Mother Joan of the Angels - Matka Joanna Od Aniolow DVD

Excellent film, and really restored beautifully! A must have for anyone into this type of movie and theme! The English sub-titles are wonderful, you just need to turn them on, and from then on out they will show just fine.

It is entirely in Polish without subtitles, but knowing the story, I still found it to be an excellent bit of cinema. I'm glad to have it in my collection.

“Joan of the Angels” is a visionary film in that it takes you in to an unsettling place and time that is more dreamlike than a reflection of reality.

was worth the buy. completely obscure film no one knows about.

Fantastic film!

Don't buy, the DVD won't work in your DVD/Blu Ray player.As for how good the movie is, the movie is great, just don't buy the DVD.

I did not purchase this item off Amazon. However, I rented it from a video store. What I rented is the same Polart DVD as depicted. Placenta from 2012 (there aren't any English subtitles) is more correct than Anonymous from 2016 (yes, there are). There are no English subtitles, via the usual Main Menu set-up options, where every other subtitled DVD I've ever watched (over a thousand) locates the subtitles option. The only way to turn on the English subtitles, from what I found, was to right click on the screen as the movie was playing. That led to the ability to turn them on. Very strange, and totally counterintuitive. So Polart needs to do DVDs the way the rest of the world does them.

Well, it's finally here, having been lost in the black hole of my local sorting office for nearly two weeks. I'd been chomping at the bit for this one to arrive because I'd just watched Night Train from the Polish Cinema Classics box set and was highly impressed. Previously, and without any knowledge of the directors work I'd been attracted to the subject matter of Mother Joan of the Angels but was put off by the well known poor quality of the source material of Second Run's original 2005 release.So, the first thing to say is how very impressive is the quality of this new restoration. Michael Brooke is right to point out in a comment to one of the other reviews that it, and indeed all three reviews, refer to the previous release and not to the restoration. I'm surprised to find that I'm the first to comment on this excellent new package.To start in reverse order, as it were, and because I've already mentioned MichaelB I will point out the exceptionally good booklet and his forensically researched and apparently effortlessly concise biography of the directors life and works. Full marks, sir! Equally distinguished is Dr Sorfa's analysis of the Loudun source material and the other artistic works it has inspired.Next comes MichaelB's appreciation, a 21 minute video, liberally illustrated with film clips. This kind of appetite wetter has always appealed to me as a warm up act to the main event, but this one carries a 'spoiler warning' because it reveals many key scenes. Such concerns have never bothered me since a detailed understanding or knowledge of the content of a film has never diminished my experience of seeing a film itself. I have noticed that such spoiler issues do seem to vex participants of the Amazon reviews, so heaven knows how such people fair when it comes to films with well known story-lines such as The Gospel According to Matthew, perhaps they watch in the expectation that it will end differently this time. Sorry, I digress.Now, as for the film Mother Joan of the Angels, the restoration is magnificent and the original B & W cinematography is flawless in terms of technical expertise as well as composition. The nuns passing through the frame from dark to light and Mother Joan's first appearance in the refectory are just two examples of powerful diagonal compositions. While other scenes, particularly in the inn with the interaction of various characters, are the equal of Bergman's mediaeval films like The Virgin Spring. Even more interestingly for me is Kawalerowicz powerful visual technique of progressing the narrative through camera set-ups which cut seamlessly between consecutive shots describing an objective, subjective-object, subjective view point. Murnau achieves a similarly complex mise en scene in Sunrise, whether by design or accident it's debatable, in the extraordinary tracking shot when the man walks over the marshes to his rendezvous with the woman from the city.In the case of Kawalerowicz it is undoubtedly by design: for example, at the beginning of the film the priest is in his room at the inn and there follows this sequence of shots, 1- he is standing against the wall [objective], 2 - (noises off) he turns and looks directly into, and walks towards, the camera [subjective-object], 3 - a cut reveals the object of his attention, the window, it opens to reveal the scene below [subjective]. Our initial shock and unease when he looks directly into the camera is soon superseded by a sense of relief once it is revealed that he is looking at the window and not at us, after all. At once such a shot emphasizes the deeply voyeuristic nature of our gaze and asks the question, exactly how does one determine the truth of these events that he, the priest and us the viewer have come to witness.However, in the scene where the priest visits the rabbi I found Kawalerowicz's visual technique rather less well realised due to a lack of fluidity in the editing. Nevertheless, it's an interesting sequence in part because both characters are played by the same actor, which probably accounts for the lack of fluidity, but mainly because this exchange sets the priest on the trajectory of his deadly denouement.One last observation, Kawalerowicz's Mother Joan of the Angels takes place in an apparently devastated wasteland separating the convent from the inn and with the chard stake between, at which Grandier has already been dispatched. This wasteland is more than reminiscent of the devastated landscape revealed by the crane shot at the end of Ken Russell's The Devils and is perhaps an indication that when the old codger, possibly with a twinkle in his eye, told Mark Kermode that Mother Joan of the Angels was 'alright', he was being somewhat disingenuous, after all it's clearly a masterpiece.

