Benedetta

In an effort to track down the truth about the life of the lesbian nun Benedetta Carlini, Verhoeven employs the formula of historical biography to analyse the Church’s model of power, in which faith is only one of the means of survival and maintaining dominance. Until the end, the film does not give a clear answer as to whether the protagonist really communicates with saints and possesses mystical abilities, or whether she is merely capable of exploiting the fears of others. Due to the impossibility of a rational explanation of some of the events depicted in the film, both interpretations remain possible. As in Total Recall , there is not a clearly defined line between reality and illusions or dreams. In any case, the Dutch filmmaker approaches belief in the supernatural with cynical humour and a sense of the grotesque, both of which are apparent in the arrangement of the mise-en-scene, working with the aesthetics of contradiction and ambiguity, and in the composition of the shots. As a complex, ambivalent female character, Benedetta alternately elicits sympathy and repulsion. Though she promises her followers protection from the plague that is decimating the Italian population, she mainly pursues her own gratification. Salvation and redemption are only illusions. Unlike the unquestioningly listening, frightened and thus easily manipulated crowd, we see that it is not Jesus but rather the closed city gates that provide protection against the disease. No divine forces, just a lockdown. Besides her intelligence and charisma, what makes her a credible religious figure are the stigmata that she inflicts on herself with a shard of glass. Consequently, she can determine what God’s will is and cheerfully abuse the fact that each of the nuns interprets the language of God in her own way. For Verhoeven, religion is not a matter of inner conviction, but rather a culturally, geographically and historically defined phenomenon that serves momentary biological needs and the interests of power. Anything can be justified by God. A similar approach to the clergy is taken by other representatives of the Church, whose hypocrisy Benedetta points out through her own deeds as she retreats into the background in the second half of the film. After the arrival of the nuncio, she changes from a character who abused power in an ethically dubious way to a representative of the resistance against the system, using her own body and sexuality for emancipation. The struggle for dominance, which sets the dynamics of the narrative, is thus unpredictable and suspenseful until the final minutes of the film. Verhoeven typically is not judgmental, nor does he cheer for any side. With a sociological interest, he only studies from afar how easily – regardless of the period – faith can be transformed into an instrument of control and how much a person’s value and power depend on the given historical situation. 85% (21/12/2021)

Benedetta has spent most of her life in a convent, but now besides God, she started to love Bartolomea... what initially appears as a drama about forbidden love, in Paul Verhoeven's direction turns into a provocative and unpredictable story that opens up a lot of interesting topics and cleverly manipulates with the audience, their expectations, and the way it processes what happens to the protagonists on the screen. Equally daring, cynical, clever, and entertaining as the director's greatest classics. (22/11/2021)

Lesbian nunspoitation by Verhoeven set in a 17th century Tuscan monastery. Verhoeven has made an unconventional erotic religious drama that is not afraid of nudity and violence. The actress who plays Benedetta, Virginie Efira, looks very good at 45, and her full frontal nude will please many a male eye, but the rebellious Daphne Patakia looks good too – she is the hottest nun I have ever seen. The combination of sinful nuns and a corrupt Christian institution works surprisingly well. The historical period where Europe was gripped by the Plague, the very intense and exciting lesbian sex scenes, the Stigmata vignettes, the great nightmares of Benedetta (the snake scene or the brutal killing of the knights, surprised by the raw gore). I liked the harsh rules the nuns had to follow and the intense finale is solid, with a cool trial, torture and chaos of the townspeople. The pacing is slower in places, but the film managed to keep my attention thanks to the attractive interludes. Definitely a noteworthy affair. (11/12/2022)

Verhoeven devoted his entire oeuvre to bringing back to the sacred (genre) worlds the profane (excessively physical and emotional) aspects that had been pushed out of them by the previous tradition. His (perhaps only for now) last film thus represents a magnificent culmination of this effort, as he turns his attention to the Church itself, following his treatment of Hollywood genres and national historical milestones and local social phenomena. Benedetta thus delivers a caustically funny deconstruction of the Church as a pragmatic apparatus based on the illusion of hope. As in his previous films, this time Verhoeven offers a seemingly one-dimensional spectacle. But lying just below the wholly functional (in terms of genre) and, for many, outrageous, grim and entertaining surface, there is a broad spectrum of thought-provoking layers. For some, Benedetta will remain a cynical or even exploitative and objectifying mess, but for others it will be, among other things, a sophisticated portrait of the wonderfully ambiguous title character. Through her, personal and organised faith is revealed to be an instrument of institutional and personal power and, paradoxically, within a certain historical context, of possible emancipation, though only in the sense of career and existence, but peculiarly not in terms of personal freedom. And, through the protagonist’s development, it also shows that spiritual foolishness and physical orgasm have more in common than many want to admit. (03/09/2021)

A harrowing two hours. Basic Instinct was also bold, unpredictable and full of eroticism, but it was made by a filmmaker at the peak of his powers, not an old man who obviously has a head full of shit even in his 80s and is trying his best to translate it to the screen in the most controversial style possible, but unfortunately that's about it. (17/12/2021)

