Line #26 Film/DiaryOfACountryPriest


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/diary_of_a_country_priest_sm_web.jpg]]
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3	->''"All is grace."''
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5	''Diary of a Country Priest'' is a 1951 French film by Creator/RobertBresson. The film is the story of a young, ill priest who is assigned to the village of Ambricourt, where he is unable to fit in with the locals.
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8	!!Tropes:
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10	* TheAlcoholic: The Priest isn't this, but rumors spread that he is due to the fact that his stomach can't handle anything besides bread dipped in wine.
11	* BittersweetEnding: The Priest dies, but he does so with his faith in God renewed.
12	* ChildrenAreCruel: The children of Ambricourt take a great deal of joy in tormenting the Priest. Special mention goes to Chantal.
13	* CrapsackWorld: Ambricourt comes across as this. The Priest seems to be the only good person there.
14	--> "The locals here are quite mean-spirited."
15	* DrivenToSuicide: Dr. Delbende, who treats the Priest for his stomach complaint and is practically the only person in town to be nice to him, despairs at how his practice has gone downhill thanks to younger doctors spreading nasty rumors about him. Soon after, he kills himself.
16	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Multiple references throughout the film that the only food the Priest can keep down is bread soaked in red wine to make it soft, plus the fact that he generally looks sort of unwell. He's eventually revealed to have stomach cancer.
17	* FromBadToWorse: The Priest's health troubles are eventually revealed to be caused by stomach cancer, which ends up killing him.
18	* GodIsEvil: Interestingly averted, despite all of the misery he experiences, the Priest says, "God is not a torturer." It's also Creator/MartinScorsese's favorite line from the film.
19	* NiceGuy: The Priest is kind to the villagers, even when they are cruel to him.
20	* NoNameGiven: The Priest is never named.
21	* ThePlotReaper: The Countess dies of a heart attack within hours of her soul-wrenching talk with the Priest, which allows her evil daughter Chantal to spread untrue rumors of the conversation and smear the Priest's reputation in the village.
22	* RedemptionEqualsDeath: A long, highly emotional talk with the Priest leads the Countess to cast the locket with her son's picture into the fire. She vows to end her eternal mourning, accept God, and engage with the world again. That very night she dies of a heart attack.
23	* RuleOfSymbolism: Due to his illness, the Priest is only able to consume bread dipped in wine.
24	* SignatureStyle: Notable as the film where Bresson first developed his. Although he had previously made two features and a short, they all used professional actors. By contrast, the only character played by a professional actor in ''Diary Of a Country Priest'' is the Countess. It's also the film where Bresson started paying great attention to the sound design and started using narration.
25	* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: The Priest, a simple man wholly devoted to God, humiliated and rejected by a village full of cynical, selfish townsfolk.

Context Film / DiaryOfACountryPriest