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.