La religieuse (1966)

English title: The Nun

Based on the novel by Denis Diderot (written 1780, published 1796).

A young woman is placed since her infancy in a convent, and is persuaded to stay there as a nun. She tries to be released.

Great movie, very well made. The film intends to be a sort of exposé of certain practices which allegedly were common at the time when the source novel was written (some dispute this, saying these practices were already rare or nonexistent at that time),  but it transcends that aspect. And it is not a condemnation of the Church or of nunneries (nor their absolution): the moral problems that it presents are mostly outside the convent's walls and outside the ecclesiastical sphere (adultery, unequality between the sexes, etc.). As a psychological study, the film shows human behavior within confined spaces, shedding light on some darker aspects of human nature. Philosophically, one is stimulated to question the meaning of freedom, and how free a person can really be.

Rating: 72