Neben Roman Polanski und dem zumindest unter Programmkino-Besuchern bekannten Krzysztof Kieslowski hat das Polnische Kino auch Jerzy Kawalerowicz hervorgebracht.Sein Film 'Matka Joanna od Aniolow' lief vor Jahren einmal zu später Stunde im Deutschen Fernsehen. Eine Freundin hatte mir von einer außergewöhnlichen Filmhandlung und außergewöhnlichen Bildern so eindringlich vorgeschwärmt, dass ich mich kürzlich daran plötzlich erinnerte und das Werk dann sogar in Hamburgs zentraler Bücherhalle entdeckte!Der FilmZunächst muss der hiesige Zuschauer akzeptieren, dass das Werk zwar offenbar einmal für das Fernsehen synchronisiert worden ist, bei Amazon und im Verleih derzeit nur in polnischer Sprache mit Englischen 'subtitles' vorliegt. Idee, Look und Schnitt entschädigen aber dreifach für hundert und eine Minute langes Untertitel-Lesen!Die Story spielt auf einem Hof in einsamer öder Gegend, in dessen Nachbarschaft sich ein Frauenkloster befindet. Von Zeit zu Zeit hören die Bauern das Glockengeläut, ab und zu kommen sie auch mit den Nonnen beim katholischen Gottesdienst zusammen. Ansonsten leben Volk und Ordensfrauen in verschiedenen Welten.Eines Tages wird ein fremder Priester hierher berufen, weil mit den Nonnen ein deshalb mittlerweile hingerichteter Geistlicher Unzucht getrieben haben soll. Einige der gar nicht so frommen Damen sind seit dieser Zeit vom Teufel besessen, geht das Gerücht. Für den modernen Betrachter dieser mittelalterlichen Welt scheinen sie allerdings vor allem an Liebesmangel zu leiden.Der fromme Mann tut jedenfalls sein Bestes, um die Frauen wieder zurück auf den Pfad der Tugend zu führen: Er bringt viele gute Worte und Gebete auf, versucht sich als Exorzist, streichelt die Hand der schönen Schwester Joanna, geißelt sich mehrfach, holt sich in einer phantastischen Szene sogar Rat bei einem Rabbi. Nichts hilft dem Geistlichen weiter. Die Frauen sprechen mit fremden Zungen, führen in der Kirche merkwürdige Tänze auf, zeigen wollüstige Regungen. Am Ende verfällt der von Mieczyslaw Vojt perfekt verkörperte Priester schrecklich verzweifelt auf einen satanischen Plan.Die DVD (Mother Joan of the Angels)Mit der vorliegenden Produktion liegt die weltweit erste DVD-Ausgabe des 1961 produzierten Meisterwerks von Kawelerowicz vor. Das britische Label 'Second Run', das sich auf außergewöhnliche Meisterwerke vor allem des osteuropäischen Kinos spezialisiert hat, ließ die Originalkopie digital überarbeiten. Das Schwarz-Material zeigt gute Kontraste und der Sound überzeugt. Die Ausstattung der DVD ist recht sparsam, aber dafür liefert das umfangreich Booklet interessante Hintergrundinformationen zu der aus Frankreich stammenden Legende der fehlgeleiteten Ursulinin Johanna und natürlich zum Regisseur, der mit seinem Streifen den Jury-Preis von Cannes gewann und ein paar Jahre später den ebenfalls großartigen Monumentalfilm 'Pharao' vorlegte.Fazit:Ein genialer Film mit einer überragenden, suggestiven und sinnlichen Bildsprache in einer im Ganzen etwas sparsamen, aber sorgfältig gemachten Ausgabe. Die DVD lässt sich auch direkt auf der Homepage des Verleihs bestellen. Man kann sie in Großstädten wie Hamburg auch ausleihen, aber der Fan will sie vielleicht auch besitzen. Fünf Punkte für den Film, vier Punkte für die DVD.

