The Nun's Story (1959)
Directed by Fred Zinnemann

Film Review

Audrey Hepburn often cited The Nun's Story as her personal favourite of all the films she made, claiming that she felt a close affinity with the central protagonist, a young nun who is unable to reconcile her devotion to God with her devotion to her fellow man.  Based on Marie Louise Habets' partly auto-biographical novel of the same title. the film was a smash hit on its first release - audiences appeared not to have been put off either by its controversial subject matter or its demanding two and a half runtime.  This may have been one of Warner Brothers' most commercially successful films, but initially the studio was very apprehensive about making a film about a nun who 'kicks the habit'.  The Nun's Story was  enthusiastically received by audiences and critics a like, and it was nominated for eight Oscars, in categories that include Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Hepburn), Best Color Cinematography and Best Score, but failed to win a single award.  Hepburn may not have won an Oscar - she lost out to Simone Signoret for her work on Jack Clayton's Room at the Top (1959) - but she was recompensed with a Best Actress BAFTA.

Would anyone pay to watch a film about a nun failing to be a nun?  Director Fred Zinnemann obviously thought so.  He had been committed to making the film ever since Gary Cooper gave him a copy of Habets' novel.  The fact that he already had a proven track record with ambitious and sometimes provocative films - High Noon (1952), From Here to Eternity (1953), Oklahoma! (1955) - meant that he was the right person to take on a prestige production with a contentious subject matter.  Right from the outset, the film encountered hostility from the Catholic Church, who saw nothing positive in the film's portrayal of a nun's life.  Zinnemann's flair for narrative detail and character depth ensured that The Nun's Story would be a gripping portrayal of a woman's inner struggle, a struggle that she couldn't possibly win but which reveals so much about the resilience and generosity of the human spirit along the way.

In addition to Zinnemann's masterful direction and Hepburn's mesmerising performance, the film's other bonus is Franz Planer's alluring Technicolor cinematography.  The vibrant lushness of the location setting in the Belgian Congo provides a stark contrast with the oppressive limited palette of the convent interior, emphasising the heroine's sense of fulfilment when she begins her missionary work in Africa and her reluctance ever to return to the 'mother house'.  (Originally, Zinnemann had wanted to film the scenes in Belgium in black and white, switching to colour when the heroine arrives in the Congo - Planer achieves the director's desired effect far more subtly).  With strong supporting contributions from a distinguished cast that includes Peter Finch, Edith Evans and Peggy Ashcroft the film has no let down on the acting front, although there is no doubt that this is Hepburn's film, possibly the one in which she gave the performance of her career.

Film Synopsis

In the late 1920s, Gabby Van Der Mal persuades her loving father to allow her to fulfil what she believes is her mission in life, to enter a convent where she can devote herself to God.  Her dream is to undertake missionary work in the Belgian Congo, but first she must undergo a difficult period as a postulant and novice to prepare her for her future life, one founded on poverty, chastity and obedience.  Having passed her medical exams, Gabby, now known as Sister Luke, is disappointed when she is assigned to a psychiatric hospital.  When, finally, she is sent to the Congo, she is further disappointed when she is instructed to work at a hospital that treats only white patients, not the natives for whom she has a particular fondness.  Despite her strained relationship with the hospital's plain-speaking surgeon, Dr. Fortunati, Gabby proves to be a capable nurse, but one day she is shocked to discover that she has contracted tuberculosis...