Le sorcier du ciel

This very unusual and very rare film is a biography of Jean-Marie Vianney, the celebrated curé of a small French town called Ars who single-handedly brought it back to the Church after the French Revolution with his miraculous cures and who was eventually made a saint for his effort. It is unusual as it shows very graphically the curé's personal relationship with the Devil during late-night conversations which make watching this film a very creepy experience and one you never forget after witnessing it. Although this film was at least as popular as "Song of Bernadette" in Catholic circles in the fifties as a propaganda tool, it has almost totally disappeared from the radar nowadays and even finding a 16 mm version of it has become the Holy Grail of film collectors everywhere. I remember it as a very powerful piece of movie-making. It is based on a book by Jean-Charles Reynaud (who also wrote "Carnet de bal") which is not so difficult to find.