Au royaume des cieux (Eine Heilige unter Sünderinnen)

The opening credits already set the tone: "This film is dedicated to unhappy youth." Church bells ring out, alluding on the one hand to the "kingdom of heaven" of the title, and on the other, quite prosaically, to a reformatory to which the 18-year-old orphan Maria (Anne Saint-Jean) has just been committed. While Maria is still there, the kind-hearted matron dies and the sadistic Mademoiselle Chamblas (Suzy Prim) takes over. From then on, merciless severity, humiliation, draconian punishments and torture are the order of the day and Maria's only consolation is to wait for her lover Pierre (Serge Reggiani), who has now found out where she has been taken. The film is interwoven with Christian symbolism - from the main character's name to the torrential floods that eventually allow Pierre and Maria to escape at the Christmas service - and the chastisement rituals of black pedagogy; a thoroughly unforgiving look at post-war French society. (Frederik Lang)

Photo: Austrian Film Museum