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The Devil in a Convent
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Wikipedia article
'The Devil in a Convent' (French: 'Le Diable au couvent'), released in the UK as '"The Sign of the Cross", or the Devil in a Convent', is an 1899 French short silent film directed by Georges Mlis.
Themes
According to some film critics, 'The Devil in a Convent' parodies monastic life, suggesting a satirical view of the Catholic Church. Mlis almost certainly agreed with the anti-ecclesiastic emotions prevalent during the Dreyfus affair in 1898 and 1899; Mlis supported Alfred Dreyfus's case, while the Church opposed it. Mlis made another religious satire, 'The Temptation of Saint Anthony', in the same year, as well as his strongly pro-Dreyfus film series 'The Dreyfus Affair'.
Production
The film may have been inspired in part by the phantasmagoria productions of the French magician tienne-Gaspard Robert, known by the stage name "Robertson". Mlis himself plays the Devil in the film. 'The Devil in a Convent' was likely the first Mlis film to take advantage of dissolves as a transition effect.
Release
'The Devil in a Convent' was released by Mlis's Star Film Company and is numbered 185187 in its catalogues, which also specified the film's three scenes ('1. Les nonnes, le sermon. 2. Les dmons, le sabbat. 3. Le clerg, l'exorcisme').
In 2010, the Cinmathque Basque received a donation of a box of 35mm films, recovered by a private individual in 1995 from a garbage bin in Bilbao. The box was found to contain 32 films, including hand-colored prints of 'The Devil in a Convent' and another 1899 Mlis film, 'The Mysterious Knight'. Previously, these two films had only been available in black-and-white copies. The hand-colored print of 'The Devil in a Convent' was judged to be in too advanced a state of decomposition to be restored completely; however, the third scene of the film was in good enough condition to be restored. Both films were entrusted to the Filmoteca de Catalunya for restoration, under the supervision of two Mlis scholars, Roland Cosandey and Jacques Malthte.
References
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