Italy, the 17th century: At a very young age, Benedetta (Virginie Efira) enters the monastery of Pescia, and since she has always been firm in her faith, she takes her being the "bride of the Lord" a little too literally, as she has dreams - or is it visions - of Jesus (Jonathan Couzinié) appearing to her, visions that sometimes border the erotic. These visions sometimes take the form of seizures, and thus eventually she's believed to be possessed. But when she's strapped to a rack for a night and shows Jesus's stigmata the next day, this is declared a Christian miracle, and this eventually results in her replacing the current Abbes, Sister Felicita (Charlotte Rampling), to boost the importance of the monastery. At around the same time, Bartolomea (Daphne Patakia) enters the convent as a novice, more than anything else because she tries to escape her rapist father (Frééric Sauzay). She and Benedetta feel almost immediately attracted to one another, and the sexually more open attitude of Bartolomea intrigues Benedetta - so it's not long before the two women start having sex ... but Sister Felicita spies on them, and figuring that this knowledge might help her regain her status as Abbess, she travels to fetch the papal nuncio (Jérôme Chappatte), figuring this is the only way to get rid of Benedetta, who's very popular with the locals. However, while Felicita's out, Benedetta orders to close the city gates for all as the plague is plaguing the countryside, and a lockdown's the only way to avoid it. However, the nuncio has special privileges of course, and manages to force the way into the city for his and his entourage anyhow, and it's not long before Benedetta is convicted to be burned at the stake. Thing is, while fetching the nuncio, Sister Felicita has contracted the plague, and has brought it into Pescia, and at Benedetta's planned executions things get completely out of hand ...

This film once again shows director Paul Verhoeven at the top of his game, on the surface it's a lush period piece, with convincing sets, props, costumes firmly in place, and some scenes harking back to 1970s nunsploitationbeing almost a given - but on closer inspection, the film has its subversive traits, plenty of satire and irony, and asks more questions than it actually answers. But a self-assured, fluid direction sees to it that Benedetta doesn't become a thesis film but entertains throughout, and a first rate cast beautifully carry the proceedings, to make this one into a fascinating period piece.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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