Birthday of The Nun's Story

June 18, 1959 in New York (USA) the premiere of the film "The Nun's Story". Director Fred Zinnemann.

The film is based on the book of the same name by American writer Kathryn Hulme, which, in turn, is based on the autobiography of the Belgian girl Marie Louise Habets. Kathryn Hulme worked as a camp director for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Authority (UNRRA) in liberated Germany, helping displaced people. There she met the heroine of her future book, the former nun Marie Louise Habets. The book by Kathryn Hulme was published in 1956 and soon caught the eye of the famous actor Gary Cooper. And he suggested the idea of ​​filming this book to director Fred Zinnemann, since his widely known film "The Search" also concerned the activities of UNRRA.

Ingrid Bergman claimed that she was the first to be offered the role of Gabrielle van der Mal in a film based on the book by Kathryn Hulme. But at that moment she was already 44 years old, and she herself decided that she was not suitable for this role by age, and nobly proposed the candidacy of Audrey Hepburn to Zinneman. Maybe it is right. But it seems to me more logical to assume that Cooper himself could have proposed Audrey Hepburn to Zinnemann, since the film "Love in the Afternoon" was released just at that time, where they formed a very pretty duet.

Curiously, initially none of the film companies expressed a desire to film the book by Kathryn Hulme. The general consensus was that "no one wants to watch a documentary about becoming a nun." But as soon as it became known that Audrey Hepburn would play the main role, real competition began between film companies for the right to make this film.

The choice of Audrey Hepburn for the role of the main character of the film had a very positive and unexpected significance for the creation of the picture. The fact is that the Catholic Church was very worried that the film could damage the reputation of the church. Of particular concern to the church were rumors that Gerard Philip, or Yves Montand, or Peter Finch - all famous heartbreakers - were supposed to play the main male role. But the news of the appointment of Audrey Hepburn, known for her virtue, to the main role, calmed the leaders of the church.

For better penetration into the image of her heroine, Audrey Hepburn met Marie Louise Habets. They became real friends, because they found a lot in common in their destinies: both were born in Belgium, both were left without fathers early, both lost brothers during the war. The former nun advised Audrey during her work on the role, and later provided medical attention and effectively restored her health and capacity after her near-fatal fall from a horse on the set of the 1960 film "The Unforgiven".

Filming was carried out on location in Rome, Bruges, Kisangani, as well as in a real leper colony in the Congo. When the film crew first arrived at the leper colony, a very curious episode took place. When the inhabitants of the leprosarium - employees and patients - saw a group of women in monastic robes and smoking cigarettes (Audrey Hepburn, as usual, used a long and very noticeable mouthpiece), they were dumbfounded. Fred Zinnemann, in order to prevent a possible misunderstanding, quickly explained: "These are American nuns." This explanation reassured everyone. As one famous movie said, "That explains a lot."

The conditions of the film crew's stay in the Congo were very difficult. Due to dehydration, Audrey Hepburn developed kidney stones, because of which the shooting had to be postponed for a while until the Actress recovered. In addition to living conditions, socio-political conditions were also difficult. Zinnemann's team managed to complete filming in the Congo on time and return to Europe. But as soon as they left Africa, armed clashes began in the Congo, during which some participants in the filming who were involved as extras were killed.

A month after the premiere, Fred Zinnemann's film "The Nun's Story" took part in the San Sebastian International Film Festival, where it won the main prize - the Golden Seashell. In addition, Audrey Hepburn was recognized as the Best Actress and received the Zulueta Award. In addition to this award, Audrey Hepburn received the BAFTA Award from the British Academy of Film and the David di Donatello Award from the Italian Film Academy for her role in this film. Thus, in terms of the number of prestigious film awards brought - 3 - the role in this film was equal to the role in the film "Roman Holiday". But in terms of the fees received by the Actress, the film "The Nun's Story" at times overtook the film "Roman Holiday". If for "Roman Holiday" Hepburn received a fee of $ 12,500, then for her role in "The Nun's Story" her fee was $ 250 thousand plus 10% of the fees, which amounted to $ 12.8 million. The film had a huge impact on the fate of Audrey Hepburn. It was under his influence that she subsequently devoted much of her time and effort to supporting and promoting the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and in 1989 she became UNICEF Special Ambassador for Africa, Asia, Central and South America.

In the early 1960s, Fred Zinnemann's "The Nun's Story" received 5 Golden Globe nominations but did not win any. In the most important nominations - Best Motion Picture - Drama and Best Director, "The Nun's Story" and Fred Zinnemann lost respectively to "Ben-Hur" and its director, William Wyler. True, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association awarded Fred Zinnemann's film The Nun's Story with a Outstanding Merit Award specially designed for it. Approximately the same pattern was repeated in the fight for the Oscar. "The Nun's Story" received 8 Academy Award nominations but did not win any. Again in the most important nominations, the path to the awards for the film Fred Zinnemann blocked "Ben-Hur" by William Wyler.

The vast majority of film critics devoted laudatory reviews to the film. In particular, Bosley Crowther, the ever-snide and sarcastic film reviewer of The New York Times, noted in his enthusiastic review:

"In a brilliant synthesis of idea and pictorial imagery, which includes stunning contrasts of color, the tempo of action and moods Mr. Zinnemann has made this off-beat drama describe a parabola of spiritual afflatus and deflation that ends in a strange sort of defeat."

The film was not shown in the USSR.

62% of IMDB and Kinopoisk users rated this film from 8 to 10. Given this indicator and the above, Fred Zinneman's film "The Nun's Story" rating according to FilmGourmand version was 8,352, which allowed it to take 395th Rank in the Golden Thousand.