A nun's frequent, bizarre visions of holy figures and manifestations of stigmata upend the normal life of a 17th century convent in Paul Verhoeven's 2021 film Benedetta. Beautifully shot with great performances, this is one I've been wanting to see ever since it came out. The first half of the film exceeded my expectations but I was a little disappointed in the second half. On the whole, though, this was a very worthy experience.
We meet Benedetta as a child on the road to a convent in Pescia. There, her parents hope to deposit the girl who routinely has wild visions of the Virgin Mary. They're waylaid by bandits, one of whom attempts to steal a necklace from Benedetta's mother. Benedetta calls down the wrath of the Virgin and immediately a bird flies out of a tree and poops in one bandit's eye. They laugh, return the necklace, and leave. I would have preferred at least a hint of awe in their reaction.
The tension between whether Benedetta is actually experiencing and/or causing miracles is one of the driving forces of the narrative. After being accepted at the convent, the film jumps ahead 18 years. Now played by Virginie Efira, Benedetta the young woman is something of an embarrassment to the Abbess Felicita, played by Charlotte Rampling.
Felicita is one of the film's more interesting characters and I sort of wonder if this was due to a stipulation from Rampling. Felicita's daughter, Christina (Louise Chevillotte), is more vigorous in her hatred of Benedetta and is even willing to stretch the truth when making accusations. Felicita is wise, tactful, and prudent and that same doggedly rational thinking prevents her from wholeheartedly persecuting Benedetta.
The film's loosely based on a true story of a 17th century nun. The primary mistake Verhoeven makes is focusing too much on Benedetta's sexual relationship with a novice nun, Bartolomea (Daphne Patakia), making it the crux of Benedetta's troubles with church authorities. In reality, it was Benedetta's bizarre ceremonies and possessions that mainly landed her in hot water. Verhoeven transplants too much of a modern attitude about homosexuality to the 17th century. He does avoid using the terms "lesbian" or "homosexual", neither of which were yet in use to refer to same sex physical attraction, the latter not being coined until the 19th century. But part of the reason for this is simply that people just weren't much concerned about what women were doing with each other in bed. The biblical Book of Ruth may even have been used as an example to support an intimate relationship between Benedetta and Bartolomea. Maybe this is why Verhoeven awkwardly chose to add a wooden dildo to their relationship. Maybe he'd have argued that a movie in which Benedetta's claims of being possessed by holy figures would simply not satisfy a modern audience.
I really liked Bartolomea as she's first introduced, running from her abusive shepherd father. She introduces a carnal element to Benedetta's life and I appreciated small details of historical perspective presented by her character, as when Benedetta tells her she's beautiful and the girl remarks that she didn't know, she'd never even seen a mirror. She and Benedetta use the latrine together, the first time for Bartolomea to experience such a luxury. She remarks that she'd normally just go out and shit among the animals. The two women use straw for toilet paper which certainly adds some perspective as to the probable state of their nether regions during the sex scenes.
Benedetta strongly reminds me of Flesh and Blood, Verhoeven's 1985 film. Both films are periods pieces (Flesh and Blood set in 16th century Italy), both feature main characters who adopt messianic roles of uncertain legitimacy, and both feature the characters in somewhat anachronistically extravagant sexual relationships. Both films are otherwise admirable for their attention to, and inspiration drawn from, historical detail. Both films seem to lose focus a bit in the second half. Both were box office disappointments, not even coming close to recouping their substantial budgets.
Both are well worth watching, though. Virigie Efira is a worthy successor to Sharon Stone in Verhoeven's Basic Instinct and Total Recall, delivering a similarly cocksure, slightly unhinged performance.
Benedetta is available on The Criterion Channel in their Nunsploitation playlist.
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