Agnes of God (film)

Agnes of God is a 1985 American mystery film about a court psychiatrist on an investigation of a falsely convicted nun who was discovered with a deceased infant. Directed by Norman Jewison; Produced by Norman Jewison and Patrick J. Palmer; Screenplay by John Pielmeier; Based on the 1982 play "Agnes of God" by John Pielmeier What unspeakable crime took place behind the third floor window? Martha Livingston Smoking is an obsession with me. Maybe someday I'll become obsessed with something else and give up smoking. [last lines of the movie] I don't know the meaning behind the song she sang. Perhaps it was a song of seduction, and the father was a field hand. Perhaps the song was simply a lullaby she remembered from many years ago, and the father was hope, and love, and desire and a belief in miracles. I want to believe that she was blessed. And I do miss her. And I hope she's left something; some little part of herself with me. That would be miracle enough, wouldn't it? Mother Miriam Ruth So, you have questions. Fire away! Is she totally bananas or just slightly off-center? Dialogue Martha Livingston: Suppose the saints would have smoked if tobacco'd been popular back then. Mother Miriam Ruth: Undoubtedly. Not the ascetics, of course, but, well, St. Thomas More. Martha Livingston: Long, thin, and filtered! Mother Miriam Ruth: St. Ignatius would smoke cigars and then stub them out on the soles of his bare feet. And of course all of the apostles? Martha Livingston: Hand rolled. Mother Miriam Ruth: Even Christ would partake socially. Martha Livingston: St. Peter? Mother Miriam Ruth: Pipe! Martha Livingston: Right! Mother Miriam Ruth: Mary Magdalene? Martha Livingston: Ohhh! You've come a long way, baby! Mother Miriam Ruth: And St. Joan would chew tobacco! Martha Livingston: All right! What do you suppose today's saints are smoking? Mother Miriam Ruth: ''[about Sister Agnes] I am saying that you have a beautifully simple woman here. Martha Livingston: An unhappy woman. Mother Miriam Ruth: She's happy with us, and she could go on being happy if she were left alone. Martha Livingston: Then why did you call the police in the first place, Mother, huh? Why didn't you just throw the baby into the incinerator and be done with it? Mother Miriam Ruth: Because I am a moral person. Martha Livingston: Bullshit. Mother Miriam Ruth: Bullshit yourself. Martha Livingston: The Catholic Church doesn't have a corner on morality. Mother Miriam Ruth: Who said anything about the Catholic Church? Martha Livingston: You just did. Mother Miriam Ruth: What the hell does the Catholic Church got to do with you? Martha Livingston: Nothing. Mother Miriam Ruth: What have we done to hurt you? And don't deny it, I can smell an ex-Catholic a mile away. What did we do? Burn a few heretics, sell some indulgences? That was in the days when the Church was a ruling body, we let Governments do those things today. So what did we do to you, hey?... Cast Jane Fonda as Dr. Martha Livingston Anne Bancroft as Mother Miriam Ruth (religious name); Anna Maria Burchetti (birth name) Meg Tilly as Sister Agnes Devereaux Anne Pitoniak as Mrs. Livingston, the mother of Martha Winston Rekert as Det. Langevin Gratien Gélinas as Father Martineau Guy Hoffman as Justice Joseph Leveau Gabriel Arcand as Monsignor Françoise Faucher as Eve LeClaire Jacques Tourangeau as Eugene Lyon External links 0088683 Agnes of God Category:Films directed by Norman Jewison Category:1985 American films Category:American drama films Category:American mystery films Category:Films about psychiatry Category:Films based on plays Category:Films set in Montreal Category:Films set in convents