Body and Soul (1993)

Academy Award-nominee Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient, Four Weddings and a Funeral) shines in one of her earliest starring roles in this acclaimed miniseries based on Marcelle Bernstein's powerful novel. After sixteen years of poverty, chastity, and silent obedience in a secluded convent in Wales, Anna Gibson is beginning to doubt her vocation. When her brother dies tragically, Anna is forced to take charge of his young family, including his pregnant wife, Lynn, and her two sons, and the bankrupt textile mill he has left behind in the north of England. Anna finds herself in an alien and hostile modern world. For the first time in her life, she is confronted by her own identity as a woman, and she is forced to choose between two conflicting worlds. As seen on Masterpiece Theatre.

Not What I Saw on Masterpiece Theater!

There are scenes in this video that must have been edited when it was shown on PBS's Masterpiece Theater. The cover states it is the same version, but these scenes would certainly raise the ire of the FCC. July 18, 2008

body and sould

I enjoyed the film very much. It must have been very difficult after 16 years to come out into the world and all the changes that took place during that 16 years. I loved the music and would like to purchase the sound track if it's available June 24, 2008

Too much body, not enough soul!

Too much body, not enough soul!


This sour little mini-series will leave you with a definite bad taste in the mouth. Body and Soul played on Masterpiece Theatre in the early nineties and I was eagerly awaiting the chance to re-view it when it appeared on DVD. After fourteen years, I remembered the story of a nun becoming a business woman. What I didn't remember was the tawdry, sordid view of life in general that this mini-series portrays. While there are several edifying scenes of life in a contemplative monastic community in the first few episodes, these come to an end when the protagonist, Sister Gabriel/Anna Gibson, leaves the convent on sabbatical after her brother commits suicide to take care of the family milling business. Things go down hill from here. Virtually everyone outside of the monastery mocks Anna's vocation and what is more, none of the characters on the "outside" express any kind of faith in a higher being - as a matter of fact, two of the characters, Hal, the mill's foreman as well as Anna's sister-in-law Lynn, say outright that they do not believe in God.


While some will extol this movie as the story of a young woman on a quest of self-discovery, others, life myself, will only see the depressing story of a woman who has lost her way. The fatal flaw in the film is that it never explores why Anna entered the monastery in the first place. Midway through the film I also took a definite dislike to the character of Anna when she purposely goes out to lose her virginity and has no qualms whatsoever about it!


The acting is generally superb, especially Kristen Scott Thomas as the protagonist and Dorothy Tutin as the Mother Superior. Anthony Valentine also gives a notable turn as the villain, Stan Beattie.


The film is so anti-faith (I don't say "religion" because it is not anti-religious - it is plain and simply anti-faith), hedonistic if you will. What a disappointment. If you are looking for something uplifting, do not look here!
April 10, 2008

a nun's story

This mini-series features the then relatively new face of Kristin Scott Thomas,before she stole this critic's heart in "The English Patient",starring opposite Ralph Fiennes.In this quite long production -it runs for several hours-,she plays the part of a nun,living a very ordered and introspective life in a Welsh monastery,who is called on to come to the aid of her brother's wife,after the brother dies mysteriously ina car accident.Kristin Scott Thomas is given permission to spend a week with her sister-in-law,played by Amanda Redman,who is very pregnant and already the mother of 3 other children.Her husband's death has left the family in very parlous state and KST is almost overwhelmed by the mess her brother has left behind.Not only is his family suffering.The family spinning and textile business is on the verge of collapse.Sister and sister-in-law have to sort out their own lives besdies attending to the failing workplace and the vultures who are circling to pick up the pieces.
Kristin Scott Thomas is possibly England's best actress,in this person's opinion.This is a good tale,well acted.It's believable and it lifts your spirits.It's a great screenplay and the settings seem authentic.This is a very good purchase.Highly recommended. March 28, 2008

Body & Soul = Heart & Soul

I first saw this on Masterpiece Theatre sometime in the mid 90's. I enjoyed it. What really hit home with me was when Sister Gabriel/Anna realizes that true suffering is out in the common place world, not in a convent. Life in the convent is depicted in this series as bleak, silent, cold, denial of food, hard work and lots of prayer.

When Anna first goes to see her widowed sister in law, she is shocked by the billboards (ie: an ad for condoms) and life in general outside of the convent. Very gradually she comes to realize that the vows she made 16 years earlier is not what she wants. The pain and anger her sister in law feels for both Anna (running away to the convent to avoid life) and her dead husband (he commits suicide by driving his car off the road - after mailing his very expensive watch and a few other things to his wife) leaving her with several children and one on the way is very powerful.

When Sister Gabriel/Anna returns to the convent after helping her sister in law with the new baby and children, there is much hostility towards her. One of the Sisters beomes deathly ill, Sister Gabriel is accused of bringing back disease from the outside world.

Following all of the changes from total seclusion to Anna taking her dead parents business over, making it profitable, and falling in love is very subtle. In the end Anna realizes that the decision to leave the Convent and renounce her vows is the correct thing for her to do. Anna ends up saving jobs at her parents near bankrupt yarn factory (her brother was not a good business man) by turning it around (with the help of Mother Superiors' accounting abilites) and helps with her sister in law and children. Thus finding life to be much more rewarding outside of the convent.

I won't say much about her experience falling in love, buy this DVD and find out for yourself.

As usual, this is a top notch British production. February 6, 2008

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