FAITH AND ALIENATION IN THE SHADOW OF POWER: THE DEVILS

The formation of patterns of people and their social lives is a multi-dimensional process. The beliefs, values, and daily practices of individuals are governed through mechanisms of comprehensive power. Resistance has emerged in every historical period in which struggles of power and class have been manifest. Absolute power is impossible to achieve; no struggle proceeds without opposition. In this study, Ken Russell’s The Devils (1971) is analyzed by the descriptive quantitative research method in an attempt to understand which mechanisms were used by the power structure and the Catholic Church to control a person’s life and beliefs, and, concurrently, what kind of resistance arose to counter repression and regulation. In conclusion, it is seen that Russell employs motifs of suppressed sexuality and freedom of belief to fashion a harsh critique of Christianity. The struggle against Catholicism and its norms is expressed as a struggle against political power