Benedetta
Paul Verhoeven returns with a typically controversial subject, concerning the erotic visions of a 17th-century nun.
Back in 1971, the British filmmaker Ken Russell caused a rumpus with his film The Devils. It derived from a stage play by John Whiting which had the same title and which had been staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Whiting’s work was dramatic enough simply by drawing on real life events in a convent in France in 1634. That was an era when there was widespread belief in demonic possession but when viewed in retrospect the behaviour of the nuns would be re-interpreted in terms of hysteria and licentious acts prompted by sexual repression. Whiting wrote his play in 1961 and almost a decade earlier the same historical events had been made the basis of a non-fiction novel by the renowned author Aldous Huxley, The Devils of Loudun. However, it was Russell's screen adaptation that caused a furore both with the censors and in the headlines. The film certainly has its defenders today but compared with the earlier treatments Russell's handling of the material was sensationalist.
Benedetta, another story set in a convent and dealing with somewhat similar material, is the latest work from Paul Verhoeven, the Dutch director who is now in his eighties but remains untamed. A statement at the outset describes Benedetta as being inspired by true events and, indeed, it too derives from history, in this case the setting being Pescia in Italy where the main events depicted unfolded in 1618. The film quotes as source material the book Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy by Judith C. Brown published in 1986. But Verhoeven, like Russell in his time, has always been a devoted provocateur and I cannot escape the thought that the more apt introductory wording would be “Inspired by a desire to emulate the film The Devils in recognition that today’s more lenient censorship bodies will provide the opportunity to be even more extreme”.
Where Brown’s book apparently studied the whole life of Benedetta Carlini (played here by Virginie Efira), this film, save for a prologue set in her childhood, covers only a short phase in her life. Central to it is her sexual relationship in the convent with a new arrival, Bartolomea (Daphne Patakia), and her subsequent rise to prominence. The latter involved her claiming to have visions of Christ (Jonathan Couzinié), the appearance of stigmata on her body and later her appointment to replace the former Abbess, Sister Felicita (Charlotte Rampling). All of this was fuelled by the beliefs of the day and, in addition, the drama played out at a time when plague was sweeping the land and would eventually become a threat in Pescia adding to the emotional panic that was already in the air.
When it comes to matters unconnected with the quality of the material, Benedetta poses no serious problems. The production values are good, Anne Dudley provides an adept music score alongside the authentic use of religious pieces from the past and Verhoeven has it in him to direct really well as he proved as recently as 2016 with another foreign language work, Elle. Charlotte Rampling is splendidly adroit in portraying the Abbess as an enigmatic figure whose sincerity not least in matters of religious belief is open to question and Efira, Patakia and a large supporting cast including Lambert Wilson and Louise Chevillotte can all be relied on. But whether it is to their credit to have agreed to participate in Benedetta is another matter.
There is a place in art for provocateurs especially when they are serious but they look embarrassingly like fools when they get their timing wrong and Verhoeven's film finds him misjudging this twice over. Fifty years on from Russell’s The Devils the shock value of what feels like an attack on religion will surely mean little to most filmgoers. Those who would be offended will doubtless stay away while many more will be indifferent and therefore not much interested. Had the screenplay been subtle and insightful and had there been any sense of balance (all the male religious figures are on the make) the situation portrayed here could still have made for intriguing drama. But instead the film’s methods merely seem crude arousing either disgust or giggles. This is apparent from such scenes as a dream sequence that brings sex into a scene of Christ on the cross and an episode of lesbian sex in which a statuette of the Virgin Mary is used as a dildo. One senses the relish that Verhoeven feels in shooting such scenes together with episodes of rape and of gory killings. That tone is found again in scenes involving flagellation and torture. The final section of Benedetta does start to flourish as melodrama but until then this long film (131 minutes) seems to lack even that appeal.
Verhoeven’s second misjudgment concerns the film’s detailed depiction of the lesbian affair between Benedetta and Bartolomea. By showing what at one time would have been censored, he may feel that he is standing up for lesbian love while shocking those who deplore it. But, in fact, as evidenced by 2013’s Blue is the Warmest Colour audiences are ready to question scenes of lesbianism when directed by men whose work is at best unable to capture the emotional engagement and at worst appears essentially exploitative. In Benedetta Verhoeven seems all too frequently to be requiring his actresses to remove their clothes and this extends even to the torture scene which is just another instance of a provocative episode in the film in which you feel that the provocateur director is enjoying living up to his reputation. Any critics who like to find depth in films where that is lacking could in view of the film’s ending describe Benedetta as being a portrayal of the excessively limited opportunities open to women in the early 17th century. My own view, however, is that as handled here the story has become schlock - competently mounted schlock to be sure but schlock all the same.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Virginie Efira, Charlotte Rampling, Daphne Patakia, Jonathan Couzinié, Lambert Wilson. Louise Chevillotte, Olivier Rabourdin, Hervé Pierre, Clotilde Courau, David Clavel, Guilane Londez, Gaëlle Jeantet, Justine Bachelet, Lauriane Riquet, Elena Plonka, Héloise Bress.
Dir Paul Verhoeven, Pro Saïd Ben Saïd, Michael Merkt and Jérome Seydoux, Screenplay David Birke and Paul Verhoeven with Pascal Bonitzer based on the book Immodest Acts by Judith C. Brown, Ph Jeanne Lapoirie, Pro Des Katia Wyszkop, Ed Job ter Burg, Music Anne Dudley, Costumes Pierre-Jean Larroque.
SBS Productions/Pathé/France 2 Cinéma/France 3 Cinéma/Topkapi Films/Belga Productions/Canal+/Ciné+-Mubi.
131 mins. France/The Netherlands/Belgium. 2020. US Rel: 3 December 2021. UK Rel: 15 April 2022. Cert. 18.
