Léon Morin, Priest

Léon Morin, Priest
Film poster
Directed byJean-Pierre Melville
Screenplay byJean-Pierre Melville
Based onLéon Morin, prêtre
by Béatrix Beck
Produced byCarlo Ponti
Georges de Beauregard
Starring
CinematographyHenri Decaë
Edited byJacqueline Meppiel
Nadine Marquand
Marie-Josèphe Yoyotte
Music byMartial Solal
Distributed byLux Compagnie Cinématographique de France
Release date
  • 22 September 1961 (1961-09-22)
Running time
117 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Box office1,703,758 admissions (France)

Léon Morin, Priest (French: Léon Morin, prêtre) is a 1961 French drama film directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. It was adapted by Melville from Béatrix Beck's novel The Passionate Heart (French: Léon Morin, prêtre), which won the Prix Goncourt in 1952. Set during WWII in Occupied France, the film stars Emmanuelle Riva as a jaded, lapsed Catholic mother and widow of a Jewish husband, who finds herself falling in love with a young, altruistic priest, played by Jean-Paul Belmondo.

For his work in the film, Belmondo was nominated for the BAFTA Film Award for Best Foreign Actor. At the 1961 Venice Film Festival, the film won the “Award of the City of Venice” and was nominated for the Golden Lion.