---
title: "Diary of a Country Priest: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/diary-of-a-country-priest/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/diary-of-a-country-priest"
critics_score: 77
critics_reviews: 8
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Diary of a Country Priest (1951): what the critics said

Critics' score 77 from 8 reviews: 5 positive, 3 mixed, 0 negative.

Most critics respond warmly to Bresson’s austere treatment of faith and isolation, with praise clustering around his formal precision and attention to the priest’s inner life. The available reviews find considerable feeling in the film’s restraint and gradual accumulation of detail. Claude Laydu’s performance also draws praise: Radio Times finds him convincing, while other accounts value the way Bresson makes the priest’s solitude felt without relaxing his severe style.

The clearest reservation concerns how readily that severity admits the viewer. The AV Club admires the film’s precision but finds it can feel airless, with limited emotional access to the central performance. The recorded scores range from mixed to enthusiastic, with none negative, but the apparent disagreement needs qualification: three review texts are inaccessible, so their specific objections cannot be established. The verifiable reservations centre on austerity rather than failures of craft.

## Radio Times — David Parkinson

Rating 5/5. 

Parkinson calls the film a sublime masterpiece and an almost spiritual experience. He particularly praises Claude Laydu’s convincing performance and Bresson’s gradual accumulation of detail.

[Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-6likvt/diary-of-a-country-priest/)

## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 22 April 2011. 

Turan presents the film as a masterwork and urges readers to experience it. He especially praises Bresson’s austere visual and emotional style, which he says achieves transcendence.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2011-apr-22-la-et-0422-diarycountrypriest-20110422-story.html)

## Empire — David Parkinson

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 31 March 2006. 

Parkinson finds Bresson’s adaptation impressive and affecting, praising its blend of asceticism and spirituality. He singles out the film’s stylistic purity and focus on the priest’s inner life.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/diary-country-priest-review/)

## The AV Club — Scott Tobias

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 8 March 2004. 

Tobias admires the film’s formal precision and finds its closing moments transcendent, though its austerity can make it feel airless. He singles out the priest’s isolation as vividly rendered, while noting that the lead performance offers little emotional access.

[Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/diary-of-a-country-priest-dvd-1798199408)

## Time Out

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 15 March 2012. 

The available description presents Bresson’s film as a challenging, austere study of faith and isolation. It singles out the lead performance as memorable.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/newyork/film/diary-of-a-country-priest-1)

## RogerEbert.com

Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 

The page could not be accessed, so the critic’s verdict is unavailable. No praised or criticized element could be verified.

[Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-diary-of-a-country-priest-1951)

## The New York Times

Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 6 April 1954. 

The page identifies a review, but the article text is inaccessible. Its verdict and specific praise or criticism cannot be verified.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1954/04/06/archives/the-screen-in-review-french-film-diary-of-country-priest-opens.html)

## The Guardian — Mark Kermode

Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 

The page identifies this as a DVD review, but the review text is unavailable. Its verdict and the element singled out for praise or complaint cannot be determined.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/79803/diary-of-a-country-priest)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/diary-of-a-country-priest.md