5/71 Mother Joan of the Angels

[Bikey]

Strange Things Are Happening

[Bikey]

Cinemas Online

[MichaelB]

Mondo Digital:

Second Run released a DVD in 2005 from the best video master at the time, which unfortunately still wasn't all that great. Dull, smudgy, and filled with distortion, it's been replaced with a remastered 2012 edition that plays like an entirely different film. It's a gorgeous restoration, to put it mildly, and the perfect way to make the acquaintance of this fascinating film.

[Bikey]

Gordon Thomas at Bright Lights Film Journal

[Bikey]

Sad news... we just heard that the great Polish actress Lucyna Winnicka, star of Kawalerowicz's NIGHT TRAIN and MOTHER JOAN herself, died on 22 January 2013.

[TMDaines]

This title doesn't seem to be stocked at too many e-tailers: Click. Is there any reason why thehut, Zavvi, WOWHD and others don't have it?

[Bikey]

We have plenty of stock of this title, and it is available at many of the usual e-retailers.
The Hut, Zavvi and WOWCD are all supplied by the same wholesalers, so it could be that they are another knock-on effect of HMV going into administration (ie suppliers are being more careful about supplying stock direct to retailers?)?

[Bikey]

Close Up Film Centre begin a regular strand of Second Run screenings with Jerzy Kawalerowicz's stunning MOTHER JOAN OF THE ANGELS (Matka Joanna od Aniołów) - Tuesday 17th Nov at 8pm.

[What A Disgrace]

Blu-ray upgrade coming in October.

[therewillbeblus]

Very cool. I finally got around to this recently and really enjoyed it, though I definitely interpreted the possession as a self-induced psychological tactic to make sense of uncomfortable situations and emotional states.

Spoiler

When the priest finally breaks down and commits violence to 'save' the abbess, it feels like a desperate attempt to engage in a tangible act with so much outside of his control, which causes a psychological breakdown. The abbess' alleviation of her symptoms also seems like a reprieve in feeling a connection with another person -the priest- caring for her, even if it's done in a perverse manner. I wondered if the whole demonic possession spreading across the community of nuns stemmed from a sense of isolation and lack of reciprocity from a tangible higher being or outside human connection.

I realize the film is deliberately ambiguous, but I enjoyed entertaining this reading more than a straightforward one