A faithful adaptation of Georges Bernanos' Grand Prix du Roman-winning novel of the same name, the film tells the story of a sickly young Catholic priest who has been assigned a small village in northern France as his first parish.
The film illustrates the eroding religious faith in the French countryside (where Bresson grew up) and the clergy's struggles to reach younger believers disillusioned by the inflexibility, and sometimes hypocritical flexibility, of the Church at the time.
According to Roger Ebert, Diary of a Country Priest and Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc are sometimes called the two greatest Catholic films.
In the small village of Ambricourt, the new parish priest keeps a diary, where he confides his insecurities about his challenged faith, his inexperience, and his worsening health.
The priest tries to win over the villagers by asking the Count of Ambricourt for funds to start a Catholic youth club and sports program.
However, his mentor, the experienced priest of Torcy, tells him to focus on projecting strength to the village, explaining that obedience comes through respect and not love.
The Count and Countess had two children, a teenage girl (Chantal) and a younger boy who died several years ago.
At one point, screenwriters Jean Aurenche and Pierre Bost wrote an adaptation of the novel, but author Georges Bernanos rejected their draft.
His direction of these amateurs, who he referred to as "models", purposely constrained their movements and expressions, as he believed the performers' emotive lack would leave greater room for response in the audience.
The models were often encouraged to empty themselves of intention by repeating a take until they lost all sense of the meaning of their actions and were simply moving or speaking "automatically".
Its dialogue, which frequently consists of debates on spiritual and ethical matters, is complemented by voice-over commentary drawn from the diary after which the film is titled.
"[2] Frequently, the commentary is intentionally redundant, with the priest informing the audience of an action that he has recently, or will shortly, complete on-screen.
"[3] Throughout his filmography, Bresson was consistently captivated by characters that fall victim to an ineradicable idea or resolution, with Diary of a Country Priest being no exception.
The resulting contemplative—perhaps even ascetic—formal distancing is meant to serve Bresson's overriding (Christian) spiritual concern, foregrounding ineffability and irreducible mystery, while nonetheless leaving room for grace.
[3] Martin Scorsese, a longtime fan of the film, said that Diary of a Country Priest helped strengthen his flagging faith in God.
[7]Diary of a Country Priest was a financial success in France and established Bresson's international reputation as a major film director.
"[8] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 95% approval rating based on 40 critics, with an average rating of 8.70/10; the site's "critics consensus" reads: "Diary of a Country Priest brilliantly captures one man's spiritual and religious journey -- and the striking next phase in the evolution of a major filmmaking talent.
He added that "Diary of a Country Priest has been called one of the two greatest Catholic films, along with Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc.
[12] Armond White of the New York Press praised the film, noting that "Bresson exemplified 20th-century ecumenical intelligence that is much out of fashion today, yet remains singular and powerful.
[2] Laydu was nominated for Best Foreign Actor at the 1954 BAFTAs, losing to Marlon Brando for William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.
[22] Hong Sang-soo said that watching Diary of a Country Priest inspired him to become a feature filmmaker, explaining that "I keep saying ["All is grace"] to myself every day.
[27][28] In addition to Scorsese and Costa, the French streaming website La Cinetek lists François Truffaut, Jacques Audiard, Chantal Akerman, the Dardenne brothers, and Agnieszka Holland as fans of the film.