Mother Joan of the Angels is a neglected masterpiece of the Polish cinema. Based on the same historical events that inspired Aldous Huxley's novel The Devils of Loudon and Ken Russell's film The Devils, Mother Joan of the Angels is a disturbing exploration of faith, repression, fanaticism, and desire by acclaimed Polish director Jerzy Kawalerowicz (Austeria, Quo Vadis?). In a remote convent on the barren plains of 17th-century Poland, a young priest arrives to exorcize the demons from a group of possessed Ursuline nuns. When he meets the beautiful head of the convent, her blasphemies against the church both repel and excite him, with tragic consequences.

Smolenczyzna, wiek XVII. W klasztorze zakonnice i ich przeorysze, Matke Joanne opetaly demony. Mlody ksiadz Suryn przyjezdza by czynic egzorcyzmy, lecz i on jest bezsilny. Wszystkie proby oswobodzenia nie udaja sie, a dodatkowo jemu samemu udzielaja sie dziwne niepokoje i rozsterki. Zarowno on, jak i Matka Joanna, nie chca i nie moga przyznac sie do milosci.

Cast: Mieczyslaw Voit, Lucyna Winnicka, Maria Chwalibog, Franciszek Pieczka.
Directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz
1960, B&W, 108 mins.
NTSC format - ready to use in the USA and Canada - no need for multisystem equipment.
In Polish with optional English Subtitles