Review by Eric Hillis
Directed by: Paul Verhoeven
Starring: Virginie Efira, Daphne Patakia, Charlotte Rampling,
Lambert Wilson
A biopic of a 17th century nun may not seem like a natural fit for the
director of
Basic Instinct, Showgirls and Starship Troopers, but Benedetta Carlini was no ordinary nun. She was a lesbian who
believed herself possessed by a demon named Splenditello. Okay, that's
more like it. I suspect the real life Benedetta didn't resemble the sort
of attractive blondes Verhoeven likes to cast, but we'll let him away with
that one.
From the off, we're firmly in Verhoeven territory as he introduces us to a
grimy period landscape not unlike that portrayed in his medieval romp
Flesh + Blood, though there's a bit more flesh and a little less blood on display
here. Pestilence and banditry ravages the Italian countryside, so you can
see why someone might want to lock themselves away in a convent.
That's the choice made by Benedetta, who enters the Convent of the Mother
of God in the region of Pescia as a child. We quickly cut to 18 years
later and Benedetta is all grown up in the form of rising Belgian star
Virginie Efira. A life without a man hasn't bothered her, as she
only has eyes for Jesus, who comes to her in explicit visions. That's
until she sets her eyes on Bartolomeo (Daphne Patakia), a peasant
girl taken into the convent. Bartolomeo's crude ways stand out within the
sacred walls of the convent, and Benedetta finds herself drawn to this
curiously unfettered young woman.
At roughly the same time as she begins to hook up in secret with
Bartolomeo, Benedetta displays stigmata scars and begins speaking in the
voice of a male demon which sounds a lot like the one from that notorious
Days of Our Lives plotline back in the '90s. Is Benedetta
faking it or is she genuinely possessed? The movie keeps its cards close
to its chest in this matter, as you might expect from Verhoeven, who is a
Jesus scholar while professing a lack of belief in the spiritual.
In many ways Benedetta's plot echoes that of Showgirls. Like that film's heroine Nomi Malone, Benedetta arrives at a community
that stands out from its sparse surrounds and becomes determined to rise
to the top within its walls. The Gina Gershon figure here is the convent's
abbess, played by Charlotte Rampling, who is enjoying something of
a late career revival of late. A powerplay begins between Benedetta and
the abbess as the former's ruthless determination to take over the convent
rises.
Benedetta has been compared to the '70s golden age of
nunsploitation movies, but such a comparison only stands up on a surface
level. In those movies, the innocent heroine was almost always threatened
by her fellow nuns. In a surprisingly feminist move, Verhoeven turns the
tables on this idea. The threat to Benedetta comes not from the Abbess,
who turns out to be quite a kindly figure, in stark contrast to the sort
of battleaxe mother superior types we expect of this sub-genre. Rather
Benedetta is threatened by the male authority figures of the Catholic
Church. Rather than a place whose walls conceal unspeakable terrors, the
convent is portrayed as a sanctuary where women can live together in
safety, free from the horrors of the male dominated world outside.
Thus, while critiquing organised religion, Verhoeven also acknowledges why
some might be drawn to it as a means of escape from reality. Of course, as
a self-confessed provocateur, the Dutchman has a lot of fun poking the
bear that is Catholicism, especially in his use of that most sacred icon,
the Virgin Mary. Early on we see the young Benedetta sucking on the
exposed nipple of a life-size Mary statue, while later a small figurine of
the Virgin is reconstituted as a dildo. The hypocrisy of church leaders
provides some stinging barbs, such as when an especially sinister Nuncio
(Lambert Wilson) accuses Benedetta of possessing a "whore's touch,"
to which she replies by promising not to ask how he might be familiar with
such a sensation.
At over two hours, Benedetta can feel unwieldy in parts, but
just when we might find ourselves beginning to drift away like a sleepy
kid in church, Verhoeven throws another bit of madness on the screen to
jolt us upright. The Catholic Church is an easy target at this point, and
you might accuse Verhoeven of engaging in immature behaviour here with his
blasphemous ways. But if you can't enjoy a little bawdy fun at the expense
of one of the world's most powerful and disruptive institutions, you've
probably got a Virgin Mary figurine stuck up your arse.
Benedetta is on MUBI UK now.