Mother Joan of the Angels

Mother Joan of the Angels Polish Matka Joanna od Aniow , also known as The Devil and the Nun is a 1961 drama film on demonic possession, directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz, based on a novella of the same title by Jarosaw Iwaszkiewicz. The film won the Special Jury Prize at the 1961 Cannes Film Festival.

This film is very loosely based on the real life outbreak of mass hysteria in the French town of Loudun in 1634 that occurred when a convent of Ursuline nuns, led by the hunchbacked Sister Jeanne of the Angels, became obsessed with a handsome, womanising priest, Urbain Grandier. When Grandier turned down the nuns invitation to become their spiritual director, Jeanne, in a jealous rage, accused Grandier of using black magic to seduce her and her sisters and possess them with devils. Grandiers enemies, including Cardinal Richelieu, used the accusation as an excuse to have him found guilty of witchcraft and executed.Unlike Ken Russells The Devils 1971, which depicts Grandiers trial and death, Mother Joan of the Angels instead depicts the events after his death. The nuns continued to be possessed for four years after his death, and further exorcisms were carried out by the sincere and deeply spiritual Father Joseph Suryn whose main concern was helping Sister Jeanne. ........

Source: Wikipedia