J’ai comme l’impression que Paul Verhoeven, du haut de ses quatre-vingts ans, n’a plus rien à prouver à personne et qu’il s’est fait plaisir en faisant un film selon ses propres envies, sans s’encombrer de ce qu’en pense le peuple. Pour moi, le résultat n’est donc pas vraiment une série A arty, mais plutôt un film de « nunsploitation » de série B dans lequel le cinéaste révèle une fois encore son goût prononcé pour la provocation et l’humour noir. Pour ma part, j’ai adopté sa démarche artistique et lui mange ainsi dans la main, mais il me semble évident que Sainte Vierge n’est pas un film pour tout le monde. [KVIFF 2021] (28/08/2021)

Un film érotique sur des nonnes se déroulant dans un couvent italien au 17ème siècle, sur fond d'épidémie de peste. Il s'agit d'une tentative assez déséquilibrée de mettre à niveau un film de catégorie B, s'inspirant principalement de la tradition des productions italiennes mettant en scène des nonnes (appelée « nunsploitation »), pour atteindre le niveau d'un film de catégorie A., Paul Verhoeven y appose sa marque de fabrique et ses obsessions préférées, parmi lesquelles on retrouve notamment l'ironie mordante, le sadisme et la perversité, ainsi que le féminisme, ici agrémentés d'une critique moqueuse de l'Église en tant qu'institution hypocrite dirigée par des intérêts de pouvoir et faisant obstacle à la liberté sexuelle. Son héroïne, une jeune nonne aux visions très vivantes de la révélation du Christ et connaissant un éveil lesbien avec une novice, est suivie depuis son enfance dans une série d'escapades sacrilèges dont l'origine mystérieuse (peut-être un véritable miracle de Dieu, peut-être seulement une pièce de théâtre jouée avec des motivations égoïstes) est le moteur-même du film. Pendant la majeure partie du film, l'intrigue oscille entre une farce dépravée sur l'abus de confiance des croyants (avec des flatulences, des scènes d'excréments, des motifs pornographiques taquins et une représentation de Jésus-Christ en protecteur qui coupe impitoyablement les têtes des ennemis et des bêtes) et un drame sérieux et troublant avec une musique grave et une violence naturaliste, traitant d'une femme délirante ayant une propension à l'automutilation ainsi que des effets négatifs de la foi fanatique. La confrontation de ces deux approches tonales contradictoires est problématique et insatisfaisante, ce qui ne dérange probablement pas Verhoeven, car il voulait certainement juste se défouler, provoquer et choquer un peu, ce qu'il a réussi à faire. Benedetta tombe également à la limite de la catégorie du divertissement de type « plaisir coupable », adapté aux projections de minuit des festivals qui diviseront le public, et dans lequel les performances les plus éclatantes ne proviennent pas du couple d'amants, mais de Charlotte Rampling dans un rôle secondaire (mais essentiel et remarquable) de mère supérieure sceptique. (03/09/2021)

Judging by the reviews and comments, Verhoeven has a specific charm through which he can surprise the viewer with every film he makes by how he deconstructs something, even though he's basically been doing nothing else his whole life. Whatever he touches – genre, society, period, zeitgeist, character studies, or the subject matter – he dissects down to the flesh, laughs nihilistically, drops the mic, and heads off for some other revision. Benedetta is an interesting blend of his earlier Flesh+Blood, (an exploitation of a medieval era full of filthy bandits, plagues, degenerate church representatives, and naked harlots) Showgirls/Keetje Tippel (an ambitious woman uses her body to rise on the backs of others in an emeritus, ossified world) and Basic Instinct (ambivalence and uncertainty about where the truth lies and whether it should be sought out is maintained until the very end). And I was intrigued by the extent to which it treats the theme of religious ecstasy as an erotic experience in a similar way to Besson's The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. Verhoeven's last two films under French productions have been marked by clearly the best scripts he's ever had, but unfortunately also the ugliest direction. Benedetta often looks like footage from a musical, looking terribly staged and artificial. It's funny, then, that the erotic passages work best in this framework, as they're reminiscent of the usual porn videos you have open on the next tab. (09/03/2022)

A film about an Italian nun filmed by the French directed by a Dutchman — now that's quite the pedigree :-) While this movie doesn't quite reach the heights of my favorite director's best works, mainly due to its somewhat lacking narrative, it still has its merits. Towards the end, Paul Verhoeven may have gone a tad overboard, resulting in a finale with gripping action but a loss of historical credibility. One undeniable positive, though, is the director's skillful portrayal of the beauty of the female form — Virginia Efira could serve as a model for sculptures and many younger women might secretly envy her. However, this wasn't exactly an erotic thriller, so it did feel a bit drawn out for me at times. Initially, I was leaning towards a solid three-star rating, but the film's spotlight on the hypocrisy within the Catholic Church nudges it up to a weaker four. (07/06/2022)