The 1971 scene so controversial that it was banned for 30 years: “Outrageously sick”
Cinema was becoming increasingly open to the kinds of scenes that would truly leave people clutching their pearls back in the 1960s and early ‘70s, with Hollywood censorship easing in line with the demise of the Hays Code.
Everything started to become a little more violent and a little more risqué, with movies like Bonnie and Clyde, Harold and Maude, The Graduate, and Easy Rider reflecting this new era for mainstream cinema. Nihilism, sex, drugs, nudity, blood and gore – these taboos suddenly became a defining element of this new wave of American filmmaking, emerging as a result of societal transformation. Everything had changed since the war, from how people viewed sex to the role of young people in society, and this subsequently made its mark on film.
Across the pond, British filmmakers were exploring some pretty taboo themes within the social realist genre – the lack of the Hays Code allowing for some pretty radical ideas to emerge as early as the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. Take 1961’s A Taste of Honey, for example, which explored homosexuality, abortion, and interracial relationships.
But still, the country’s film industry was pretty stringently monitored by the BBFC, a censorship board that refused to hesitate in cutting and banning movies deemed offensive or potentially harmful. So, while filmmaking was becoming more daring during this period – with British filmmakers managing to get away with movies that, even within the New Hollywood landscape, might not have flown – directors were still at risk of having their movies interfered with by the BBFC.
This was the case for one of the most controversial movies of the era, Ken Russell’s 1971 masterpiece The Devils. With two powerhouse stars, Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave, in the leading roles, the film actually took its source material from Aldous Huxley’s non-fiction book The Devils of Loudun, an account of the Loudun ‘possessions’ which took place in the 1600s. How the movie got made in 1971 is actually impressive, because it’s not hard to see why people would deem it sacrilegious, despite its origins, in fact.
The story follows a group of nuns who find themselves enamoured by Urbain Grandier, a handsome priest known for his womanising ways… In particular, the hunchbacked abbess Sister Jeanne is sexually obsessed with him, and eventually accuses him of possessing her – Grandier is soon accused of possessing the whole convent, and the film turns into an orgy of lust and terror, with many shots of the nuns involving them running around naked, screaming, and losing themselves in a frenzy of sexual repression.
There’s one horrifying scene in which an exorcism is attempted on Jeanne, which involves a pretty intense enema. The Devils is far from pleasant viewing, but it’s a powerful tale of religion and corruption, with political disenchantment and division casting its shadow over the narrative.
Considering that so many shocking scenes were passed in the cut version of the movie – like Jeanne using Grandier’s bone to masturbate following his death – it makes you wonder what had to be censored. Well, most notoriously, the BBFC were quick to remove a scene that has long been sought after by many die-hard fans of the movie, and it was actually near impossible to find the scene until it was broadcast in the 2002 documentary, Hell on Earth, about the making of the film.
The scene in question is known by fans as ‘The Rape of Christ’, with the naked nuns going wild over a giant crucifix, and in one shot, you can see one of the nuns sitting on top of the statue’s genitals, while the statue’s face is grabbed, licked and sat upon, and another appears to masturbate with his foot.
You can see why it was cut by the BBFC, although it’s hardly that much more shocking than other moments in the film. If you’re going to watch The Devils, you might as well see it all. With that being said, you can’t really blame people for being shocked by the film. The Halliwell’s Filmgoers’ Companion regards the movie as “outrageously sick”, which is not an opinion they’re alone in holding.
These days, it seems that the only way to watch the fully uncut version of the movie is through bootleg copies floating about online, which allows you to see the horrifying sequence in all of its crazy, uncensored glory.
