The Confession: is the film with Romain Duris inspired by a true story?

Confession: Romain Duris becomes priest Léon Morin

Released in 2017, the film The confession by Nicolas Boukhrief is a new adaptation of the novel Léon Morin, priest by Béatrix Beck published in 1952, and already adapted for cinema with the film of the same name by Jean-Pierre Melville, released in 1961, with Jean-Paul Belmondo and Emmanuelle Riva.

The film is set during the German occupation and tells the story of a young communist and atheist woman, Barny, played by Marine Vacth, who is intrigued by the arrival of a young priest, Father Léon Morin, played by Romain Duris. Despite herself, Barny is destabilized by the intelligence and charm of the priest, who calls into question her deepest certainties.

A true story ?

As the author Béatrix Beck recalls in her confidences published in 1998, the priest Léon Morin was inspired by Father Jules Albert Peillet (1914-1998). Béatrix Beck met him in the Saint-Louis church of Grenoble in 1941. She told about it in her memoirs (via Point) that I was fascinated by this priest like no other, and converted to Catholicism after this life-changing encounter. Barny is therefore the alter ego of the author, who had already used this pseudonym in her first novel, with a simple title Barny.

After the release of the novel (which received the Goncourt Prize), and especially of Jean-Pierre Melville’s film, the priest Jules Albert Peillet suddenly receives a visit from numerous curious people, eager to meet the famous “Léon Morin”. However, as his family mentioned, the novel and film did not necessarily convey what he might have felt.

The family claims that they have never tried to shed light on the background of the relationship between the abbot and Béatrix Beck. His nephews and nieces had declared in this regard:

“We wondered if this woman had tried to kidnap him… but we didn’t know her. And then, we were proud, because her book showed our uncle as a character, and seeing Melville’s film, we recognized him in Belmondo, who had the same cheeky side.”

As for Jean-Pierre Melville’s film, Béatrix Beck considered it a betrayalwhy did he do it, like The confession, “the story of an impossible love”. When Father Peillet died in 1998, no trace of his alleged romantic relationship with Béatrix Beck was found.

Source: Cine Serie

Ray

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