Ken Russell's The Devils screened in full after 55 years
The first showing took place at the Cannes Film Festival, thanks to the restoration led by critic Mark Kermode and the director's widow.
Ken Russell's The Devils finally returns in its complete version to cinemas after 55 years of ban. Released in 1971, the film had been cut by British censors who removed two key scenes, and those sequences later vanished from Warner's archives. Fifty-five years later, the definitive version was screened in a single showing at the Cannes Film Festival. The restoration was made possible by the involvement of critic Mark Kermode, a friend of the director, and Elize Tribble, Ken Russell's widow. Kermode describes a wave of almost spiritual enthusiasm, audiences in tears, and the feeling that the director was present in the room. The Devils thus finds its audience again, with Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave.