Ken Russell’s The Devils is set to screen at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, and even better, it will be a long-awaited 4K restoration of the iconic historical psychological horror film. It will screen as part of the Cannes Classics lineup, which features restored prints of masterpieces, rare cinema treasures, and documentaries about filmmaking.
The Devils takes place in 17th-century France, and follows Father Grandier (Oliver Reed), a priest whose unorthodox views on sex and religion influence a passionate following of nuns, including the sexually obsessed Sister Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave). When the power-hungry Cardinal Richelieu (Christopher Logue) realizes he must eliminate Grandier to gain control of France, Richelieu portrays Grandier as a satanist and spearheads a public outcry to destroy the once-loved priest’s reputation.
Due to the graphic portrayal of violent and sexual content, the film originally received an X rating in both the United Kingdom and the United States, and was even banned in several countries. It was also heavily edited, and fans have been eager for the uncut edition to be made more widely available.
This release will be a new 4K restoration, which was assembled from the original camera negative. The film’s sound has been remastered from original English Composite 35mm Mag Film, transferred at 96kHz, plus other original film elements in selected spots as needed. The Picture and Sound restoration was performed by Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services, Water Tower Color, and Warner Bros. Sound. This version runs 1 hour and 54 minutes, which makes it much longer than the edited versions fans have been stuck with for years. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll actually see a physical media release for this, particularly since the film has been hard to find.
It will be released by Warner Bros. Clockwork, a new label announced at CinemaCon that recently unveiled Sean Baker’s new movie.
In addition to The Devils, other movies in the Cannes Classics lineup include Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, Rob Cohen’s The Fast and the Furious, Jerzy Skolimowski’s Moonlighting, Orson Welles’ The Stranger, Roger Corman’s Machine-Gun Kelly, and more.