Sister Smile (film)
Sister Smile (original title: Sœur Sourire) is a Belgian-French biographical drama film directed by Stijn Coninx and written by Coninx, Ariane Fert and Chris Vander Stappen. The film stars Cécile de France as Jeannine Deckers, also known as The Singing Nun).[2] The film won the Magritte Award for Best Costume Design.
| Soeur Sourire | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Stijn Coninx |
| Produced by | Eric Heumann Marc Sillam |
| Written by | Stijn Coninx Ariane Fert Chris Vander Stappen |
| Starring | Cécile de France Sandrine Blancke Jan Decleir Tsilla Chelton |
| Music by | Bruno Fontaine |
| Cinematography | Yves Vandermeeren |
| Edited by | Philippe Ravoet |
| Distributed by | KFD (Belgium) Océan Film (France) |
Release date |
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Running time | 120 minutes |
| Country | France Belgium |
| Language | French |
| Budget | $7.3 million[1] |
| Box office | $2.9 million |
Plot
Belgium in the 1950s. Jeanine Deckers dreams of becoming a singer and of going to Africa as a missionary. Against her family's wishes, she joins a convent. However, the strict rules become too much for her. She rebels, especially when her guitar is taken from her and when she hears that she'll have to wait several years before being sent to Africa for missionary work. Despite being punished, she is eventually given back her guitar so she can entertain young people visiting the monastery. One day she is filmed by Belgian television while singing and playing music to a group of youngsters. This launches her career as a commercially successful artist, yet everything she earns is sent to the monastery and the head nuns keep her identity secret from the general public, while keeping her success secret from Deckers herself.
Later, Deckers discovers the truth and eventually gets fed up with obeying the other nuns. She leaves the monastery and moves in with her friend Annie who had made a pass at her when they were younger but whom she rejected.
Deckers desperately tries to get her career back on the road but she is told that she cannot use her stage name "Soeur Sourire" or "Singing Nun" because the monastery owns the rights to it. She starts performing under her own name and goes on a tour in Québec, but due to her controversial song about birth control nobody wants to sign her anymore for concerts. Deckers is reduced to singing in small strip clubs and gets depressed. Rejected by both the monastery and her own family, Deckers returns to Annie and falls in love.
Pursued by the Federal Public Service Finance of Belgium for taxes on her first album, which the Church didn't pay, she and Annie commit suicide together.
Cast
- Cécile de France as Jeanine Deckers (The Singing Nun)
- Filip Peeters as Antoine Brusson
- Tsilla Chelton as Oldest Dominican
- Sandrine Blancke as Annie
- Jan Decleir as Lucien Deckers
- Marie Kremer as Françoise
- Christelle Cornil as Sister Christine
- David Murgia as Louvain
- Eric Godon as The bailiff