The Last Picture House theater in Davenport is among a handful of theaters nationwide screening "The Devils" a controversial film depicting the historical events of witchcraft allegations that destroyed the stability of a 17th-century French city.
The movie is based on Aldous Huxley's 1952 nonfiction novel, "The Devils of Loudun." British filmmaker Ken Russell directed the movie, starring Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave, and released it in 1971.
In an interview with Russell published by the British Film Institute, the director said he was a devout Catholic when he made the movie.
"I knew I wasn’t making a pornographic film. Far from it. In fact, the movie had the blessing of the Jesuits. Even to this day it is still taught at Loyola University in Chicago as a good Catholic movie. For myself, although I am not a political creature, I always viewed The Devils as my one political film. To me, it was about brainwashing, about the state taking over. It is based entirely upon John Whiting’s play The Devils, and upon the writings of Aldous Huxley. Huxley was by no means a sensationalist – he was a historian of some note," Russell told interviewer Mark Kermode.
"According to Huxley’s The Devils of Loudun, in 17th-century France there was a crisis caused by the desire of Cardinal Richelieu, the king and their cohorts to pull down the walls of the city of Loudun. This would render Loudun defenceless, so it wouldn’t be a threat to the crown or the church. The same had already happened to other cities, with the result that they subsequently had to concede to every indignity and injustice imposed upon them. The people of the town felt that as long as the walls of Loudun were standing, then they could defend themselves," Russell told the BFI.
That changed when the state turned its attention to Loudun after its governor died and Roman Catholic priest Urbain Grandier, played by Reed, took over. Using accusations from Sister Jeanne des Anges, played by Redgrave, a sexually repressed nun jealous of other city women receiving the affection of Grandier, the state took these fantastical allegations seriously and went after Grandier. Even though the movie is over a century old and based on real events, it's best not to spoil what becomes of Grandier and Loudon.
The movie's history is tumultuous: the original production company, United Artists, backed out after its executives read the script. Warner Bros. later acquired the film for distribution.
The movie then received cuts from the British Board of Film Censors over its images of religious themes and violent sexual imagery, and even then the film received the most mature rating of X, for those 18 and older only. Warner Bros. made further cuts before it could screen in America, and it still received an X rating.
For years, boutique labels have sought the rights to license the movie for an official United States home media release, but have been met with silence.
The movie now in its original form is rated NC-17, making it one of the few films with that rating to receive a wide release in the States.
Last Picture House Assistant General Manager Carlie Allison said moviegoers have been requesting the theater screen the movie since the massive news earlier this year: Warner Bros., under a new label, Clockwork, restored the late director's original vision for audiences.
"[T]hey are doing a one-week-only release [Oct. 16 to 23]. But luckily, they're having it, you know, like any repertory screening you can have. So we're having it over Halloween weekend, which I think is fitting," Allison said. "And so we are getting in a little later, but we're just so happy that we're getting it. But that's because of the community saying we want to see this movie. And it's not really playing anywhere around here. I think like Film Scene in Iowa City, they have it for that weekend as well. So you don't have to travel."
Allison shared they plan to screen the movie four times over the Halloween weekend (Oct. 31 and Nov. 1). She mentioned they showed the trailer during their recent screening of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."
"But I played it before Rocky Horror, and there were cheers immediately. People were so stoked. And it was just like the coolest trailer to hear in the theater. So I'm excited for the movie to actually play in there," Allison said.
October programming
In her interview with WVIK, Allison shared that the theater is showing a variety of movies this spooky month, including a 35mm screening of William Friedkin's director's cut of 1973's "The Exorcist" on Oct. 27 and Oct. 28.
"[S]o many prints are— you have to check on what's available. Like, we really wanted to do Psycho, but Psycho just circulates the entire month of October. So that was kind of a no-go for us because everybody else had scooped it up," Allison said. "So hopefully we can get on it for next year. But yeah, it's basically— it's very similar to the repertory, but— a little more difficult because, like you said, the prints sometimes are just not available. So we have to kind of see what we can get. Like, so we had a few— we always have a few options of what we're looking for every single month."
In November, they are screening a 35mm print of the 1952 film "Singin' in the Rain," Nov. 24 and Nov. 25. Allison noted these 35mm monthly screenings started earlier this year with the 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey."
"So we're just, we're happy that that series continues every single month. And it's a different way to see film. It's how usually the directors want you to see it anyway, which is really great," Allison said.
The theater is also screening another highly requested documentary, "You Can See Everything" by Lance Oppenheim and Nathan Fielder. The synopsis is: "Thirty-four days before she's sent to prison, notorious Silicon Valley founder Elizabeth Holmes invites a skeptical film crew to document her every move. What begins as an intimate portrait of an enigmatic felon soon becomes a mind-bending, three-year journey into the abyss."
The documentary premiered earlier this year at a secret screening at the Telluride festival.
"[W]e had to rework the entire October calendar when this movie just kind of popped off. And we had, I don't think, just personally, my Instagram messages from just people I know through The Last Picture House were like, you're getting this, you're getting this right. You're working on it. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, we're working on it," Allison said.
That documentary opens Oct. 16.
You can find a complete list of movies screening at the Last Picture House on their website.
Listen to the full interview with Carlie Allison below.
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