jury of six members. The films were: Goodbye Mr. Chips, La Piste du Nord, Lenin in 1918, The Four Feathers, The Wizard of Oz, Union Pacific, Boefje. Eight directors or co-directors have won the award twice: 1946 & 1951 Alf Sjöberg 1974 & 1979 Francis Ford Coppola 1988 & 1992 Bille August 1985 & 1995 Emir Kusturica 1983 & 1997 Shohei Imamura 1999 & 2005 Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne 2009 & 2012 Michael Haneke 2006 & 2016 Ken Loach In 2002 the festival began to sporadically award a non-competitive Honorary Palme d'Or to directors who had achieved a notable body of work but who had never won a competitive Palme d'Or. In 2011 the festival announced that the award would be given out annually, however plans for this fell through and it was not awarded again until four years in 2015.
American director Woody Allen was the inaugural recipient while pioneering French filmmaker Agnès Varda was the first woman to receive the award in 2015. In 2016, Jean-Pierre Léaud became the first person to be awarded for acting. In 2018, the Cannes jury awarded a "Special Palme d'Or" for the first time. Golden Bear, the highest prize awarded at the Berlin Film Festival Golden Lion, the highest prize awarded at the Venice Film Festival Palme d'Or Winners, 1976 to present, by gross box-office Festival-cannes.com Cannes Film Festival IMDB
Fascism
Fascism is a form of radical, right-wing, authoritarian ultranationalism, characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, strong regimentation of society and of the economy, which came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe. The first fascist movements emerged in Italy during World War I before it spread to other European countries. Opposed to liberalism and anarchism, fascism is placed on the far-right within the traditional left–right spectrum. Fascists saw World War I as a revolution that brought massive changes to the nature of war, the state, technology; the advent of total war and the total mass mobilization of society had broken down the distinction between civilians and combatants. A "military citizenship" arose in which all citizens were involved with the military in some manner during the war; the war had resulted in the rise of a powerful state capable of mobilizing millions of people to serve on the front lines and providing economic production and logistics to support them, as well as having unprecedented authority to intervene in the lives of citizens.
Fascists believe that liberal democracy is obsolete and regard the complete mobilization of society under a totalitarian one-party state as necessary to prepare a nation for armed conflict and to respond to economic difficulties. Such a state is led by a strong leader—such as a dictator and a martial government composed of the members of the governing fascist party—to forge national unity and maintain a stable and orderly society. Fascism rejects assertions that violence is automatically negative in nature and views political violence and imperialism as means that can achieve national rejuvenation. Fascists advocate a mixed economy, with the principal goal of achieving autarky through protectionist and interventionist economic policies. Since the end of World War II in 1945, few parties have described themselves as fascist, the term is instead now used pejoratively by political opponents; the descriptions neo-fascist or post-fascist are sometimes applied more formally to describe parties of the far-right with ideologies similar to, or rooted in, 20th-century fascist movements.
The Italian term fascismo is derived from fascio meaning a bundle of rods from the Latin word fasces. This was the name given to political organizations in Italy known as fasci, groups similar to guilds or syndicates. According to Mussolini's own account, the Fascist Revolutionary Party was founded in Italy in 1915. In 1919, Mussolini founded the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento in Milan, which became the Partito Nazionale Fascista two years later; the Fascists came to associate the term with the ancient Roman fasces or fascio littorio—a bundle of rods tied around an axe, an ancient Roman symbol of the authority of the civic magistrate carried by his lictors, which could be used for corporal and capital punishment at his command. The symbolism of the fasces suggested strength through unity: a single rod is broken, while the bundle is difficult to break. Similar symbols were developed by different fascist movements: for example, the Falange symbol is five arrows joined together by a yoke. Historians, political scientists, other scholars have long debated the exact nature of fascism.
Each group described as fascist has at least some unique elements, many definitions of fascism have been criticized as either too wide or narrow. One common definition of the term focuses on three concepts: the fascist negations. According to many scholars, fascism—especially once in power—has attacked communism and parliamentary liberalism, attracting support from the far-right. Historian Stanley Payne identifies three main strands in fascism, his typology is cited by reliable sources as a standard definition. First, Payne's "fascist negations" refers to such typical policies as anti-communism and anti-liberalism. Second, "fascist goals" include an expanded empire. Third, "fascist style" is seen in its emphasis on violence and authoritarianism and its exultation of men above women and young against old. Roger Griffin describes fascism as "a genus of political ideology whose mythic core in its various permutations is a palingenetic form of populist ultranationalism". Griffin describes the ideology as having three core components: " the rebirth myth, populist ultra-nationalism, the myth of decadence".
