Screen Comment being not just a cinephile media but also a French-American publication, we would be twice remiss not to mention persons and events from across the pond, at least some of the time. The death of Michael Lonsdale, a formidable actor, himself bi-national (his French mother conceived him with the help of a British officer in 1930—Lonsdale was born in May of the following year), was reported yesterday in the news.

The year is 1993. Nine Cistercian monks live in the [...]