Agnes of God

Agnes of God
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Norman Jewison
Produced by	Norman Jewison Patrick J. Palmer
Written by	John Pielmeier
Starring	Jane Fonda Anne Bancroft Meg Tilly
Music by	Georges Delerue
Cinematography	Sven Nykvist
Editing by	Antony Gibbs
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	August 21, 1985 (1985-08-21)
Running time	98 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

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.

Plot

A community of cloistered nuns in a Catholic convent on the outskirts of Montreal awake one night to terrible screams. A young novice, Sister Agnes, is found in her cell in a pool of blood. After she is taken in ambulance, the Mother Superior, Mother Miriam Ruth, finds a newborn baby, dead and wrapped in bloody sheets in a wastebasket in Sister Agnes’ 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 does the chain-smoking Dr. Martha take on the case to determine the nun’s sanity. Martha sees the nuns for the first 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 by what happened. Nobody had any idea of Agnes' pregnancy, not even Agnes herself. Agnes, she tells Dr. Martha, received very little schooling and came to the convent at a very young age 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 does not know how they are made. The 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 Fonda as Dr. Martha Livingston
• Anne Bancroft as Mother Miriam Ruth
• Meg Tilly as Sister Agnes
• Anne Pitoniak as Dr. Livingston's Mother
• Winston Rekert as Det. Langevin
• Gratien Gélinas as Father Martineau
• Guy Hoffman as Justice Joseph Leveau
• Gabriel Arcand as Monsignor
• Françoise Faucher as Eve LeClaire
• Jacques Tourangeau as Eugene Lyon

Filming

Agnes of God was filmed at the former Rockwood Academy in Rockwood, Ontario, Canada but it was mainly filmed in Montreal.

External links

• Agnes of God at the Internet Movie Database
• Agnes of God at the TCM Movie Database
• Agnes of God at AllRovi
• Agnes of God at Rotten Tomatoes
• Transcript of the film