Diary of a Country Priest is a 1951 French drama film written and directed by Robert Bresson. The film stars Claude Laydu in his feature film debut. A faithful adaptation of Georges Bernanos' Grand Prix du Roman-winning novel of the same name, the film tells the story of a sickly young Catholic priest who has been assigned a small village in northern France as his first parish. The film illustrates the eroding religious faith in the French countryside and the clergy's struggles to reach younger believers disillusioned by the inflexibility, and sometimes hypocritical flexibility, of the Church at the time.