Under the Sun of Satan

Under the Sun of Satan is a 1987 French drama film directed by Maurice Pialat, starring Gérard Depardieu, Sandrine Bonnaire and Pialat himself. It is based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Georges Bernanos. Set in the countryside of northern France in the 1920s, it tells the story of a tormented young priest who has spiritual gifts but agonises over what good he can do in a world under the grip of evil. The film won the Palme d'Or at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. Plot Newly ordained as a Catholic priest, Donissan is sent to a rural parish under the care of the experienced Menou-Segrais. The young man is tortured by doubts about his vocation and has taken to flagellating himself. When he confesses to Menou-Segaris how unworthy he feels at his chosen task, the older man says it is not too late to choose another career but he can see in Donissan a great power for good. A parishioner called Mouchette, the 16-year-old daughter of a brewer, calls on one of her lovers, a marquis called Cadignan. She says she wants to run away to Paris, but he says he is facing financial ruin and cannot offer much help. He lets her stay the night, however, and in the morning she starts playing with his shotgun. It is loaded and he is killed. She gets out fast, washing his blood off her clothes. She then goes round to another lover, a married doctor called Gallet. After making love, she tells him what she has done and adds that she is pregnant. He says she need not worry about Cadignan, because the death has been certified as suicide, but he is not the father of her child and will not help her with an abortion.