A truly hilarious film that tackles the hypocrisy of the Church, politics, and medieval history in an interesting way. Cheers to Jesus and the power of lesbians.
The power of lesbians really saved that town huh.
Paul Verhoeven out of control, dedicated to the sexualization of religious devotion, but also to the exposure of ecclesiastical corruption. There is no heaven in this story, only a hell that is represented in the daydreams of a Jesus who saves by cutting off heads. "Suffering is the only way to know Christ." Burns the stake of damnation and oozes the pus of the black plague. "Your worst enemy is your body".
A throwback to 90s trashy erotic films. With some social commentary added in.
Totally not so controversial after all. Just a very solid movie. The magnificent Virginie Efira deserves more praise! :flag_be:
That Virgin Mary statuette was just like Jamie Lee Curtis’ trophies in “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once”: you’ll know its destiny as soon as you lay your eyes on it.
This is such a hard movie to talk about, as it’s meant for such a small and mysterious audience. Sometimes it’s an arthouse masterpiece, sometimes it’s a hopelessly trashy movie, sometimes it’s even a valid entertainment piece. Describing it as “that movie with the nuns squeezing each other's tits” doesn’t do it justice. You should try.
I only wish they fixed how sometimes characters suddenly change their attitude and approach. A couple of scenes in between would have helped a little.
Steamy, scandalous, and often sacrilegious. Verhoeven's film is well made but overlong.
Good:
-This film is a pleasure for the eye. Locations, set design, costumes and cinematography are top notch. It's an immersive and fascinating canvas of that historical period. Although not so historically accurate, for example the town where they shot the film is not Pescia in Tuscany (where Benedetta Carlini really lived) but Bevagna in Umbria.
-Acting is very good, expecially the protagonist, Virginie (not so virgin) Efira
-Hot naked nuns get laid (this is the other reason why the film is a pleasure for the eye lol)
Bad:
-Too grotesque. This film sometimes seems an historical drama about serious themes as religion, sexuality, repression etc.. other times seems a porn parody written by Brazzers.
-The story is inconsistent and confusing. I have the impression it was just an excuse for the director to make controversial, sexually provocative scenes to shock the audience and covertly mock christianity.
DVD Quote (spoiler)
"She used a wooden figure of the Blessed Virgin to penetrate the sex of Benedetta and make her to crisis
[Priest smash the table] Crimen Nefastum"
Stupid but fantastic.Nothing to be controversial
Let me summarise this movie with a family guy quote ….
Jesus: Uh hot ladies. Horny ones. Who, uh, sex on you.
Quagmire: What?
Jesus: Yeah, you know, they come back to your house and sit on your butt.
Look beyond the steamy scenes. They make for great marketing but this is a superb movie with an honest, if tongue-in-cheek, look at faith. It's been ages since a movie made me feel so much, so many. The power-play, the dialogues, the B-series look that prevents it from veering too much to pretentiousness, and a heartfelt take at what the price of subverting the rules is. Epic, absurd, unfathomable.
This is not a film that depicts God. Benedeta is the Devil's incarnation. Given to lust, sacrilege, corruption, speaking in the voice and with the tone of the Beast, creating falsehoods, doubts and deceptive in appearances, the Devil manifests in protean forms to deceive. God is love and peace and that is never consistently displayed in Benedeta. A snarling and enraged God? Yeah right.
Unfortunately the truely religious clergy are portrayed as given to human failings and no match for the guile of the Devil. The populace in turn are fooled into turning against religious authority because of the failings of their leadership and the Devil's cunning and deceit.
This is a sad movie for the true believers in Christ because the clergy is cast in such a bad light and the Devil may succeed in making the viewer doubt their faith. If you believe that Benedeta manifests the word and action of God then the Devil has fooled you again. God is love.
Don't let Paul Verhoeven mislead you into thinking he knows how to make a religious movie. There is no true display of authenticity of Christian faith. This is a Layman's view of what a religious movie should look like. But it's pure Verhoeven camp. Showgirls in nuns habits. Gratuitous nudity and lactating women say it all.
8.5/10
Sensational
Well this was an interesting
one to say the least and
I actually really really enjoyed
it, yes the absolutely beautiful
Nuns were just an absolute
treat but the hole mystery
is she really channelling you know how
really kept me engaged the
hole way through.
I found everything very interesting in the way it was all playing out and therefore I was very entertained
and invested.
What I did enjoy to make me
love this movie even more
is at times especially towards
the end it went very
Games Of Thrones.
I loved Virginie Efira more than the movie. She is so insanely beautiful.
When they see this wholy unconventional convent ,religious dramahorror thiller, of 15th century european religious landscape threatened from all angles, like pestillence and comets and the inquisition, in a crooked abbedisement that tries to make a saint outta one of the members of the klosters, enduring saccral erotic fantasies, and the kind of most exquisit lesbian eroticism come to life, that may endorse anger from the most pope-linius vievers in the filmtheater.
A lovely and mysterious production that will shake some foundations, the locations, sets and acting are just enthralling and enwitching as never made before(except in the state of sexomania) a film that tiptoes the edges of acceptness among the holy and glorious viewers.
So the grumpy old man experienced the miracle and the rise of the cheesedoodle yet again, and i think many more out there will grin the same way as he did. A big recommend to this tet-a-tet story of the past.
when you expect a low budget shit show but damn it was totally worth my time. entertaining
This nun finds a way to ecstasy in a much more mundane way.
It is not a bad film, and it should portrait a real story. But its novelization is way too heavy, and it is never clear what is realistic, and what plot devices were used just to help the narration and to keep the audience engaged and the overall spectacularization. And this aspect also steals some reflection opportunities, as there is always the risk to make judgements and opinions on purely fictional and historical imprecise elements.
Shout by Saint PaulyBlockedParent2021-07-10T17:09:42Z— updated 2021-09-24T18:55:31Z
It's like Showgirls in a convent, and I mean that in the best possible sense.
Verhoeven tackles the church / politics in his own way and no one gets up afterwards. While the male gaze is very present in this analysis of a cult of personality, anyone who expected anything else of Verhoeven hasn't truly seen any of his movies.
As for the nudity in the film... 1) Guys, it's a Verhoeven film, 2) haven't we graduated beyond the grade school mentality of "Ooh, boobies!" when discussing film (or anything else, for that matter)?
PS Virginie Efira turns in yet another electric performance and Daphne Patakia continues to impress. She truly is an exciting up and coming actress (you have to see Djam / Journey from Greece if you haven't yet).