I did not initially want to see the re-release of Ken Russell's 1971 film, The Devils. As the critic Armond White pointed out, Warner Bros. somewhat deceptively marketed the film as a subversive horror movie, "promising steady, anti-Christian jolts and atrocities." Based on the film's trailer alone, one might believe that The Devils is truly about demonic forces possessing a convent of nuns. If this were the case, I would have had little interest in paying for a ticket and would have opted to avoid any nightmares. But the marketing successfully brought in moviegoers seeking October thrills, filling enough seats to extend the film's run indefinitely. After reading more about the film's premise, I saw the newly restored, uncensored NC-17 film on Wednesday night, and found White's assessment to be largely correct. The movie is, above all, a tale of politically motivated persecution, and it serves as a warning against succumbing to mob hysteria.
(Spoilers ahead.)
Based on the nonfiction book The Devils of Loudun by Aldous Huxley and John Whiting's play, The Devils, the film chronicles a French town's descent into hysteria, chaos, and religious perversion following a sexually repressed nun's false accusations against a priest. The priest named Father Grandier (Oliver Reed) is an iconoclastic, rakish man who defies the church's orthodoxies in his personal and public life. He impregnates (and somewhat callously casts aside) a magistrate's daughter and later secretly marries Madeleine de Brou, one of the many enamored townswomen who confess their sins to him. As the town's acting governor, Grandier defends Loudun's independence against Catholic leaders who wish to tear down its white walls. Grandier is a highly educated, tolerant priest who allows Protestants and Catholics to coexist peacefully in the city. All the while, France's Catholic leaders (who are one with the state) seek to purge the country of Protestants and consolidate power. Grandier's defiance makes him an enemy of the state, and his philandering and eccentricities make him a vulnerable target.
The town's bureaucrats seize the opportunity to destroy Grandier's life when the local convent's Mother Superior, Sister Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave), tells the convent's confessor, Father Mignon, that Grandier has possessed her and the other nuns. She makes this baseless accusation after learning of the priest's marriage to Madeleine, which had devastated and outraged Jeanne, who obsessively lusted for Grandier from within the confines of the convent. Although Grandier has never seen Jeanne (and knows nothing of her defining features: a hunchback, blue eyes, and a cackling laugh), his enemies conspire to wield the accusation against him and call in a professional witch hunter. Mass hysteria ensues as more nuns profess their possession, and the church quickly becomes a blasphemous circus of sexual deviancy.
The latter half of the film contains its most controversial sequences, including a previously censored scene of nuns sexually defiling a statue of Jesus and depictions of gruesome torture. Responding to British censors' objections to the torture scene, Russell once told an interviewer that the censors should have known that the scene was based on historically accurate events.
"I've always found that it's much more shocking and indeed more effectual to go for the truth, rather than fiction," he said.
The same could be said of the film more generally. Perhaps the most disturbing part of Russell's movie is its ending, when the town celebrates Grandier's final moments and execution (burning alive at the stake) after a sham trial. Here, the human impulse to deliver mob justice, to punish, and to rejoice in another's demise is on full display.
Films are not meant to be purely didactic, and The Devils' set design, story, and acting are worthy of praise on their own. But it is worth noting that Russell himself called the movie his "one political film," and it has a clear message. As Grandier's enemies knew, the state can more easily abuse its power when the masses become willing instruments. It is critical to know when the mob is being weaponized against the individual. Otherwise, "the devils" will only grow stronger.
The American justice system, while imperfect, seeks to temper these passions and guide jurors and judges toward truth and evidence-based outcomes. Unfortunately, any system made up of flawed individuals is vulnerable to corruption and public pressures. At the national level, seemingly every presidential administration punishes its enemies for partisan ends to placate its base and consolidate power. And as the public, we remain susceptible to condemning others in the court of public opinion before all the facts are presented. Due process is eroded when we cannot separate our passions from principles.
After the film, I asked moviegoers about their reactions. Rightfully, most people raved about the film's set design. Some fellow Zoomers told me they enjoyed the "gore" of it all, adding that nothing is really shocking to audiences in 2026. Nobody remarked on the storyline until pressed. My post-movie interviews weren't a representative sample, but I left the theater doubting we will learn from Loudun.
The post <em>The Devils</em> Was Censored 55 Years Ago. Now It's Back, and Its Political Warning Still Holds. appeared first on Reason Magazine.
L’aspetto fisico ha condizionato parecchio la vita di Barry Keoghan negli ultimi anni, come lui stesso ha avuto modo di raccontare negli scorsi mesi. Per questo non deve stupire il fatto che l’attore presti particolare attenzione al proprio corpo. Negli scorsi giorni, infatti, Keoghan ha raccontato di sottoporsi a un trattamento estetico chiamato Xerf, eseguito su di lui da Nilam Holmes, esperta britannica di trattamenti per il viso.
Si tratta di un trattamento estetico basato sulla radiofrequenza, utilizzata per rassodare la pelle e stimolare la produzione di collagene. A mostrare che l’attore si sottopone a questo tipo di trattamento è stata proprio Nilam Holmes, condividendo un video su Instagram.
