ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the role of suffering in French cinema. In order to explore the representation of the holy fool in French cinema it examines religious depictions of madness and folly. The dominant cultural models for holy fools in France, originates in Roman Catholic theological discourse. The chapter discusses various theological and cultural strands that underpin the French cinematic holy fool, and investigates the critical dimension of the fool figure based on the evidence provided by the films. The dominant note of holy foolishness in French cinema, reveals the notions of love through suffering and sacrifice, either inflicted by others or self-inflicted. In the majority of the films the visual level complements the narrative in order to accentuate the foolish figure's physical suffering. Maurice Pialat's Under the Sun of Satan gives expression to a different vision of folly in spite of sharing the same practices of sacrificial asceticism.
