Huppert, Bourgoin, Gedeck and Pauline Etienne star in La Religieuse

by Fabien Lemercier

06/10/2011 - Next January, Guillaume Nicloux (A Private Affair, Hanging Offense, Holiday [trailer]) will start shooting on his ninth feature, La Religieuse (“The Nun”), an adaptation of Diderot’s novel The Nun, which was published in 1796 and was previously brought to the big screen in 1965 by Jacques Rivette.

This French/Belgian/German co-production will have a stellar cast including French actresses Isabelle Huppert (pictured – on screens from November 9 in My Worst Nightmare) and Louise Bourgoin (The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec [trailer] and currently on screens in A Happy Event [trailer]), young Belgian thesp Pauline Etienne (nominated for the Best Female Newcomer César 2010 for Silent Voices [trailer] and acclaimed in Black Heaven [trailer, film focus]) and German star Martina Gedeck (The Lives of Others [trailer, film focus], The Baader Meinhof Complex [trailer]).

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Co-scripted by Nicloux and Jérôme Beaujour, the film charts the rebellion and tragic fate of Suzanne Simonin (Etienne), a charming young woman from a bourgeois family who is cloistered away in a convent against her will after discovering she is an illegitimate child (Gedeck plays her mother).

She receives some comfort from the Mother Superior, but the latter dies and is replaced by a sadistic woman (Bourgoin) who never stops bullying Suzanne. So the young woman tries everything to get her vows annulled and is transferred to another convent where she is cloaked in the dubious affection of another Mother Superior (Huppert). Meanwhile, Suzanne plans her escape.

Produced by Sylvie Pialat for Les Films du Worso, La Religieuse has co-production support from France 3 Cinéma, Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, Belgium’s Versus and Germany (Nicole Ringhut). Pre-bought by Canal + and Ciné+, the film will be shot in Germany (near Stuttgart) and in the Rhône-Alpes region (not far from Aix-les-Bains).

The film’s score will be composed by Max Richter (Waltz With Bashir [trailer], Sarah’s Key [trailer], Take This Waltz [trailer]). The title will be distributed in Belgium by O’Brother and in France by Le Pacte, which is also handling international sales.

On December 7, Les Films du Worso will launch Laurent Achard’s Last Screening [trailer] (see news), which was unveiled in competition at Locarno (distribution: Epicentre Films). In post-production, the company also has Alexandra Leclère’s Maman (“Mum”, see news) and Belgian director Joachim Lafosse’s co-production Our Children.

(Translated from French)