Keoghan racconta le ragioni che lo hanno portato a sperimentarlo: “Ne ho sentito parlare molto e Nilam è davvero entusiasta di questo trattamento. È bravissima in quello che fa, e lo dico sul serio. Ogni volta che vengo qui, trovo l’esperienza rilassante, quasi terapeutica. Mi sento meglio con me stesso e mi vedo meglio. Credo sia importante prendersi cura di sé, dentro e fuori“.
Il trattamento effettuato dall’attore presso Nilam Holmes avrebbe un costo di 3.500 dollari a seduta e quella che Holmes ha documentato sulla propria pagina Instagram era la seconda seduta a cui si sottoponeva l’attore. La collaborazione tra Holmes e Koeghan va avanti, però, da diversi anni.
L'articolo “Mi sento meglio con me stesso e mi vedo meglio. Credo sia importante prendersi cura di sé, dentro e fuori”: Barry Koeghan sperimenta un nuovo trattamento estetico per il viso proviene da Il Fatto Quotidiano.
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Nel 1946 bastò un costume da bagno per scandalizzare il mondo. Oggi, in un’industria in cui le immagini raggiungono milioni di persone in pochi secondi, provocare sembra facile. Ma essere rivoluzionari è un’altra storia.
La moda ha sempre avanzato attraverso le sue rotture. Nel 1966 Yves Saint Laurent introdusse il celebre smoking femminile, trasferendo nel guardaroba delle donne un simbolo di eleganza maschile. Inizialmente accolto con diffidenza da parte della clientela haute couture, sarebbe diventato un classico. Negli anni Settanta, Vivienne Westwood trasformò l’estetica punk in un linguaggio di ribellione, portando strappi, spille da balia e tartan contro le convenzioni del gusto borghese. Due visioni diverse, un principio comune: mettere in discussione ciò che la società considerava normale.
Oggi la sfida si gioca anche su un altro terreno: quello della visibilità. Le sfilate non sono più soltanto appuntamenti per addetti ai lavori, ma eventi globali, osservati in tempo reale attraverso social network e piattaforme digitali. Una creazione può diventare virale prima ancora di arrivare nei negozi. Eppure, essere ovunque non significa necessariamente lasciare un segno.
Un esempio significativo arriva proprio da Roma, città che custodisce una parte fondamentale della storia dell’alta moda italiana. L’8 luglio 2022, Pierpaolo Piccioli riportò Valentino nella Capitale con The Beginning, una spettacolare sfilata che trasformò la scalinata di Trinità dei Monti e piazza di Spagna in una passerella fino a piazza Mignanelli, sede dello storico atelier della maison. Ma oltre alla scenografia monumentale, a caratterizzare l’evento fu soprattutto una precisa scelta creativa: celebrare la diversità attraverso modelle e modelli di differenti età, origini e identità. Un modo per dimostrare che anche una casa di moda profondamente legata alla tradizione può mettere in discussione i canoni estetici consolidati. E che Roma può essere non soltanto una cornice straordinaria, ma anche un laboratorio di nuove idee sulla bellezza.
Il settore stesso sembra interrogarsi su questa contraddizione. Secondo il rapporto The State of Fashion 2026 di McKinsey e Business of Fashion, nove delle quindici maggiori aziende del lusso hanno nominato nuovi direttori creativi nei dodici mesi fino a settembre 2025. Un ricambio che riflette anche la ricerca di nuove idee e di una maggiore differenziazione. La creatività, infatti, resta un elemento decisivo per rendere desiderabile un marchio.
Ma dove finisce l’innovazione e dove comincia lo spettacolo? Un abito estremo può sorprendere, una campagna può far discutere, una sfilata può conquistare i social. La vera prova arriva dopo: quando l’immagine svanisce e resta ciò che quella creazione ha realmente cambiato.
Forse oggi essere rivoluzionari non significa necessariamente scandalizzare. Significa avere una visione riconoscibile, rompere gli schemi senza inseguire ogni tendenza e proporre un’estetica capace di resistere alla velocità del presente. Perché la moda non ha bisogno soltanto di nuovi abiti. Ha bisogno di nuove idee. E la differenza tra una tendenza e una rivoluzione sta tutta lì: la prima cattura lo sguardo, la seconda cambia il modo di vedere.
L'articolo Oggi la moda cambia abito, ma non sempre cambia le idee proviene da Affaritaliani.it.
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Patrick Stewart, el capitán Jean-Luc Picard de la saga Star Trek y el profesor Charles Xavier en la saga de Marvel X-Men, falleció el miércoles 28 de octubre en Los Ángeles (California), aunque su familia lo ha comunicado un día después. Tenía 86 años.
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Patrick Stewart, who rose from poverty in England to become an accomplished Shakespearean stage actor and then achieved global stardom as the erudite Captain Jean-Luc Picard in TV’s “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and the telepathic Professor Charles Xavier in the “X-Men” movies, has died at the age of 86.
