The Devils (1971) — AI Story Visualization

Plot Analysis Summary

A political and religious persecution destroys both a defiant city and the people trapped inside its fabricated witchcraft case.

Story Structure — 6 Plot Phases

Power Over Loudun

The royal government seeks to centralize France and remove feudal resistance. Loudun remains protected by a promise made by the king.

Key Events

• Richelieu Consolidates Power — Richelieu influences Louis while centralizing government and weakening feudal power. Characters: King Louis XIII Location: France
• Loudun Walls Become Target — Louis accepts demolitions elsewhere but promises to spare Loudun's fortifications. Characters: King Louis XIII Location: Loudun
• Grandier Controls Loudun — After the governor dies, control of Loudun passes to a powerful local priest. Location: Loudun
• Jeanne Desires A Confessor — Jeanne asks the popular priest to become the convent's new confessor. Characters: Sister Jeanne des Anges Location: Ursuline convent

Jealousy In The Convent

Jeanne's desire for a new confessor becomes entangled with jealousy toward Madeleine. Her attack on Madeleine establishes a volatile personal and religious conflict.

Key Events

• Jeanne Desires A Confessor — Jeanne asks the popular priest to become the convent's new confessor. Characters: Sister Jeanne des Anges Location: Ursuline convent
• Madeleine Returns The Book — Madeleine returns Jeanne's borrowed book, triggering Jeanne's jealous attack. Characters: Sister Jeanne des Anges, Madeleine de Brou Location: Loudun
• Jeanne Condemns Madeleine — Jeanne accuses Madeleine of fornication and sacrilege. Characters: Sister Jeanne des Anges, Madeleine de Brou Location: Ursuline convent
• Demolition Orders Reach Loudun — An official arrives with orders to demolish Loudun's walls despite the royal promise. Location: Loudun

A City Under Threat

Demolition orders challenge Loudun's autonomy, while the local priest travels to seek royal protection. His absence allows accusations to gather around the convent.

Key Events

• Loudun Resists Demolition — The town's soldiers force the demolition authority to wait for direct royal confirmation. Location: Loudun city walls
• Grandier Seeks The King — The priest leaves Loudun to seek Louis's confirmation against the demolition. Characters: King Louis XIII Location: Road to the royal court
• Jeanne Reports Her Suspicions — Jeanne reports the priest's marriage and affairs and inadvertently raises witchcraft accusations. Characters: Sister Jeanne des Anges Location: Ursuline convent
• A Witchcraft Case Forms — Her statements are reduced to the claim that the convent was bewitched and involved with the Devil. Characters: Sister Jeanne des Anges Location: Loudun

Manufactured Possession

Jeanne's statements are transformed into a witchcraft case, and Barre arrives to direct the investigation. The nuns' claims become a public campaign of exorcism.

Key Events

• Barre Arrives To Hunt Witches — A professional witch-hunter is summoned to find evidence against the absent priest. Characters: Father Pierre Barre Location: Loudun
• The Nuns Claim Possession — Jeanne and the other nuns claim that the priest has bewitched them. Characters: Sister Jeanne des Anges, Father Pierre Barre Location: Ursuline convent
• Public Exorcism Erupts — The nuns undress and enter a state of public religious frenzy during exorcism. Characters: Sister Jeanne des Anges, Father Pierre Barre Location: Church

The Empty Relic

Louis appears in disguise with a supposed holy relic, but the empty case exposes the fraudulence of the spectacle. The exorcisms nevertheless descend into sacrilegious chaos.

Key Events

• Louis Presents The Relic — Disguised as Duke Henri de Condé, Louis presents a relic said to cure the nuns. Characters: King Louis XIII, Sister Jeanne des Anges, Father Pierre Barre Location: Church
• The Empty Relic Exposed — Louis reveals the case is empty, yet the alleged possessions and exorcisms continue. Characters: King Louis XIII, Sister Jeanne des Anges, Father Pierre Barre Location: Church
• Sacrilegious Chaos Escalates — The frenzy becomes an orgy, and the crucifix is removed from above the high altar. Characters: Sister Jeanne des Anges, Father Pierre Barre Location: Church
• Grandier And Madeleine Arrested — The returning priest denies bewitching the nuns, but he and Madeleine are arrested. Characters: Sister Jeanne des Anges, Madeleine de Brou Location: Loudun

Fire And Ruins

The accused priest is tortured, sentenced, and burned despite refusing to confess. The walls of Loudun are destroyed, and the survivors leave behind a city consumed by persecution.

