God Needs Men (1950)

There's something grittily authentic about this story of life on a remote Breton island in the nineteenth century. We start with an establishing aerial shot that illustrates just how cut off this place was. A rather large hamlet on what is little more than a spit of land, surrounded by the sea. The society is hierarchical, but not in any way civilisation would willingly acknowledge. Indeed there's no longer even a priest as the church has given up on this nest of evil and depravity. That is until the strong-willed "Gourvennec" (Pierre Fresnay) determines to wrest their souls from the grip of the Devil and put them back on some sort of path of truth! He faces quite a task. Though there is some degree of religiosity on the island, it's more based in superstition. Pagan, even. His powerful oratory has much work to do. What ensues now is a pretty savage critique on the relevance of organised faith, and on it's doctrines - and the burial at sea scene does much to calibrate not just the opinions of the islanders but also of the audience when considering what God actually might be - and is there any consistency to that purported identity? That in itself serves as quite symbolic to the viability of life itself amongst this disparate yet oddly conjoined community. If you are looking for anything remotely redemptive or joyous, then this isn't for you. As a dark and unforgiving assessment of a church and a society then Fresney and a strong ensemble cast deliver quite a thought-provoking film that offers many of the hallmarks of being quite real!