X
- 1959
- Approved
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 29 m
- 1959
- Approved
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 29 m
Summary After leaving a wealthy Belgian family to become a nun, Sister Luke struggles with her devotion to her vows during crisis, disappointment, and World War II.
Directed By: Fred Zinnemann
Written By: Robert Anderson, Kathryn Hulme
- 1959
- Approved
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 29 m
- 1959
- Approved
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 29 m
The Nun's Story
78
6.6
Where to Watch
Summary After leaving a wealthy Belgian family to become a nun, Sister Luke struggles with her devotion to her vows during crisis, disappointment, and World War II.
Directed By: Fred Zinnemann
Written By: Robert Anderson, Kathryn Hulme
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 6 Critic Reviews
78
83% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
17% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 6 Critic Reviews
78
83% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
17% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
A superbly restrained piece of filmmaking, with Zinnemann directing in simple, unadorned style and Hepburn giving a truly radiant performance.
Fred Zinnemann's production is a soaring and luminous film. Audrey Hepburn has her most demanding film role, and she gives her finest performance. Despite the seriousness of the underlying theme, The Nun's Story [from the book by Kathryn C. Hulme] has the elements of absorbing drama, pathos, humor, and a gallery of memorable scenes and characters.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 User Ratings
6.6
63% Positive
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
25% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
13% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 User Ratings
6.6
63% Positive
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
25% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
13% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
From Kathryn Hulme's novel The Nun's Story, which gives an amazing account of a young Belgian woman's experiences in becoming and being a nursing nun, screen writer Robert Anderson and director Fred Zinnemann have derived an equally amazing motion picture of an extraordinary dedicated life.
Hepburn's sensitive and eloquent performance makes it one of her finest films. [03 Dec 2016]
The film has a marvelous first half. All of Zinnemann's best qualities -- tact, taste, integrity, quiet intellect and idealism -- shine through in the convent scenes, as does the acting. However, good as Peter Finch is (as an agnostic doctor), the second half seems hurried, over-reticent. [25 Mar 1988, p.22]
Not as awful as you might expect, since the nun's training is shown in fascinating detail and the later doubts are quite subtly expressed. Solid performances, too, but it's still a long haul (made no lighter by Franz Waxman's abominably insistent score) for anyone not committed to theological problems of faith, conscience and obedience.
Production Company
Warner Bros.
Release Date Jul 18, 1959
Duration 2 h 29 m
Rating Approved
Genres
Tagline Her Faith Remained Strong and True in the Face of Africa's Terrors!
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 8 Nominations
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Win & 6 Nominations
BAFTA Awards
• 1 Win & 5 Nominations