Key Events

• Jeanne Attempts Suicide — After the arrests, Jeanne attempts to hang herself but is cut down before dying. Characters: Sister Jeanne des Anges Location: Ursuline convent
• Grandier Faces Torture — The accused priest is subjected to a show trial, shaving, and torture before sentencing. Characters: Father Pierre Barre Location: Loudun courtroom and prison
• Execution At The Stake — The priest refuses to confess, and the execution proceeds by fire while Barre ignites it. Characters: King Louis XIII, Father Pierre Barre Location: Public square
• Loudun Walls Explode — Explosives destroy the city walls as townspeople flee the execution scene. Characters: King Louis XIII Location: Loudun city walls
• Barre Leaves Loudun — Barre departs Loudun to continue witch-hunting elsewhere in the region. Characters: Father Pierre Barre Location: Vienne region
• Mignon Is Confined — Jeanne is told that the priest who defended Grandier's innocence has been placed in an asylum. Characters: Sister Jeanne des Anges Location: Loudun
• Jeanne Receives The Bone — Jeanne receives the executed priest's charred femur and uses it in a final act of desecration. Characters: Sister Jeanne des Anges Location: Ruined Loudun
• Madeleine Leaves The Ruins — After her release, Madeleine crosses the rubble and walks away from the ruined city. Characters: Madeleine de Brou Location: Ruined Loudun

Story Breakdown

• Royal Centralization — The crown uses political reform and military demolition to reduce local autonomy.
  • Richelieu's Influence — Richelieu persuades Louis to consolidate authority by weakening feudal power.
  • Loudun Protected — Louis initially forbids demolition in Loudun because of a prior promise.
• Convent Desire — Jeanne's fixation on the local priest turns religious office into a source of personal jealousy.
  • Confessor Request — Jeanne asks the priest to become the convent's new confessor.
  • Jealous Accusation — Jeanne attacks Madeleine after learning about the priest's marriage.
• Fortress Resistance — Loudun's local authority resists the attempt to demolish its defensive walls.
  • Orders Arrive — An official arrives with instructions to destroy the fortifications.
  • Soldiers Intervene — Town soldiers force the demolition effort to await direct royal confirmation.
• Witchcraft Fabricated — Private accusations are reshaped into a formal case against the absent priest.
  • Suspicion Reported — Jeanne reports the marriage and affairs while also suggesting witchcraft.
  • Barre Summoned — A professional witch-hunter is brought in to find incriminating evidence.
• Exorcism Spectacle — The alleged possession becomes a public performance of coercion, sexuality, and sacrilege.
  • Nuns Accuse — Jeanne and the other nuns claim that the priest has bewitched them.
  • Relic Exposed — Louis reveals that the supposed holy relic is absent from its case.
• Judicial Destruction — The fabricated case culminates in torture, execution, and the destruction of Loudun.
  • Arrests Ordered — The returning priest and Madeleine are arrested despite his denial.
  • Fire And Ruins — The priest is burned while explosives destroy the city's walls.
• Aftermath Of Persecution — The remaining figures move through a devastated landscape shaped by fanaticism and denial.
  • Barre Departs — Barre leaves Loudun to continue witch-hunting elsewhere.
  • Madeleine Walks Away — Released and surrounded by rubble, Madeleine leaves the ruined city.

Directed by

Ken Russell

Key Cast

• Vanessa Redgrave — Sister Jeanne des Anges
• Oliver Reed — Father Urbain Grandier
• Dudley Sutton — Baron de Laubardemont
• Max Adrian — Ibert
• Gemma Jones — Madeleine de Brou