Fascism is "a genuinely revolutionary, trans-class form of anti-liberal, in the last analysis, anti-conservative nationalism" built on a complex range of theoretical and cultural influences. He distinguishes an inter-war period in which it manifested itself in elite-led but populist "armed party" politics opposing socialism and liberalism and promising radical politics to rescue the nation from decadence. Robert Paxton says that fascism is "a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion". Racism was a
Diary of a Country Priest
Diary of a Country Priest is a 1951 French film written and directed by Robert Bresson, starring Claude Laydu. It was based on the novel of the same name by Georges Bernanos. Published in 1936, the novel received the Grand prix du roman de l'Académie française, it tells the story of a young, sickly priest, assigned to his first parish, a village in northern France. Diary of a Country Priest was lauded for Laydu's debut performance, called one of the greatest in the history of cinema. An idealistic young priest arrives at his new parish, he is not welcome. The girls of the catechism class laugh at him in a prank, whereby only one of them pretends to know the Scriptural basis of the Eucharist so that the rest of them can laugh at their private conversation, his colleagues criticize his diet of bread and wine, his ascetic lifestyle. Concerned about Chantal, the daughter of the Countess, the priest visits the Countess at the family chateau, appears to help her resume communion with God after a period of doubt.
The Countess dies during the following night, her daughter spreads false rumors that the priest's harsh words had tormented her to death. Refusing confession, Chantal had spoken to the priest about her hatred of her parents; the older priest from Torcy talks to his younger colleague about his poor diet and lack of prayer, but the younger man seems unable to make changes. After his health worsens, the young priest goes to the city to visit a doctor, who diagnoses him with stomach cancer; the priest goes for refuge to a former colleague, who has lapsed and now works as an apothecary, while living with a woman outside wedlock. The priest dies in the house of his colleague after being absolved by him. Claude Laydu as Priest of Ambricourt Jean Riveyre as Count Adrien Borel as Priest of Torcy Rachel Bérendt as Countess Nicole Maurey as Miss Louise Nicole Ladmiral as Chantal Martine Lemaire as Séraphita Dumontel Antoine Balpêtré as Dr. Delbende Jean Danet as Olivier Gaston Séverin as Canon Yvette Etiévant as Femme de ménage Bernard Hubrenne as Priest Dufrety Léon Arvel as Fabregars Two other French scriptwriters, Jean Aurenche and Pierre Bost, had wanted to make film adaptations of the novel.
Bernanos rejected Aurenche's first draft. By the time Bresson worked on the screenplay, Bernanos had died. Bresson said," if Bernanos were still alive; this film marked a transition period for Bresson. It was the first film in which Bresson utilized a complex soundtrack and voice-over narration, stating that "an ice-cold commentary can warm, by contrast, tepid dialogues in a film. Phenomenon analogues to that of hot and cold in painting."Guy Lefranc was assistant director on the movie. Diary of a Country Priest was a financial success in France and established Bresson's international reputation as a major film director. Film critic André Bazin wrote an entire essay on the film, calling it a masterpiece "because of its power to stir the emotions, rather than the intelligence." Claude Laydu's debut performance in the title role has been described as one of the greatest in the history of film. Jean Tulard, in his Dictionary of Film, wrote of him in this work, "No other actor deserves to go to heaven as much as Laydu."Diary of a Country Priest continues to receive high praise today.
French journalist Frédéric Bonnaud praised Bresson's minimalist approach to the film's setting and argued, "For the first time in French cinema, the less the environment is shown, the more it resonates ubiquitous and constant and unchanging, it doesn’t need to be shown: its evocation through sound is enough. It’s a veritable prison." American director Martin Scorsese said the film influenced his own Taxi Driver.. Several reviewers of the 2017 film First Reformed noted that writer and director Paul Schrader appeared to be influenced by the film; the film won eight international awards, including the Grand Prize at the Venice International Film Festival, the Prix Louis Delluc. Diary of a Country Priest on IMDb Diary of a Country Priest at AllMovie Diary of a Country Priest at the TCM Movie Database Diary of a Country Priest at Rotten Tomatoes Voted #11 on The Arts and Faith Top 100 Films Diary of a Country Priest an essay by Frédéric Bonnaud at the Criterion Collection
