Agnes of God (film)
Encyclopedia
Agnes of God is a 1985 American film starring Jane Fonda
, Anne Bancroft
and Meg Tilly. It was adapted by John Pielmeier
from his own play of the same name
, and directed by Norman Jewison
. The film was nominated for Academy Awards
for Best Actress in a Leading Role
(Bancroft), Best Actress in a Supporting Role
(Tilly) and Best Music, Original Score
. It is the story of a novice nun
(Tilly) who gives birth and insists that the dead child was the result of a virgin conception. A psychiatrist (Fonda) and the mother superior (Bancroft) of the convent clash during the resulting investigation.
Dr Martha interviews Agnes, a young beautiful nun of extreme devotion and parallel innocence. Agnes has a vague idea of how babies are born, but do no know how they are made. They day of the incident she felt sick after night prayers and retired to her bedroom. She felt sicker and sicker until she felt sleep. Everybody is asking her for the baby she says, but she saw no baby. The only thing she knows is what she has been told. The baby was found dead in the wastebasket in her bedroom.
in Rockwood, Ontario, Canada
but it was mainly filmed in Montreal
.
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...
, Anne Bancroft
Anne Bancroft
Anne Bancroft was an American actress associated with the Method acting school, which she had studied under Lee Strasberg....
and Meg Tilly. It was adapted by John Pielmeier
John Pielmeier
John Pielmeier is an American playwright and screenwriter.Born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Pielmeier earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Catholic University of America in 1970 and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1978...
from his own play of the same name
Agnes of God
Agnes of God is a play by John Pielmeier which tells the story of a novice nun who gives birth and insists that the dead child was the result of a virgin conception. A psychiatrist and the mother superior of the convent clash during the resulting investigation...
, and directed by Norman Jewison
Norman Jewison
Norman Frederick Jewison, CC, O.Ont is a Canadian film director, producer, actor and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. Highlights of his directing career include In the Heat of the Night , The Thomas Crown Affair , Fiddler on the Roof , Jesus Christ Superstar , Moonstruck , The Hurricane and The...
. The film was nominated for Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(Bancroft), Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Tilly) and Best Music, Original Score
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
. It is the story of a novice nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
(Tilly) who gives birth and insists that the dead child was the result of a virgin conception. A psychiatrist (Fonda) and the mother superior (Bancroft) of the convent clash during the resulting investigation.
Plot
A community of cloisters nuns in a catholic convent on the outskirts of Montreal awake one night amid terrible screams. A young novice, Sister Agnes,is found in her cell amid a poll of blood. After she is taking in ambulance, the Mother Superior, Mother Miriam Ruth, finds a newborn baby, dead and wrapped in bloody sheets in a wastebasket in Sister Agnes’s room. It is clear that Agnes gave birth to the child and strangled it afterwards, but she has no recollection - not only of giving birth but of ever being pregnant. The young novice is accused of killing the baby. The court assigns Dr Martha Livingston, a psychologist, to determine if Sister Agnes is sane enough to stand trial. The judicial system is clearly inclined to think that the young nun is insane and does not wish to send her to jail. Only reluctantly the chain-smoking Dr. Martha takes on the case to determine the nun’s sanity. Martha sees the nuns for the fist time out of the courthouse and goes to visit them at the convent. Mother Miriam, the worldly and wise mother superior, receives Martha with apprehension. It is nothing personal she tells her, but she does not believe in psychiatry. She makes pretty clear that like everybody else she was taken completely by surprise with what happened. Nobody had any idea of Agnes pregnancy not even Agnes herself. Agnes, she tells Dr Martha, received very little schooling and came at a very young age at the convent after her mother’s death. Mother Miriam believes that Agnes has been touched by God.Dr Martha interviews Agnes, a young beautiful nun of extreme devotion and parallel innocence. Agnes has a vague idea of how babies are born, but do no know how they are made. They day of the incident she felt sick after night prayers and retired to her bedroom. She felt sicker and sicker until she felt sleep. Everybody is asking her for the baby she says, but she saw no baby. The only thing she knows is what she has been told. The baby was found dead in the wastebasket in her bedroom.
Cast
- Jane FondaJane FondaJane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...
as Dr. Martha Livingston - Anne BancroftAnne BancroftAnne Bancroft was an American actress associated with the Method acting school, which she had studied under Lee Strasberg....
as Mother Miriam Ruth - Meg Tilly as Sister Agnes
- Anne PitoniakAnne PitoniakAnne Pitoniak was an American actress. She was nominated twice for Broadway's Tony Award: as Best Actress in 1983, for night, Mother, and as Best Actress in 1994, for a revival of William Inge's Picnic.-Early life:Pitoniak was born in Westfield, Massachusetts, the daughter of Sophie and John...
as Dr. Livingston's Mother - Winston RekertWinston RekertWinston Rekert is a Canadian actor from Vancouver, British Columbia. He won 2 Gemini Awards, one for Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role in a Dramatic Series for the TV Series: Blue Murder in 2003 and one for Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Continuing Dramatic Role for the TV Series...
as Det. Langevin - Gratien GélinasGratien GélinasGratien Gélinas, was a Canadian author, playwright, actor, director, producer and administrator who is considered one of the founders of modern Canadian theatre and film....
as Father Martineau - Guy HoffmanGuy HoffmanGuy Hoffman is a drummer and vocalist, formerly of such bands as Oil Tasters, BoDeans, Violent Femmes and Absinthe. He is a composer for such films as Field Day and a founding member of Radio Romeo.-Life:...
as Justice Joseph Leveau - Gabriel ArcandGabriel ArcandGabriel Arcand is a Canadian actor. He is the brother of film director Denys Arcand.He won the Genie Award for Best Actor at the 6th Genie Awards in 1985, for his performance in Le Crime d'Ovide Plouffe....
as Monsignor - Françoise FaucherFrançoise FaucherFrançoise Faucher is an actress. She was born in Montmorency, France in 1929. She trained in drama in France under René Simon and Bernard Bimont before immigrating to Canada in the 1950s. She became a member of The "Theatre du Nouveau Monde" in Quebec and participated in many plays. She wrote...
as Eve LeClaire - Jacques TourangeauJacques TourangeauJacques Tourangeau is a Canadian actor.He graduated from Université de Montréal, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1963, a Bachelor of Education in 1965 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1986. He gained his first role in the Quebec TV series Rue des Pignons. During the late 1970s, he appeared in...
as Eugene Lyon
Filming
Agnes of God was filmed at the former Rockwood AcademyRockwood Academy
Rockwood Academy was a private school in Rockwood, Ontario. It was founded in 1850 by William Wetherald, a Quaker. Wetherald had previously taught pupils privately in the evenings, and the number of these had grown to an extent that he decided to open a school for older boys and young men...
in Rockwood, Ontario, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
but it was mainly filmed in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
.