Stewart, knighted in 2010 by Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to drama, died at his home in Los Angeles, according to a statement on his X account.
“We announce with great sorrow the passing of Sir Patrick Stewart yesterday at his home in Los Angeles, in the loving care of his beloved wife Sunny following a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia,” it said.
Stewart became an actor at age 18 and gained acclaim on the stage as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company beginning in the 1960s. But it was not until after he was hired at age 47 for “Star Trek: The Next Generation” – a TV series that ran from 1987 to 1994 as a sequel to the original 1960s “Star Trek” – that he gained mainstream fame, acting into his 80s.
“Make it so,” his character Picard often said, instructing a subordinate to carry out a command, or sometimes deploying the similar catch phrase, “Engage.”
It was a role he had debated even taking after his longtime friend and fellow Shakespearen Ian McKellen advised him to spurn “Star Trek” and remain in theater. Stewart did take the role and became both a fan favorite and an indispensable part of a lucrative sci-fi franchise, playing Picard not only in 176 episodes over seven seasons of that series but also in several “Star Trek” films and in the later streaming series “Star Trek: Picard” that began airing in 2020 when he was 79.
“As the seven seasons of TNG (“The Next Generation”) went by, the distinction between Jean-Luc Picard and Patrick Stewart became thinner and thinner, until it was impossible for me to know where he left off and I began. So much of what I believed and felt went into that show,” Stewart told the Guardian newspaper in 2022.
Stewart also initially balked at being cast as the wheelchair-using mutant Professor X in the “X-Men” movies, based on the popular Marvel comic book character.
“I said, ‘Look, I know this isn’t science fiction, but it’s fantasy, and I’ve done that.’ But they persuaded me that it wouldn’t be like ‘Star Trek,’ so I did it. And yet again I was proved wrong,” Stewart told the Guardian.
He became a critical part of another big-money franchise starting with the first entry “X-Men” in 2000 and followed by several more.
ACTING WAS SAFE SPACE
Stewart was born on July 13, 1940, in the English town of Mirfield in Yorkshire. He was raised in poverty, with a father who he said returned from World War Two an alcoholic who suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome and physically abused Stewart’s mother. Stewart recalled putting his body between his father and mother to try to protect her.
As a child, Stewart said, acting became a “safe space” after a schoolteacher introduced him to Shakespeare – specifically “The Merchant of Venice” – during a class when he was 12. He started losing his hair at age 17 and was bald by 19. He was embarrassed at the time, but eventually embraced it.
“Star Trek,” created by Gene Roddenberry, presented a hopeful vision of the future, with humankind venturing into the cosmos in spaceships exceeding the speed of light and encountering alien races. The enduring popularity of the original series and the success of spinoff films prompted Roddenberry to create “The Next Generation” sequel series.
The Picard character was the opposite of the swashbuckling and sometimes unintentionally buffoonish Captain James T. Kirk, played by William Shatner, of the original series – envisioned as more cerebral and disciplined, though sometimes coming across as stuffy, humorless, or self-important.
Stewart recalled being a little bit too serious toward his cast mates early on.
“I tell the story of calling a meeting of my principal fellow cast members and telling them that I thought we were not disciplined enough, that we should not be fooling about on the set as much as we were but taking everything seriously,” Stewart told the New Yorker in 2023.
“And one of the cast members said, ‘Oh, come on, Patrick, we’ve got to have some fun.’ And I thumped the chair and said, ‘We are not here to have fun’ – which they have never let me forget. They taught me so much about loosening up and being freer,” Stewart added.
Stewart also felt the series improved as it went along, faulting his own portrayal of Picard in the first two seasons.
“I found it lacking intimacy. It was very authoritative, but there were few other qualities in him,” Stewart said, adding that his work got better in subsequent seasons.
In fact, the finest work for the entire cast may have been the two-part, time-bending series finale.
He became Sir Patrick Stewart when he was knighted by the queen at Buckingham Palace in 2010. He told reporters that his heroes were British actors Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud and Alec Guinness, who also had been knighted, adding that being “in that company is the grandest thing that has professionally happened to me.”
Stewart was married three times and had two children. His third marriage, in 2013, was to American musician Sunny Ozell.
Nuevo capítulo en la agria batalla entre Olivier Martinez y Halle Berry por la custodia de su hijo Maceo. Este jueves, 29 de octubre, el exmatrimonio de actores se ha visto las caras en los juzgados de Los Ángeles para retomar el caso legal por el que ambos se disputan la potestad del adolescente, de 13 años. Y ambos han salido vencedores, o perdedores, según quién cuente la historia.
La lucha de Paris Jackson por proteger el legado que su padre, Michael Jackson, les dejó a ella y a sus dos hermanos sigue imparable. La hija del cantante y megaestrella del pop, de 28 años, se ha plantado contra el administrador del legado de su padre, acusándole de no cumplir con sus obligaciones y de querer únicamente dinero. Y ahora pretende bajar su remuneración económica y hacer que el caso llegue hasta los tribunales.
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