“All Is Grace”: Sound and Grace in Robert Bresson’s Diary of a Country Priest

Abstract

This chapter explores what the film’s soundtrack suggests about grace. When characters declare arguments regarding the relationship between desire and fate, their statements resemble those articulated by Pelagius, Camus, Jansen, Lacan, Irenaeus, and Milbank. Regardless of what these characters articulate, sound complements, contradicts, and complicates what they say. Diegetic noise mocks self-determination, musical score undermines will, and voice-over interweaves the human community required for mercy to exist. While most theologians focus on the relationship between God and the individual, sound in Diary of a Country Priest suggests grace is a gift exchanged between people.