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People are voting emotionally.

Excellent but underrated film

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

This movie is Audrey Hepburn's best and really shows what a fine actress she was.She was versatile able to do comedy and drama with equal aplomb.Take a look at Two for the Road a FredericRaphael-written dissection of a marriage which is both comic and tragic by turns. It seems a travesty to me that she was only nominated for The Nun's Story when she quite plainly should have been awarded one as best actress. Peter Finch,too is excellent as the dedicated doctor working in the Congo and the sexual chemistry between them is palpable. I have seen The Nun's Story lots of times over the years and it never fails to impress me. Due to the times in which it was made it is naturally dated now but the subject matter and performances supersede all complaints on that score. It warrants several viewings and rewards every time.

Director Fred Zinneman and actress Audrey Hepburn conspire to make a very belabored movie about a young woman entering and leaving the religious life in The Nun's Story. The film has a great premise and could have been a lot better. Some of the scenes drag on interminably. Every moment is so punctuated with purpose that the whole thing seems like a tedious affair. And Miss Hepburn is given very inconsequential dialogue. Mostly she nods and says 'yes' over and over in a flat monotone voice. As a Catholic, the story itself makes me unhappy, but as a cinemaddict, the story makes me even unhappier. The real problem is not that a life with God is one for her, but that the way in which the filmmakers tell it is so lifeless and un-entertaining. It's a pensive film about making a long drawn out mistake. The only good thing I can say about it is that Hepburn brings sincerity to the role. But she brought sincerity and good cheer to Roman Holiday and less socially conscious films.

It's wonderful to catch up with classic films that may have lost of their buzz over time. THE NUN'S STORY is a truly perfect work but not one that is mentioned in the same breath as other classic films from great directors like Fred Zinneman and star Audrey Hepburn. This sublime film is subtle to the extreme. Almost flat in fact, depicting the inner struggle of a nun who wishes nothing more than to be a citizen of the world, something the convent does not allow. THE NUN'S STORY takes its time. There is no emotion. No evil. No greatness. Just the struggle to define one self and become the person you must be. Simply stunning, subtle, and perfect!

The image of water gradually sharpens the reflections of objects above...as soon as we get to know the leading character of NUN'S STORY, it is not hard to predict that it is all going to be an involving, mesmerizing viewing experience - yet, nothing for the vast majority of audience.In the eyes of her father, Dr Van Der Mal (Dean Jagger), our protagonist - young Gabrielle (Audrey Hepburn) is not really a strong willed girl obedient to the bells. Perhaps he sees other future for her. However, she makes up her mind to resign from engagement with one Jean and sacrifice her life for interior and exterior silence, for the detachment of worldly goods, for obedience and penance doing good and disappearing for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Although she manages to go through the agonies of various inner struggles and tests, will she be able to exercise and bring into action the spirit of charity for all, to face Christianity's hardest obedience - forgive everyone, all evil-doers for anything harmful done to them or their beloved ones? The truest merit of Fred Zinneman's movie, at first sight, seems to lie in the execution of the storyline (the film's literary source is the book by Kathryn Hulme). It is, as the title implies, a nun's story not so much supplied with laughable aspects (as it is the case with a number of movies nowadays) but a very insightful, thought provoking depiction of virtues enforced and exercised behind the 'bars' of the convent. With this in mind, we deservedly prepare for an excellent glimpse of the atmospheric mystique, for prayers, hymns clothed in unearthly tunes of sublime music. Here, great credit goes not only to the cinematographer Franz Planer, a winner at Academy Awards, who supplies us with cinematographic pearls, including the tremendously effective shots of interior silence of the specific place, but also to Franz Waxman for his brilliantly atmospheric, accurate and vibrant music score. He memorably incorporates certain tunes derived from almost 'iconic' chants to particular scenes. In this way, the score sets the right tone for the story, changes and controls the moods of various scenes. That refers to such pieces of music as 'Salve Regina' and 'Veni Creator Spiritus' - milestones of Christian music.However, the greatest praise is not deservedly directed towards the crew members, even to the director Fred Zinneman but to Audrey Hepburn in the lead. It seems quite obvious that not every actress can play a nun convincingly. Simply because we, as viewers with certain background experiences (both visual and conceptual), are heavily influenced by certain expectations, even clichéd expectations. In that respect, Ms Hepburn really meets our expectations...more to say, she makes for a perfect portrayal of a nun. There is a combination of certainty and doubt, subtlety and strictness in her face and her entire portrayal, which makes her character easily empathized with. Because the gist that lies behind the fact who Gabrielle/Sister Lukas really is appears to be underlined in her struggles to learn obedience and humility. These virtues that are so memorably and timelessly revealed in Culpa and Penance evoke in her performance. Ms Hepburn portrays a very human character, a very gentle young girl, a subtle nun and a dedicated nurse. Simply a superb performance! A sophisticated portrayal! She is funny at times (mind you the lovely scene with little Felix) and genuinely dramatic when the moment requires that perfectly switching from one bunch of emotions to another. If I were to name her best scenes, I think that task would be quite impossible. I would highlight some of her most memorable scenes, which include the entrance to the convent, the Congo sequence, her collaboration with Dr Fortunati (Peter Finch) vs. the scenes with her father. The aforementioned Congo sequence belongs to the true pearls among the color films of the late 1950s. Authentic, beautiful shots of nature and landscape, the gloomy scene on the isle of the lepers along with the haunting score long lasts in the memory of a viewer. The film is worth viewing, apart from Ms Hepburn masterful achievement, for the sequence alone.The supporting cast include some solid performances from Peter Finch as choleric but caring Dr Fortunati, Dean Jagger as wonderful Dr Von Der Mal, Gabrielle's father (what a brilliant father that is who says: "I don't want to be proud of you; I want you to be happy!") and the sisters are uniquely memorable (you will never mix the characters due to their specific features underlined): Peggy Ashcroft as Mother Mathilde, Edith Evans as Mother Emmanuel, Rosalie Crutchley (note Acte from QUO VADIS) as Sister Eleanor. They are recognizable.Finally, let me quote Bosley Crowther, the New York Times reviewer, who said about the film: "Mr. Zinnemann has made this off-beat drama describe a parabola of spiritual afflatus and deflation that ends in a strange sort of defeat. For the evident point of this experience is that a woman gains but also loses her soul, spends and exhausts her devotion to an ideal she finds she cannot hold." But what is superior in one's life? Blind obedience to an ideal or being true to oneself? Where are we in that dilemma? Where is our protagonist? What does the final drama indicate? Greater torments or relief? She turns right as she leaves so perhaps...Dare accuse yourself of seeing it critically but let yourself see it and think. Although the movie is more than half a century old, it has not lost its charm and entertainment along with all the dilemmas herein incorporated. Worth viewing as not only a nun's story but a person's drama.