The story they’re telling is, by and large, a story that’s already unfolding around them, in silent glances and quiet power plays elsewhere, only their version of the tale is told with their bodies.
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The movie wastes little time in having the characters find excuses to be alone, because their journey isn’t so much about discovery or innocent intimacy as it is about the way their explosive sexualities are swiftly mapped onto the existing structures in and around the convent. Bartolomea, a traumatized, rough-around-the-edges newcomer to the convent, makes no secret of her feelings for Benedetta, who ends up quickly lured into bed and tempted out of her forcefully reserved demeanor. Benedetta is played, as an adult, by Virginie Efira, whose chemistry with Bartolomea actress Daphne Patakia is immediately palpable as soon as the latter arrives. It’s incredibly absurd, and oh so fun to watch.
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The overarching plot is constantly contorted by these larger forces, but a more intimate story emerges just as quickly, when a newly enrolled Benedetta is instructed, in no uncertain terms, that she must not feel comfortable in her skin (“Your worst enemy is your body,” she’s told).Īfter this brief prologue, the main story begins 18 years into Benedetta’s stint at the abbey, where her waking thoughts are often consumed by bizarre visions of a heroic Christ, who appears to her as a knight and slays serpents with his sword, as if he were protecting her from Biblical sin.
This opens up an important avenue for her middle-class family, who’s able to enroll her in a prestigious convent under the tutelage of the stone-faced Sister Felicita (Charlotte Rampling), albeit for a hefty dowry, which qualifies Benedetta as a “bride of Christ.” From the get-go, the film unfolds at the hypocritical intersection of money, power, and religion, which feel so intrinsically bound here that even supposed miracles by Benedetta are looked upon, first and foremost, as a means to political ends. It may not have anything novel to say about religion or desire, but its presentation of sexual and political power makes for an incredibly enjoyable 127 minutes.Īs a child, young Benedetta has a unique relationship to the Virgin Mary, whose statuette appears to grant her mystical wishes. The blasphemous subject matter is right up Verhoeven’s alley, and he crafts a suitably salacious piece. Set in 17th century Tuscany, the film retells the rise and fall of Benedetta Carlini, a Catholic abbess whose undoing, according to some historical accounts, was owed to her lofty egotism, though most attribute it to her lesbian relationship with a fellow nun, Sister Bartolomea.
Master provocateur Paul Verhoeven - known for erotic thrillers Showgirls and Basic Instinct, but also for biting sci-fi satires Robocop and Starship Troopers - returns for the first time in five years with Benedetta, a French-language period biopic that’s far less concerned with facts and details, and far more preoccupied with matters of the spirit and the flesh.
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