A minimalist, stylish Bergman-esque metaphysical journey of a simple priest to investigate the aftermath of the hell on earth mass hysteria that was the case of the devils of Loudun. This is an original, fictional follow-up Huxley's book. The beautiful restoration showcases the stunning, bleak black-and-white photography. Excellent performances and an almost apocalyptic landscape and vibe will make this film an unforgettable experience.

This 1961 Polish black-and-white film by Jerzy Kawalerowicz tells the story of a priest arriving at a convent to deal with a case (or rather cases) of possession as the head nun, Joan, is said to be possessed by no less than 8 demons. The priest stays at an inn of some sort and travels to the convent on a daily basis across the space between where a black stake reminds us of the burning of a sorcerer who was accused of shady practices in relation to the convent. The pious priest is at first confident he'll be successful but as time goes by he falls in love with Mother Joan, loses his confidence and tries to tempt Joan's demons to leave her and move into him - by commiting a heinous crime.The cinematography is fine and it’s one of the strong points of this atmospheric film. I was, however, less impressed by the story. Several things struck me as unconvincing, in particular the 'love' element - the priest and Mother Joan didn't seem to be really connecting or connected in anything except for a sense of doubt and doom. There are several (visually great) scenes in which Joan is subjected to exorcising rituals but they lacked a sense of danger and tension, stemming, perhaps, from a lack of clarity in intent and conviction extending to the whole film. (Compare these scenes, for instance, with the intense proceedings in 'The passion of Joan of Arc' by Dreyer).By the way, there is more than a hint of an erotic undercurrent at the start of the film but it doesn’t get really tapped into - to let it fizzle out was perhaps a wise choice as the film would unavoidably have gotten a different sheen.The film, based on the historical tale 'The possession of Loudon' (like the more famous film 'The Devils' by Ken Russell), suffers from visual noise ('snowflakes') but that's quite bearable. Soundwise it's not great - the sounds didn't always seem congruent with the images (like the singing priests, or the woman playing the lute) which speak of a lack of attention to detail. Furthermore, the subtitling wasn't that great as it sometimes went missing - but perhaps only when Latin was spoken. Lastly, my version displays some rather garish info right after the film's last shot - not the most delicate of touches. A nice booklet with an essay by Andy Townsend is included.It seems nobody in this film is better off when the final bell silently tolls. The zealous and pious are not rewarded for their faith, nor is the nun who was tempted away from the convent. And certainly not the priest's poor victims who honestly try to keep the balance between dealing with the daily grind and care for their soul. The film admirably raises a good deal of questions about life and how we look at it but it seems, in the shape presented, a bit lacking in coherence of vision. 3.5 stars.

Great!