Ken Russell's The Devils is back in theaters, and for the first time it is the film Russell meant you to see. Warner Bros. Clockwork opened the uncut 4K restoration across North America on October 16 for a one-week engagement, and searches for Ken Russell's The Devils showtimes are climbing on Google Trends as the run heads into its last days. If you have only ever heard about this one, this is the week to finally see it whole.
Russell made The Devils for Warner Bros. in 1971, adapting Aldous Huxley's book The Devils of Loudun and the true story of Urbain Grandier, a 17th-century French priest accused of bewitching a convent of nuns. Oliver Reed plays Grandier, who protects the walled city of Loudun from Cardinal Richelieu. Vanessa Redgrave is the vengeful nun whose accusation of witchcraft sets off the apparent possession of an entire convent, and church and state close in on him.
The people behind the camera are why it still looks like nothing else. David Watkin, the Academy Award-winning cinematographer of Out of Africa and Chariots of Fire, shot it. Derek Jarman made his feature film debut as production designer, building a stark white city that feels modern even now. Shirley Russell did the costumes, Michael Bradsell edited, and Michael Gothard turns Father Barré, the exorcist, into a rock star. The film won best director for Russell at the 33rd Venice International Film Festival and from the National Board of Review in the US.
Then came the cuts. The Devils was censored for more than half a century, and the version Russell wanted was never officially released. The cut in theaters now was reconstructed in 2004 under the supervision of Russell and Bradsell, working with Mark Kermode and Paul Joyce. According to the British Film Institute (BFI), no other director's cut formally exists, and this release is the first time the public can officially see it.
The restoration came from the original camera negative at WB Water Tower Color, with the sound rebuilt from the original composite 35mm magnetic track at WB Sound. It premiered at the 79th Cannes Film Festival as part of Cannes Classics. It runs 114 minutes, it is rated NC-17 (no one 17 and under admitted) in the US, and some theaters are showing it on new 35mm prints. Clockwork has been posting marquees from across the country on its X account.
Our call
This one is Surfacing. Restorations get called definitive all the time, but this is the rare one that changes what the film actually is, and it is playing on the big screen where Jarman's sets belong. Book it this week rather than waiting on a home release: for now the official site lists theaters only, and Clockwork has teased a special announcement coming this week. If extreme imagery is your thing, put it on your list next to our best horror movies of all time, the Street Trash 4K from Synapse Films and Marie Antoinette in 4K. New to boutique restorations? Start with the Criterion Collection explained.
Dates
The North American engagement began Friday, October 16, and runs through Thursday, October 22. In the UK and Ireland, BFI Distribution has 35mm previews at BFI Southbank from October 23 to 29, then the film opens in cinemas on October 30, with a BFI IMAX screening on November 1 and dates around the country through November. Next summer, for the centenary of Russell's birth on July 3, 1927, BFI Southbank will run a retrospective of his work in July and August 2027.
Tickets and showtimes are on thedevils.movie in North America, and UK dates are on the BFI release page.
