233. Inquiring Nuns; movie review
Cert TBA
91 mins
BBFC advice: TBA
"Are you happy?", ask two smiling nuns of passers-by outside shops, a church and inside the art gallery.
And, presumably, because the nuns are so polite, they answer the question as best they can.
But some also want to know whether the recording is going to be aired before opening their soul.
The nuns tell them it isn't, implying that their subjects did not know that the inner feelings would be served up to the masses.
One chap even professed his deep love for a young woman who seems coyer in her response to him.
Would he have done so if he had known his words would be broadcast and what were the consequences when they were? Were he and other contributors' sought for their permission?
And did the nuns know that they were not telling the truth?
During Gordon Quinn and Jerry Temaner's social experiment, nobody seems happier than Sister Marie Arne or Sister Mary Campion.
They record two episodes and ask the same question of a variety of people in Chicago and receive many different answers which sometimes prompt further debate.
It reflects the 1960s in a positive light - where people seem more respectful and more willing to give thoughtful responses than they would be nowadays.
Indeed, the only recurring negative theme is the war in Vietnam which interviewees agree was a cause of unhappiness.
Inquiring Nuns leads us to believe that people in the 1960s were much more content than they are in 2019.
They claim to be satisfied by simple life foundations such as family and religion.
None sought fame or fortune or complained about not having the latest gadget or money at all.
But was this reality? The most enlightening element of Quinn and Temaner's film is their return to the nuns 50 years after their recording.
They reveal what they thought of the experiment and whether they were really happy at the time.
Reasons to avoid: Repetition of questioning
Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7.5/10
Did you know? The number of nuns in the United States peaked at 180,000 in 1965 and had plunged by 56,000 in 2010. In the early 1960s, 7,000 young women a year joined the orders but by 1990 there were only 1,000 a year.
The final word: Gordon Quinn: "Coming out of University of Chicago we felt deeply philosophical and were interested in something that touched on a platonic sense of happiness and good. Not to mention, what else would a couple of nice Jewish boys do but make a movie for a Catholic group?”
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