Léon Morin, Priest (1961)

Jean-Paul Belmondo: Léon Morin

Photos 

Quotes 

• Léon Morin : The invisible church. It extends far beyond the visible church.

  Barny : What is the invisible church?

  Léon Morin : All human beings of goodwill.

• Barny : Father, what I can't seem to understand is how Jesus died abandoned by God.

  Léon Morin : What was that?

  Barny : His frightening words just before dying: My God, My God, why has thou forsaken me?

  Léon Morin : Not at all. Jesus being a Jew and dying a Jew, he recited Psalm 22, which is a Jewish prayer. Here.

  [picks up a Bible] 

  Léon Morin : "My God, My God why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far and hearest not my wailing?" And it ends with a tribute to God: "For the kingdom is Jehovah's, and he governs among nations."

  Barny : Jehovah, God of Jews and Christians.

  Léon Morin : Naturally.

  Barny : That Jehovah is God the Father, I have to strive not to forget.

  Léon Morin : You're not the only one. Jesus didn't chose Psalm 22 by chance. He chose it because it relates especially to him. It is also said, "They pierced my hands and feet. They share my garments among them and for my raiment cast lots."

• Léon Morin : Prayers are always a mockery. There's such a gulf between them and him to who they're addressed.

• Léon Morin : Now where were we, Miss I'm-No-Goody-Two-Shoes?

  Barny : I think what revolts me about Christianity is the self-interest involved. You make yourself do this, or not do that, to get to heaven.

  Léon Morin : When you plant a seed, don't you want it to grow? That's heaven, the sprouting of the grain. Remember the mustard seed Our Lord talked about?

  Barny : Your Lord.

  Léon Morin : As much yours as mine.

  Barny : Not if I refuse.

  Léon Morin : You can refuse the Earth's turning, but it won't change much.

• Léon Morin : You need a husband.

  Barny : Too bad. I do it with a stick.

  Léon Morin : You'll hurt yourself.

  Barny : I'm not fragile.

• Christine Sangredin : Tell me, Father, I have a friend who's divorcing and may need your help.

  Léon Morin : How?

  Christine Sangredin : She's boosting the morale of five lovers: two in the militia, one in the Resistance, one black marketeer, and, most recently, a German. Her bank job leaves little time to serve the Resistance, Vichy, and Germany. She can't juggle the meetings, plus she's smuggling gold.

• France (older) : I want a prayer that doesn't exist.

  Léon Morin : A prayer that doesn't exist?

  France (older) : A prayer no one knows. Why keep telling God the same thing?

• Léon Morin : No questions for me this last evening?

  Barny : I'll have them all my life, so better to keep quiet.

• Léon Morin : It's not easy to admit one's faults to one's neighbor.

  Barny : It's not a problem since I don't believe in God.

• Barny : Religion is the opium of the people.

  Léon Morin : Not exactly. It's been diluted by the bourgeoisie in its own interests.

  Barny : But you let them. You're one and the same now.

• Léon Morin : We're here for the living. We're not morticians.

• Léon Morin : Belief in God is the harmony of our whole being. When you love someone, you love without proof. The same goes with faith: a moral certainty.

• Barny : What do you think of me?

  Léon Morin : Nothing.

  Barny : Nothing? That's impossible.

  Léon Morin : If I pass no judgment on you, no one will ask me your worth.

  Barny : But when I'm standing here before you, what do you think of me?

  Léon Morin : I think of you as an embryo.

• Léon Morin : You keep wondering if God has an existence or not. God has no existence. God is existence.

• Léon Morin : It's up to you to make a move. If God forced our allegiance, we wouldn't be free.

• Léon Morin : There's always a chasm man must cross alone. If there were proof, everyone would believe. Belief would even be unnecessary. We'd understand. We'd know. We'd see. This would no longer be the world below, but heaven.

• Léon Morin : Injustice fills a Christian heart with horror.

• Barny : I'll only enter a church again as a tourist.

  Léon Morin : We're all tourists in a way.

• Barny : Even if religion had remained pure, that's no proof of its truth.

  Léon Morin : Of course not. Its good that you came.

  Barny : Good? I came as an enemy.

• Léon Morin : Do you sin against chastity?

  Barny : I don't know.

• Léon Morin : We should stop chattering. What good are words? God, first and foremost, is an experimental, individual reality, different for each of us. And incommunicable.

• Barny : What made you want to become a priest? You were a bad boy.

  Léon Morin : So what? You become a priest to save souls, that's all. The idea can inspire even naughty boys.

• Barny : I don't know if it's that book you gave her, but she's impossible now. When I scold her, she says, "You see my mote, but not your beam." When I threatened her with hell, she said, "Hell is for grown-ups, not children." I smacked her one.

  Léon Morin : You're right to teach your child her place, but careful not to overdo it.

• Barny : Your mother was stricter than other mothers. But you were like other children.

  Léon Morin : No, I was among the worst. I once broke a cow's leg trying to make it jump a fence. I needn't tell you that the owner gave me a real hiding.

  Barny : It didn't help. You still try to make cud-chewers do high jumps.

  Léon Morin : That's what I'm here for.

  Barny : You'll make one break a leg again.

  Léon Morin : Doesn't matter, as long as it jumps.

• Léon Morin : Jehovah chose a human envelope for his earthly life. So he was granted youth. He chose to die in the prime of life. That's why, preserved by this blood of youth, God will never grow old.

• Léon Morin : My dear child, it's crazy how much the Lord loves you. You're one of his favorites. Heaven was made especially for you. Especially you.

• Marion : I'd like to make eyes at you.

  Léon Morin : Your eyes will never make it.

  Marion : Because it's forbidden?

  Léon Morin : No. I don't mean to hurt you, but your gaze isn't very nice.

  Marion : I didn't use enough mascara. I'll put more on next time.

  Léon Morin : I can just imagine. You poor birdbrain.

• Marion : You should become a country priest. I'd be your housekeeper.

  Léon Morin : That's a thought. Except that priests' housekeepers have to be old hags. Maybe in a few years' time.

• Léon Morin : If only you called to God as you call to a man. That's real prayer.

• Léon Morin : [hands Barny a book]  Traditional Dogmatism and Empirio-criticism.

  Barny : It looks very deep. I doubt I'll understand it.

  Léon Morin : Sure you will. You never struck me as being a complete idiot.

• Léon Morin : [in the confessional booth]  I'm listening.

  Barny : I almost - I said - I don't know the word for it.

  Léon Morin : You're acting like a dead branch. Know what they get?

  Barny : Yes.

  Léon Morin : What do they get?

  Barny : Cut off.

  Léon Morin : And once they're cut off?

  Barny : They get burned.

  Léon Morin : Yes. I'm listening.

• [last lines] 

  Léon Morin : God be with you.

• Léon Morin : Why shouldn't God perform miracles for heretics? Does he love them less?

  Barny : Under your guidance, I'd come to imagine God as Catholic.

  Léon Morin : Let's call him the universal Catholic in our temporal language. It doesn't mean he can't be many other things too. You know what Our Lord said? "In my Father's house there are many mansions."

  Barny : Contradictory mansions?

  Léon Morin : Maybe. But the contradictions are mainly in our mind.

• Léon Morin : I'm not thrilled about going.

  Barny : Why aren't you thrilled.

  Léon Morin : In the country, before discussing serious matters, you have to talk about rabbits and pigs. I love parish life when things go smoothly. There, things aren't smooth. Villages are divided by politics. On the other hand, it's nice that there's been no priest for ages. They're totally dechristianized. So there are no deviations. It's almost virgin soil.

• Léon Morin : You ought to paint your toenails.