1
The Diary of a Village Priest is a representative work of Bresson's early films. Like Angels of Sin and The Judgment of Joan of Arc, the film has a strong religious overtones. In the history of cinema, The Diary of a Village Priest is a model for film adaptations that faithfully to the original.
The protagonist of the diary novel of the same name by the French Catholic writer George Bernanos, a godly village priest, is vividly presented to the audience by Bresson. France has a long Catholic tradition, and the priest in the film is actually called a priest more accurately. For the audience, the priest in the film does not seem to have much special in him. He was shy, shy, lonely, vulnerable, humble, small, wandering, confused, and a completely immature young man. Not only is there no strong mental strength, but the body is also very fragile. How could God allow such a person to preach in a place where he was not familiar with life?
2
From the beginning of the film, it is clear that the priest is not popular with the locals in this parish, who reject and even hate him. His plan to improve the quality of life of the locals was completely unsupported. Although this is related to the weakness of their beliefs, the lack of ability of young priests themselves to communicate with people is a more important reason. From his conversations with the counts and clergy, we know that his excessive expectations and strict demands on the parishioners were important factors that made it difficult for him to get along with the locals. At night, when the local young people sang and laughed, he was the only one lying alone in bed. He has no power to pray to God, much less to communicate with others, but to constantly self-reflect by keeping a journal.
The priest could fully feel the hostility of the people around him, from the girl receiving the communion to the villagers who attended the funeral, either laughing at him or scorning him. The only person who had a better attitude toward him was the doctor who treated him, because the doctor thought he was a lonely person. In the village, he had the most dealings with the Count's family, and the Count's governess was the only parishioner to attend Mass. The count's daughter hated her mother and wanted to drive away the governess because of her ambiguous relationship with the count. The count's daughter came to the church to find the priest, but not for repentance, but to tell him her hatred. "I hate her, I'm going to kill her or kill myself!" When the priest heard such words, he could not help but ask, "Are you not afraid of God?" "In the hearts of the Count's family, there is no place for God. Therefore, every time the priest went to the count's house, he was treated coldly, and the attitude of the other villagers towards him was the same. And for him, the greatest pain he suffered was not the ridicule, cold treatment, contempt, humiliation he had received, but the fact that no one accepted the word of God he preached. He could feel the pain and struggle in everyone's heart, but he couldn't bring them to God.
3
One day, the priest received an anonymous letter that read: "I am sorry for you that a well-meaning person advises you to change parishes as soon as possible. But we reiterate: get out! The priest, not knowing what had gone wrong, wrote in his diary of his doubts and pain: "In front of me was a wall, a black wall, and my chest felt as if it were about to explode." The same loneliness, the same silence, but this time there was no dawn to break through the layers of obstacles. He felt that God had forsaken him. In the Old Testament as recorded in the Bible, it was the prophets who preached God's message and word, while in the New Testament, although pastors no longer spoke prophecies, their duty to preach God's Word to the world remained unchanged. It is their duty and mission to bring those who have no faith to God. In fact, this is God's mission for every believer, but pastors have a special burden.
The doctor committed suicide, much to the priest's sadness. Despite many setbacks, crises of faith and physical ailments, he did not give up preaching because of it. During a conversation with the countess, the priest learned that she did not believe in God because of the death of her son. Since the death of her son, the Countess has become cold and mentally numb. The priest told the countess that she would be punished. The countess said she had been punished. In her heart, her son's death had caused her the greatest pain, and the root of the pain was the love and longing for her son.
The countess said to the priest, "Love is stronger than death, and this is what your prophets said." ”
The priest replied, "We did not invent love, it has its order and rules." ”
Worldly love, as it is commonly understood, is different from divine love from God. Worldly love is possession and acquisition, while divine love is sacrifice and giving.
The countess said, "God is its lord." This is her understanding of the relationship between God and love.
The priest replied, "He is not the Lord of love, God is love itself." Please do not violate him. You have to change yourself and open your heart. "God doesn't need to look, just accept.
The countess said: "I have become too much, I should have killed myself a long time ago. She believes that living to endure pain is change.
The priest replied, "This is not the change I said. The real change is to confess and repent before God.
"My life is a pool of stagnant water, no different from death. God doesn't pay any more attention to me, you've made me admit that I hate him, will he love me again? She thought God had left her, that she had reached the point of being an enemy of God.
"You don't hate him now, you're finally coming face to face with him. Man cannot bargain before God, only unconditional obedience. Although there is a world of life and a world of death in the world of man, there is only one world in God's eyes. "God is omnipresent, and no one can hide from God and resist God's will.
"Is it terrible that I sometimes say to God, 'Destroy me with all your might.'"
"No, sometimes think of it this way, our God, you can throw your fist at him, spit on him, crucify him, and he can hide, but he doesn't."
Although man is against God for his unbelief and sin, God loves those who hate Him, humiliate Him, and hurt Him. In order to save the souls of men from the fall, the sins of the world were borne on the cross. No one has seen God, only Christ Jesus, incarnate, who testifies to The Word of God with His perfect holiness, love, justice, and mercy. And those disciples who follow Christ Jesus are to testify to the truth of God's Word in their own words and deeds.
4
The Countess, impressed by the priest's persuasion, resolutely threw the necklace with a photograph of her son into the fire, determined to convert to God. But the priest snatched the necklace out of the fire and said to his wife, "God is not a torturer, he only advises us that we should be merciful to ourselves." "God made those who believed in Him abandon all that was in the world to follow Him. But when man abandons everything in order to follow God, he also gets God. God entered into Him and gave Him eternal life.
The priest not only snatched the countess's necklace from the fire, but also rescued her soul from the fire of hell that never extinguished. Before leaving, the priest left God's blessing to the countess. In the evening he received a letter from the countess, in which she told him that his heart had been at peace. Madame died that night, and the anguished soul was finally liberated. But the count and the villagers, believing in the rumors, believed that the lady had died because of the irritation of the priest's words. The priest, who was more misunderstood by them, wrote in his diary: "She ended the pain, and I just started." ”
When the priest visited the priest, he thought he was an alcoholic, and even the only teacher who supported him could not understand him. The lonely and miserable priest, who one day fell on a dirt road, was terminally ill. At the end of the film, the priest knows that his time is running out, and leaves the parish to go to the home of a friend who is still secular. Despite the patient's situation, he was concerned about the situation of others and blessed the hostess. At the last moment of his life, he pressed the rosary beads hanging from the cross to his chest, a calm smile appeared on his face, and said his last words clearly and slowly: "Whatever is the difference, everything is grace." ”
Priests see the experience of their lives as God's grace and blessing. It was in the midst of loneliness and pain that he learned how to understand and empathize with others, especially those who suffered from mental torture and psychic pain. When he was saved in the countess's soul, he said in his heart: "What a man does not have himself can also give to others." "As a person who suffers mental torture, mental pain, physical illness, rejection by others. Priests are powerless to help and comfort others. But he was able to give himself without giving itself to others, entirely by the grace of God. He himself became poor for the sake of the prosperity of others; he sacrificed his own life to save the souls of others. This shows once again that God does not rule over love, god is love itself.