Benedetta [Blu-ray]

PLOT...A 17th-century nun in Italy suffers from disturbing religious and erotic visions. She is assisted by a companion, and the relationship between the two women develops into a romantic love affair.Director Paul Verhoeven is no stranger to graphic violence and nudity and there is plenty of that here in Benedetta, a good well-made gritty religious drama! The story revolves around a nun who has visions of her one true love Jesus Christ, her visions are so real and so powerful they get more and more extremely violent and she manifests it into her real life even with signs of Stigmata making everyone believe she is some kind of vessel for their saviour but are her visions just her utter madness and imagination, she begins to have a sexual and passionate affair with another young nun but with so much lies and deceit around the church what is to be believed! A thought provoking and brilliant movie, very well acted by all the cast, amazing performances especially from Virginie Efira (Benedetta) and Daphne Patakia (Bartolomea) The movie has bloody violence mainly in the form of her visions, there's a fair share of full and partial female nudity and some artfully done sex and pleasure scenes. Overall, a brilliant drama if you're into watching this type of movie, certainly worth picking up.Blu-ray has a great HD picture.Features just include interviews 42mins.Region B UK. Running time 131mins. 2020.French language movie only with English subtitles.Audio description. Comes with a slipcase and 6 art-cards.

Wasn't really sure about this one, originally ordered on 4k I decided littlebenefit would be gained by buying on that format so switched to Blu-ray.I don't often buy sub-titled films but given some of the write-ups regardingthis loosely true story, thought it worth a spin.Its a harsh story of the brutality and indeed ignorance of the church back inthe 17th century when torture was often used to obtain a confession thatsuited their purpose.The story tells of how a young girl Benedetta Carlini (played when older by (Daphne Patakia )is given shelter at the convent to become a novice.She is directed through the early years by Mother Abbess Felicita (CharlotteRampling)Benedetta finds the rulings difficult at first but grows into the way of the order.A young woman is later taken into the convent Bartolomea (Daphne Patakia )after suffering abuse from her father and brother for protection, and tobecome a noviceMeanwhile Benedetta has frequent dreams of meeting Jesus, and eventuallyseemingly showing the injuries he received nailed to the cross (Stigmata)Mother Abbess directs the novice Bartolomea to share a room to watch overthe troubled nun.The stigmata will be investigated by representatives from Rome to verifyauthenticity.Meanwhile, Benedetta and the young Bartolomea become close, a relationshipbetween them develops.This will be seen through a spy-hole by Felicita which will lead to confessionaltorture for Bartolomea and the threat of being burnt at the stake for Benedetta.A sordid tale , well portrayed, showing scenes of a sexual nature with nudityalong with sequences of torture.A sometimes difficult film to watch

In France, the film averages 3.5/5 on AlloCiné from 36 press reviews. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 86% based on 166 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. "Precariously walking a tightrope of varying genres and tones, Benedetta provokes salient questions about sexual freedom and its relationship to faith." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 73 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."ProtestsAt the 2021 New York Film Festival, where Benedetta was part of the Main Slate, the Catholic group, The American TFP staged a protest targeting the film. The group denounced it as blasphemous for its portrayal of lesbianism within the confines of a convent. Upon the film's US commercial release, the film was once again protested by The American TFP as well as other Catholic groups throughout the country.The film was banned in Russia by the Russian Ministry of Culture amid a complaint from the religious group Orthodox Forty Forties Movement.

Did not like this film.

In 17th century Italy, a nun has intense religious visions and has an affair with another nun. Probably not for everyone, this is a controversial religious erotic drama from director Paul Verhoeven that's a powerful and moving film based on a true story with excellent performances from the whole cast. There's a lot more to this than just a naughty nun movie.

well conceived, imagined, directed and acted. but too long. Charlotte Rampling's in it.

french film with subtitles

Interesting film about Benedetta which is based very loosely on the truth. Good acting and photography.Worth watching but the ending is disappointing.